Last June 14th and 15th, 2023 in Marseille the Community4Tourism project participated in the 20th Meeting of the United Nations Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development (MCSD) represented by the Barcelona Provincial Council (DIBA) – coordinator of the project – and Plan Bleu.
DIBA contributed to the panel session “Way forward for a Sustainable Blue Economy in the Mediterranean”. The intervention prioritized the Sustainable Tourism topic after the COVID pandemic as a key element for rethinking tourism and its impact on the economic, social and environmental sustainability. On that occasion DIBA introduced the new structure of the two Governance projects working for the common Mission of Enhancing Sustainable Tourism launched by the Interreg Euro-MED programme.
Together with the Dialogue4Tourism project, in fact, the Community4Tourism project will work to foster tourism integrated in a circular economy, considering the sustainability of ecosystem services using innovation technologies, and promoting the preservation of natural resources and cultural heritage.
The long legacy on which the Community4Tourism project builds on was, instead, presented by Plan Bleu in the side-event of the Blue Tourism Initiative. Plan Bleu showcased some of the outputs of the previous Interreg MED Sustainable Tourism Community as the “State of play of tourism in the Mediterranean” and the “Catalogue on best practices on sustainable tourism”. It also introduced the main activities foreseen in the project Community4Tourism.
The event guaranteed an audience of high level representatives that will be pivotal for the work that the two Governance projects will carry on.
About the MCSD
The MCSD is an advisory body to the Contracting Parties (21 coastal countries and the European Union) to assist them in their efforts to integrate environmental issues in their socioeconomic programmes and to promote sustainable development policies in the Mediterranean region. It was established in 1995, by virtue of Article 4 of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (Barcelona Convention) adopted in 1976 under the auspices of UNEP/MAP and amended in 1995.
More information about the event is available here.
