Sustainability, Outdoor, Tourism, and Adventures

  Ciao! After a couple of posts about the European Commission and sustainabletourism , today’s topic is the European Union Council.   The Council is an inter-governmental body created in 1974 with the intention of establishing an informal forum for discussion between heads of state or government. To put it brutally, it is the where the member countries defend their national positions and interests within the Union. The more it got integrated into the EU agenda, the more the Council became a drafter of EU policies. It functions as a council of ministers, where the various national ministers meet and - among the various inter-ministerial meetings - the diplomatic representations of the member states to the Union keep in contact and have periodic sessions. The presidency rotates among member states and changes every six months ( currently it is Germany ) . So now it’s clearer why the EU has not a single leader but a triumvirate: the Commission President, the Presidenc...

Ciao! Here is another tip about the EU Commission, this time over Cultural tourism. Just few lines and an interesting figure about the interconnection of cultural and rural tourism!   It is estimated that cultural tourism accounts for 40% of all European tourism 4 out of 10 tourists choose their destination based on the cultural offer. A joint study by the Commission and the Council of Europe, "The impact of European cultural routes on SME innovation and competitiveness" found that cultural routes have shown enormous potential for small business generation, clustering, intercultural dialogue and the promotion of the image of Europe in general. Cultural routes can also make a strong contribution to local economies and societies, as they require local knowledge and skills and promote lesser-known destinations. For example, 90% of cultural routes pass through rural areas.   The Commission actively collaborates with the Council of Europe, the European Travel Commi...

 Ciao again! For Italian speakers, my second interview about climate change and the Caucasus, including a short description of mountain tourism. This time we are discussing Georgia. Here's the link, hope you share it

  Ciao! Today, and for some posts to come, I’d like to share a short research – very short and totally unambitious – about international organizations and sustainable tourism. What triggered me to put together some posts about this topic is an empirical observation: the strength of sustainable tourism projects is that they are very often grass-root projects, grounded on a deep if not passionate knowledge of a territory and its potential. Paradoxically, I find it to be also its weakness. Very often those who commit to these projects are not aware of already well-structured guidelines, or principles, or lesson learnt, plus – and this can prove to be tragically severe – available funding.   Therefore, what I find useful is to give an overview of some international organizations that deal or invest in sustainable tourism. If you don’t have a Political Science background, it is not so common to be familiar with international organization and how they work, beside a very...