European Ecotourism Conference 2010

Learning and networking for quality tourism – Workshop in Rome

Aivar Ruukel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:27:02 +0000

WORKSHOP “Learning and networking for quality tourism”

Roma, 16 novembre 2011 ore 9.30
(Palazzetto Mattei, Villa Celimontana, Via della Navicella 12 Roma)

Programme
9:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00-10:15 Welcome
Stefano Di Marco, Vice Presidente CTS
Cons. Caterina Cittadino, Capo Dipartimento Turismo
Simone Bozzato, Segretario Generale Società Geografica Italiana
10:15 – 11:00 Presentation of the ECOLNET Project
10:15 Fouli Papageorgiou, PRISMA – Centre for Development Studies, Greece
Introduction to the ECOLNET project and the European Ecotourism Network
10:30 Andrei Blumer, Association of Ecotourism, Romania & Vasilis Tsipidis, PRISMA – Centre for
Development Studies, Greece
The European Ecotourism Labelling Standard (EETLS)
10:45 Kathy Velander, Edinburgh Napier University, UK
ECOLNET training approach
11:00 – 11:45 Tourism and quality standards
11:00 Mara Manente, CISET, Università Cà Foscari
An overview of certification and CSR standards in tourism
11:15 Paolo Pigliacelli, Federazione Italiana Parchi e Riserve Naturali
Quality tourism in protected areas
11:30 Paolo Foglia, AITR/ICEA
Certification of the eco-bio tourism and the Tourcert initiative
11:45 – 12:30 Sustainability and Responsibility in tourism: the stakeholders perception
11:45 Enrico Ducrot, Viaggi dell’Elefante – Responsabile Tavolo Sostenibilità ASTOI
Sustainability and responsibility in mainstream tourism
12:00 Stefano Spinetti, Presidente AIGAE – Direttore Four Seasons
Nature tourism operators towards training and certification for Sustainable Tourism
Development
12:15 Sebastiano Venneri, Responsabile Turismo Legambiente
The Environmental organizations perspective
12:30 – 13:00 Discussion on the presentations
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 16:00 Introducing the EETLS and the ECOLNET training system to the market
Gordon Sillence, Herbert Hamele, ECOTRANS, Germany
International Knowledge Networking for Sustainable Tourism Development
Discussion

Ecotourism in Spain

Aivar Ruukel — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:14:21 +0000

Guide to sustainable destinations. Protected areas and companies awarded the European Charter of Sustainable Tourism.

Open publication – Free publishing – More garrotxa

EuroEco 2011 Conference Rescheduling

Aivar Ruukel — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:26:53 +0000

We are sorry to announce the postponement of Geilo 2011 ecotourism conference. Many stakeholders have expressed difficulty in raising funds and finding time to repeat last years’ conference so quickly, major developments have taken place in the world of European ecotourism that need to be factored in, and next year the International Year of Ecotourism + 10 review will take place, which was not foreseen in the 2010 agenda.

To maintain the momentum of European‐level support for local ecotourism activities, the conference organisers will continue to work to prepare for a global event that will showcase European developments in ecotourism for the IYE +10 in 2012. Innovation Norway will assume a stronger role in the preparation to build on the success of the 2007 Oslo five year review of the IYE. And furthermore, as part of the recent major developments, we are pleased to be able to announce that the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) will support of the development of European Ecotourism Network, currently being developed in the ECOLNET project, as the unifying process for sustaining and improving ecotourism in Europe.

To this end there will be an Online Open Forum to be held on 29th May 1 st June. You will be able to find out the latest news of European ecotourism developments and contribute your views of what needs to be done. Details of the forum will be available on http://destinet.eu

For further information please contact:

Innovation Norway ‐ Martin Lauten – phone: +47 22 00 29 03

Høve Støtt – Pål K. Medhus – phone: +47 32 09 14 10

Last Day for EuroEco 2011 Speaker Application

Aivar Ruukel — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 08:29:04 +0000

Now it is a deadline for applying to speak at European Ecotourism Conference 2011, which will be held on May, 29 – June 1 in Geilo, Norway.

Proposed topics include:

Marketing & PR: What are some of the key ingredients of successful marketing strategies for ecotourism businesses?
Business: Why do some ecotourism projects and initiatives manage -and why do others fail- to become financially successful tourism enterprises?
Destination Management: What are some best practice examples of developing, managing and promoting ecotourism destinations?
Conservation & Communities: How are tourism stakeholder groups working together to support conservation and communities through ecotourism?

Here is an Application Form.

European Ecotourism Conference 2011

Martin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:58:22 +0000

The Norwegian Ecotourism Assosiation will host this years event at Geilo May 29 to June 2.

Responsible Tourism Week starts

Aivar Ruukel — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:30:38 +0000

Today (Monday, February 14) starts and continues through Friday, February 18 – the Responsible Tourism Week, an unconference initiated by Ron Mader of Planeta.com.

This is a web-based global discussion about Responsible Tourism, the Local Travel, Ecotourism and other related issues. Responsible Tourism Week takes place 3rd year.

Q: How can I be part of this event?

A: Share your own practical examples on the web, tell your story to the World!
Learn from other people, who are passionate about same issues that you, and make new friends.

There are many Web 2.0 tools, choose the ones that you like and that you already are using.
And learn some new:

Now, it is a great opportunity to start using Twitter, if you did not do it yet. This week you will understand the idea of tweeting and hastags. Look for #rtweek2011
Do you have some pictures about your work? Share them on Flickr
Videos on the Youtube
Facebook of course – a synonyme for networking and communication on web
Do not forget to update your own website and/or blog
Then there are also slideshare for your presetations, delicious for social bookmarking, foursquare and gowalla for locationa based collaboration … did I forget something?

NATUR-project started

Aivar Ruukel — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:47:39 +0000

Last week a kick-off meeting was held in Lisboa for NATUR-project. Partners in this project are:

AidLearn from Portugal
Cankiri Karatekin University from Turkey
ROC WB from Netherlands
Võru Vocational School from Estonia

The main objective of NATUR project is to develop a B-Learning Tool that allows the participations to develop and improve the skills and competences necessaries related to nature tourism activity sector in

Entrepreneurs or future entrepreneurs who wants to develop business;
local development promoters/agents, municipality technicians and stakeholders who, by the nature of their professionals activities, have to define policies and strategies connected to tourism sector; and
technicians and professionals of tourism sector who wants to develop or increase their know-how and skills in this scope.

The consortium that will carry out the NATUR project have a relevant experience in developing transnational projects, the key persons involve have the know-how and expertise related with tourism sector, specifically in nature tourism scope, and also present highly competences in developing B-Learning products.

Photo competition on Reducing Water Waste in Tourism

Aivar Ruukel — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:53:06 +0000

ECOCLUB.com has announced a Photo Essay Competition – “Reducing Water Waste in Tourism”

About 70% of the planet surface and of our body comprises of water, however over 1bn people lack access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation. This is a well known problem, and the ‘international community’ through the Millennium Development Goal number10 have promised to solve it. If they do not, they should expect Water Wars. Tourism development currently accentuates the problem: mega-resorts with private swimming pools, pesticide-treated golf courses, sprawling holiday home developments steal, waste and pollute water, among other equally harmful impacts, even in semi-arid regions like the Mediterranean, accelerating the desertification process and climate change. Read more on photo competition.

ECOLNET aims to create European Network

Aivar Ruukel — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:04:50 +0000

First project meeting of European Ecotourism Knowledge Network – ECOLNET was hold in Athens, Greece, 24-25 January 2010. This EU Lifelong Learning Programme financed three years project has 12 partners from different corners of Europe:

ECOLNET aims to develop innovative evaluation tools and learning products for sharing knowledge among European network and facilitating quality certification standards of ecotourism businesses through their copliance with the European Ecotourism Labelling Standard (EETLS).

See the video below, what two of the network partners, Gordon Silence of ECOTRANS and Zoltan Kun of PAN Parks expect from ECOLNET:

Fall in love with responsible tourism

Planeta — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:11:33 +0000

by Ron Mader

Fall in love with responsible tourism. Make your plans now to join us online for the next Responsible Tourism Week. Our unconventional, online unconference takes place Feb 14-18, 2011.

Background: Responsible Tourism Week is a fun mash-up exploring down to earth applications of noble concepts including responsible tourism, the local travel movement and ecotourism with practical and inexpensive Web 2.0 technologies. Take a peak at what we accomplished in 2010 via the Planeta Wiki and on Slideshare.

We are seeking partners and financial sponsors.

Simply put, this online unconference is an excellent way to broaden and deepen our dialogue about sustainable practice and tourism. The event encourages participants to articulate their core values and the way they put noble ideas into practice. We spotlight living, breathing examples of responsible tourism. RT Week provides an opportunity to introduce new events, tours and research projects as well as an opportunity to summarize recent events. For those who can keep track of a hashtag, it’s a new window to the world! Yes, it’s a high-tech, but we also promote the foamboard.

How to participate? You can start now by documenting the stories you’d like to share. In particular we will highlight photos on Flickr, tweets on Twitter, videos on YouTube and recommended blogs and wikis. This year we will start to feature tours using Gowalla and Foursquare. Check out the toolbox!

During the event participants are invited to organize a local Photosafari and/or Green drinks.

Of special interest in 2011 will be the role of responsible tourism in forests and cities. Join us!