On November 21st, in parallel with the Sun and Blue Congress in Almería, the partners of the Interreg Euro-MED project proudly hosted the 2nd Joint Annual Forum of the Interreg Euro-MED Sustainable Tourism Mission. This year's theme, "Climate Adaptation in Tourism: Building Capacity and Policy Integration," brought together experts, stakeholders, and regional leaders to address one of tourism's most critical challenges: climate change. 

During the Forum, NECSTouR, alongside the other partners of the project, organised a highly interactive capacity-building workshop led by The Travel Foundation, which used Almería's example as a case study, through which participants explored practical approaches to implementing climate action plans. The discussions focused on identifying and prioritising strategies to decarbonise tourism, addressing challenges posed by shifting weather patterns, and mapping key stakeholders and highlighting potential barriers for strategy implementation.  

Later on the day, Marjan Nauwelaert, NECSTouR's Climate Task Force Chair and Visit Flanders' Sustainable Manager, contributed to a policy debate focused on the diverse impacts of climate change across destinations, the urgent actions required to build resilience and adapt to the changes and the role of collaboration in fostering interregional policy alignment. Nauwelaert underscored the need for collective action, stating: 

Climate action calls for unity—we are all allies in this mission and must collaborate by sharing solutions and resources. Learning from the experiences of other regions has been vital in advancing our initiatives at Visit Flanders.

This Forum helped us highlight the importance of collaborating when it comes to driving meaningful action. Through these capacity-building exercises, we are empowering our members and other regions to align their policies and build a more resilient and sustainable tourism industry.