City of Dubrovnik is focused on the long term holistic development and improvement of the quality of life for its citizens, which is evident, among others, within the city’s various strategic priorities and documents, as well as series of implemented smart city projects. Project ''Respect the City'' is the umbrella project for the sustainable tourism development which was launched in 2017 as a strategic research-development and innovation program. It functions as a framework contract on business-technical cooperation in the planning and implementation of research and development activities projects, models and solutions of sustainable development of the City of Dubrovnik and the gravitating region with an emphasis on innovative sustainable, responsible tourism. Considering the critical moment in which the development of tourism is in the world, in the Republic of Croatia, a especially the city of Dubrovnik, with challenges that require effective and dynamic responses with respect of all the benefits of a systematic strategic approach, a proposal was made to make research and development dynamic innovation (IRI) and an integrated strategic-program approach to design and launch a system that will based on existing and upcoming development frameworks and policies, current scientific and professional knowledge, and by involving and cooperating with key stakeholders to generate short-term, medium-term and long-term solutions that would enable a measurable shift towards more sustainable and responsible tourism and local development.
The basic idea is a combination of strategic and planning, as well as innovative so-called "agile" or adaptive approaches to solve development problems related to the issues of sustainable development and sustainable tourism real, visible changes. Innovative public-private partnership proposed use methods and tools arising from the sphere of social, economic and digital-technological innovations with the aim development and implementation of projects, tools and solutions necessary for real, measurable and quality progress. Action plan of the ''Respect the City'' looks at this very demanding situation in which the tourism sector, but also the entire local community and economy are located and proposes an integrated strategic development, implementation, technological, but also financial framework for a dynamic response to key challenges and issues and needs using a combination of short-, medium- and long-term interventions. Actions defined in the plan (focused on 4 categories: people, systems, sustainability, accessibility) will function as the synergy of public, private, but also civil, as well as scientific-research, development-innovation and environmental factors, and by activating all available European and other external and internal sources financing. Within the financial framework of the European structural and investment funds for the period from 2021-2027, City of Dubrovnik will finance all potential and pre-set activities, as well as monitor them on annual basis.