Transylvanian Cultural Landscapes Promoting Rural Development.

We focus on the results of the field trips done in Romania, to Rimetea (Torocko, Eisenmarkt) (Alba County) and Viscri (Deutschweißkirch, Fehéregyhaza) (Brasov County), during an international research project, and on the relation between successful tourism strategies and cultural assets in the form of architectural heritage commodification and protection. The hypothesis of our research was that local identity expressed through vernacular architectural heritage is one of the main resources supporting future sustainable development. The empirical part is based on case study evidence and qualitative methods (observation, interviews, and focus groups). An original part of our research is that the observations on the architectural heritage were processed and interpreted using drawings and analyzed in relation to the findings resulted from interviews and focus groups. We concluded that the two case studies could be considered development models for other settlements capitalizing on vernacular architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]