On 10 and 11 April, around one hundred Mediterranean tourism professionals—including representatives of nine members of NECSTouR—were witnesses and protagonists in Rome of an amazing collective effort to start building connections and finding synergies between EuroMED Thematic Projects on Tourism and to share sustainable plans and strategies.

The discussion focused on the three main issues that each of those projects will tackle in the next years:

1. Consolidating a competitive innovation system
2. Supporting Circular economy
3. Promoting Climate Change and risk prevention and Enhancing Nature and Biodiversity

NECSTouR coordinated the creation of a new Cluster on Climate Change Prevention

The Mediterranean region is a biodiversity hotspot, with a higher rate of endemism among species than anywhere else. Yet as a climate change hotspot as well, the region is warming 20% faster than the global average.

The first meeting of the MED Cluster, coordinated by NECSTouR and other partners and facilitated by one of the main experts on the topic, Jeremy Smith from The Travel Foundation, on "Climate Change and Nature and Biodiversity," gathered the Sustainable Tourism Partners to start looking for better strategies for citizens' involvement in the green transition required by that huge emergency.

The debate focused on the main issues selected by the representatives of the four projects belonging to the clusters – CoolNoons, NaTour4CChange HeritAdapt and MedGiahs:

• How should we consider external factors that influence and define our work on tourism’s climate and biodiversity action?
• How do we rethink and redesign tourism in response to climate and biodiversity emergencies?
• How do we ensure necessary and meaningful engagement with key stakeholders required to support action?
• How do we ensure our projects deliver meaningful impact?

A Blueprint to Develop Climate Action Plans was proposed.

The “Blueprint for DMOs and Regional Authorities to Develop Climate Action Plans” that the Travel Foundation is developing under the supervision of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and NECSTouR has been presented as one of the deliverables of the InterregMED Community 4 Tourism Project has already developed in support of the work ahead for this cluster

Are you curious to know more about this work? Then save the date and join us at the NECSTouR AGM 2024 next May in Luleå, hosted by the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board, where we will present it to our members! 

A Mediterranean Partnership and Beyond. 

The event was hosted by the International University of Rome and our member, the Lazio Region, and organized by the Community 4 Tourism Partnership, led by our members of the Province of Barcelona, in partnership with NECSTouR and other partners.

The project will support the mainstreaming of Interreg EuroMED projects' results on Sustainable Tourism into practices and public policies over the next six years to improve governance at a transnational level within and beyond the Mediterranean.

We are grateful to all the participants and especially our members who were in Rome—Andalusia, Emilia Romagna, Occitanie, Puglia, Institute of Agriculture and Tourism, University of Alicante, and Valencia—for their great commitment.

To quote our member and Lead Partner, Josep Rodríguez, "We wouldn’t exist if you didn’t exist!”