While the REGENERA project partners are completing the initial phase of the project and finalising their mapping exercise and initial survey, as well as the collection of good practices, the project’s Advisory Board held its first meeting which met the expectations and opened vast opportunities for collaborations and mutual support.
The Advisory Board has the objective to assist and support the project and its workplan and provide guidance and suggestions for improving various processes and outputs. This assistance and support will primarily be reflected in its members giving their opinions on various tasks and activities within the project’s framework, as well on the draft deliverables and other outputs produced by the project partners. Another major added value of having an Advisory Board will certainly be the access to a much wider audience than that of the project alone through webinars, newsletter and events which could feature REGENERA’s milestones, achievements, and outputs.
Various relevant organisations were invited to join the Advisory Board, based on the common interests, objectives and activities they might have with the project. Some of them came forward at the very early stage of the project, back at its proposal phase, supporting and endorsing it in front of the European Commission. Finally, the European Network of Outdoor Sports (ENOS) represented by Alberto Robles, EUROPARC – the representative body of Europe’s Protected Areas and the collective voice for all nature and landscape areas represented by Teresa Pastor, and as the Surfrider Foundation and the Surf Clube de Viana are currently making up the Board, which is still open for new members.
The first meeting took place on 16 July, with a couple of absences, which nevertheless allowed the project partners and the Advisory Board members to introduce themselves to each other and identify common grounds, both in terms of activities and methodologies, as well as dissemination opportunities. The project deliverables which are due in the coming weeks were the main focus of the meeting. The 5-Helix Multistakeholder methodology presented by Nuria Diaz and Jordi Ros of the Sport Council of Pla d’Estany attracted a lot of attention, not only because it would define the approach to the challenge addressed by the project but also nearly all the project’s future activities. The Advisory Board praised the fact that such a project was initiated and approved by the European Commission, especially because regenerative tourism is gaining traction and becoming a preferred way to managing destinations. The meeting participants agreed that while it is in its early phase of conception, regenerative tourism and destination management could become an upgraded version of sustainable tourism, going beyond simple net zero objectives and allowing the environment and ecosystems to regenerate themselves in addition. Cross-sectoral cooperation is therefore key and a good and complete mapping of local stakeholders belonging to different spheres of interest – authorities, NGOs, sport clubs, tourism board and others is the only way to kickstart overarching discussions and solution designs. Nejc Donaval of the Slovenian Rowing Federation presented what the mapping exercise looks like at the moment, confirming the REGENERA project’s intentions to reach out to the most diverse stakeholders. Finally, Seán Darcy of Leave No Trace Ireland presented his recent research and work on the collection of good practices in the field that would become the project’s Catalogue. The Advisory Board members were happy to see some of the practices they were previously aware of and at the same time discover new ones. During the meeting they confirmed their willing to contribute to the Catalogue with additional good practices that might have been left out of the initial version.
Some of the key takeaways and talking points revolved around the interactions between the visitors and the locals who depend on water bodies as farmers, fishermen or just common residents of the areas. Teresa Pastor also reflected on the challenges and potential solutions from the economic and industry point of view where a more extensive communication between the destination managers and tourism agencies and operators is needed in order to raise awareness about the topic through highlighting practices the destination managers would like to implement and have tour operators and their clients supporting and aligning with.
When it comes to dissemination opportunities, Alberto Robles said that ENOS would have its annual conference Euro’Meet in Lecco, Italy which would focus on innovation in the context of outdoor sports and activities, demonstrating how the introduction of new technologies can enrich the sporting experience and contribute to create citizens who are aware of the importance of sustainability and health. Both Alberto and Teresa added that they regularly organise webinars and workshops, as well as publish periodical newsletters which could certainly be a good opportunity for the REGENERA project to disseminate its achievements and milestones.
If any European organisations, sport clubs, tourism boards, local authorities and similar are interested in participating in the project as an Advisory Member, they are kindly invited to contact Ernest Kovacs of ACR+ at gro.sulprca@ke
Ernest Kovács, Project Manager
