When a City Becomes a Story You Can Step Into

URBAN PILOT STORY  |  SLAVONSKI BROD, CROATIA

When a City Becomes a Story You Can Step Into

In Slavonski Brod, literature, art and performance came together to turn familiar heritage into a shared experience shaped by local people.

Participants set out across Slavonski Brod to discover the city through its stories, art and people. Photo: Institute for Tourism / People Powered Tourism.

In Slavonski Brod, stories are never far away. They live in the literary legacy of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić and Dragutin Tadijanović, in the city's galleries and historic buildings, and in the memories of the people who call this place home.

Yet there is more to discovering a city than visiting its landmarks. What if visitors could enter its stories, encounter its creative spirit and become part of the experience themselves? This question inspired Brod through Art and Heritage, an urban pilot developed through the People Powered Tourism project.

A city rich in stories waiting to be connected

Slavonski Brod has a rich cultural and artistic life, but its many valuable experiences are not always connected into a coherent visitor offer. Literary heritage, contemporary art, cultural institutions and local creative initiatives often operate within their own circles.

The challenge was not to invent new attractions. It was to bring existing cultural assets and the people behind them together, creating opportunities for visitors to experience the city in a more personal and participatory way.

Listening to the city

The journey began in October 2025, when local residents, cultural organisations, tourism professionals and other stakeholders came together through capacity-building and participatory mapping activities. They explored what makes Slavonski Brod distinctive and which local resources could become the foundations of new visitor experiences.

Literature, artistic creativity and the city's cultural institutions emerged as important strengths. Equally valuable were the people willing to share their knowledge, skills and enthusiasm. When the first ideas were presented at the Katarinski Fair in November 2025, the wider community could add its own perspectives and feedback.

The programme then took shape through cooperation with cultural professionals, artists, institutions and tourism stakeholders. Instead of assembling unrelated attractions, they worked towards an experience in which different artistic expressions could complement one another, offering visitors several ways to connect with the same city.

Participatory mapping and public feedback allowed many local voices to shape one shared cultural journey. Photo montage: Institute for Tourism / People Powered Tourism.

The day the city came alive

On 22 September 2026, the idea became a real visitor experience. Participants encountered the literary world of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, explored the legacy of poet Dragutin Tadijanović and took part in a bibliotherapy-inspired activity that encouraged personal reflection through literature.

The journey continued through visual art at the Ružić Gallery and the historic setting of Brod Fortress. An interactive theatrical performance added another dimension, inviting visitors to engage with the city rather than simply watch it unfold.

Literature became a starting point for shared reflection and personal interpretation. Photo: Institute for Tourism / People Powered Tourism.

Stepping inside the story

Rather than following a conventional sightseeing itinerary, participants engaged with the city's heritage through creative activities, shared reflection and unexpected encounters. Across the day, familiar places became settings for new conversations, creative discoveries and personal interpretations.

The idea was simple: cultural heritage becomes more meaningful when people are invited not only to observe it, but also to experience and interpret it.

When familiar places gain new meaning

The urban pilot showed how familiar cultural places can gain new meaning when local people are involved in shaping the visitor experience. A gallery became a place for exchange, a literary legacy opened space for personal reflection, and the fortress became a stage on which visitors could respond rather than remain spectators.

For participants, Slavonski Brod became more than a collection of monuments and cultural institutions. It became a place to encounter stories, exchange perspectives and reflect on their own experiences. Perhaps the pilot's most important contribution was demonstrating that the people who create, preserve and interpret local culture are central to the visitor experience.

Visual art and performance offered different ways to enter the same city story. Photo montage: Institute for Tourism / People Powered Tourism.

A new perspective on the city

The pilot received an outstanding average rating of 4.93 out of 5. Every survey respondent agreed that the experience offered a new perspective on the destination, encouraged a deeper connection with its heritage and provided opportunities for personal reflection. Every respondent would recommend the experience to others.

The feedback captured what the day had made possible: through creative participation, a familiar city felt newly discoverable.

Connections that can continue beyond one day

For local stakeholders, the pilot created an opportunity to work across institutional and professional boundaries, strengthening connections between culture, creativity and tourism. Brod through Art and Heritage was designed as a combination of experiences that can be adapted, developed and offered in different formats.

Its future potential lies in continued cooperation among cultural institutions, artists, tourism professionals and the local tourism board. Individual activities can be developed further, while their combination offers a distinctive way of introducing visitors to Slavonski Brod.

Participants left with their own creative responses to the stories and cultural spaces they had encountered. Photo: Institute for Tourism / People Powered Tourism.

A starting point for new city stories

The pilot is not simply a completed event, but a starting point for building a more collaborative and experience-based cultural tourism offer. Its central idea can remain even as individual activities evolve: familiar heritage becomes a shared experience when the people who create, preserve and interpret local culture help visitors encounter it.

In Slavonski Brod, the city's stories moved beyond pages, gallery walls and stages. Visitors walked into them, responded to them and added their own interpretations. The city became a story they could step into - and a story they could help carry forward.