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TO CARE MED: Transferring Tourism Carrying Capacity Tool TO CARE about Sustainability of MED ecotourism strategies, plans, products and services

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Euro-MED0401165

TO CARE MED

Transferring Tourism Carrying Capacity Tool TO CARE about Sustainability of MED ecotourism strategies, plans, products and services

Lead partner:

  • CA’ FOSCARI UNIVERSITY OF VENICE, Italy

Partners:

  • City of Pula (Croatia)
  • Union of Bulgarian Black Sea Local Authorities (Bulgaria)
  • KAPODISTRIAKI DEVELOPMENT S.A. – CORFU Municipality (Greece)
  • RCDI – Development and Innovation Network (Portugal)
  • Community Educational Research Centre (Slovenia)
  • Murcia Municipality (Spain)
  • Union of Municipalities “Tifernum” (Italy)

Funded: INTERREG Euro-MED / Programme priority Greener MED/ Project mission Enhancing sustainable tourism
Duration: 24 months
Budget:  1.499.596,80 EUR (Interreg Funds : 1.199.677,44 EUR)
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The project aims to foster sustainability in ecotourism by addressing the risk of over-tourism and promoting environmentally healthier and economically viable tourism models. The project addresses the MED region challenge related to the seasonality and concentrated impact of tourism, leading not only to increased demand for water resources, but also to waste generation, and the risk of exceeding carrying capacity limits. The negative impacts of over-tourism threaten the preservation of natural and cultural heritage and local identities. Therefore, managing tourism sustainably while maintaining the quality of life for local communities is a critical challenge. The TO CARE MED project focuses on developing sustainable ecotourism in MED destinations by transferring and optimizing the Tourism Carrying Capacity Limit (TCCL) tool originally developed in the ALTERECO project and included in the Euro-Med Toolkit for sustainable tourism.

The project aims to enhance sustainable ecotourism in the Mediterranean by transferring and optimizing the Tourism Carrying Capacity Limit (TCCL) tool in various destinations, where stakeholders collaborate and commit to caring for MED resources, promoting a balanced, sustainable tourism model that protects natural and cultural heritage.

The overall objective is to transfer and uptake the tool to partners’ destinations. Expected changes include:

  • Improved Tourism Management: Implementing the TCCL tool helps manage tourist flows, ensuring that tourism activities do not exceed environmental, social, and economic limits.
  • Enhanced Policy Making: The tool aids policymakers in creating strategies and plans that balance tourism development with preserving natural and cultural heritage.
  • Sustainable Ecotourism Development: The project promotes a model that integrates the protection, restoration, and valorization of natural and cultural assets, leading to more sustainable tourism.

Project Outputs:

  • Optimized TCCL Tool: Transferred to local and regional tourism authorities, policymakers, and stakeholders in MED destinations. The tool is customized to account for each destination’s unique ecosystem, integrating regional insights and stakeholder feedback to improve sustainable tourism management.
  • Joint Ecotourism Strategy: Co-defined by tourism stakeholders, tourists, environmental organizations, tourism businesses, and local communities. This strategy aligns tourism products and services with carrying capacity limits to ensure sustainable development of ecotourism, protection of heritage, and environmental preservation.
  • Cascade Training Model: From transnational training of trainers to local learning and clustering of knowledge. The process addresses trainers, sustainable tourism professionals, environmental experts, destination managers, territorial planners, tourism businesses, and operators. Training programs provide the skills and resources needed to develop sustainable ecotourism practices in destinations that align the tourism subsystem with the assessed TCCL.