Sustainable Tourism: a Taste of the Future

Title: Sustainable tourism: a taste of the future

What: side-event of the Ninth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Tourism, Education for Sustainable Development

When: 6th October 2022, 18:15 - 20:15 Eastern European Summer Time

Where: Room 4/NTL, Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus 

The side event aimed to use an innovative format to raise awareness among decision-makers, government representatives, tourism businesses, stakeholders and journalists about the sustainable and circular solutions that exist for making tourism greener.

Facilitators: Mark Grassi and Alejandro Laguna

• Participants met with people working in sustainable tourism, including through local and short supply chains, avoiding food waste, valuing local culture, landscapes and wildlife, as well as ways of avoiding plastic pollution or upcycling plastics. This was done in an interactive ‘speed dating’ format.

• By tasting and touching examples of sustainable tourism, and by meeting the people involved, participants are far more likely to remember the experience.

• An interactive quiz was held where participants received messaging on sustainable tourism, such as the increase in energy and water tourism is on track to use by 2050, or the amount of plastic waste the average tourist in Cyprus generates each day. A video was also screened to explain how plastic pollution occurs on Cypriot beaches and what can be done about it.

• A one of the booths, participants could meet with representatives from the UN Environment Programme to learn about its work on sustainable consumption and production and tourism and global efforts to prevent and tackle plastic pollution.

• Participants were tested on what they learnt during a quiz to wrap up the event. The three top contestants received prizes from local sustainable businesses.

• The event was an excellent networking opportunity for local businesses, experts, academia, UN staff, youths and decision-makers – including from the Cypriot ministries of tourism, education and environment.

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