About the project

The CE4RT project is funded under Single Market Programme (SMP COSME) call – “COVID-19 Recovery through Sustainable Tourism Growth and SME Support” (SMP-COSME-2021-TOURSME).

Name of the Project: Circular Economy for Regenerative Tourism
Acronym of the Project: CE4RT
Proposal Number of the Project: 101085456
Project Duration and start date: 25 months, start: January 1st 2023
Lead partner/coordinator: Munster Technological University (MTU), Ireland

The  project is a trans-national collaborative project supporting a network of tourism SMEs across five partner European hubs in the areas of Sustainable Practice, the Circular Economy and Regenerative Tourism. The focus of this project is to provide tourism SMEs with the tools to implement regenerative practices as a long-term strategy within their region and to contribute to the continued resilience, viability and competitiveness of the industry.

CE4RT purposes a cooperative and innovative approach to tourism development that goes beyond sustainable practices and focusses on the constructs of the Circular Economy and Regenerative Tourism. A Circular Economy can be defined as a purposefully designed “socio-economic system inspired by natural systems, regenerative of human and natural capital that works long term for all stakeholders” (EMF, 2012). The Circular Economy provides opportunities for the individual tourism business, the destination and from the perspective of the visitor. From the business perspective it can support competitiveness and provide opportunities for innovation, diversification and differentiation. From the destination perspective circularity can bridge the gap between the tourism business and the local community by supporting local and providing opportunities for employment and general wellbeing. For the tourist, it can provide the opportunity to leave a positive impact on the destination (UNWTO, 2022)1

Additionally, the emphasis of regenerative tourism is on a whole systems approach that provides the host community and the tourist with the same prominence in terms of tourism development while purporting to the theme of ensuring the tourism destination is in a better place after the tourist visit. The whole systems approach to regeneration is about the land, the people, the culture/heritage, the community and the wildlife (McEnhill et. al., 2020)

The success of a Circular Economy is evident in many industries but its use in a tourism context is in its infancy. However, it has been noted that the adoption of such a system can lead to sustainability through innovative practices not only in the manufacture of goods but also through the delivery of services, such as tourism. The circular model seeks to add value to the value chain through the supply chain; by recycling and upcycling; through product life extensions and sharing platforms in which the product does not require ownership.

Finally, CE4RT will have a particular focus on; the local community and the visitor who both play a role in the regenerative process. The host community not only form part of place and the visitor experience but also in their role as suppliers of goods and services and in the delivery of an authentic interpretation of a destination’s culture and heritage. CE4RT seeks to provide training and mentoring on the communications piece to tourists and in the development of innovative behavioural changes that inform the tourist on how their actions can have a positive impact on the destination being visited.

Internally, the project is divided into 6 Work Packages:

WP1 – Capacity Building – needs analysis

WP2 – SMS recruitment and engagement

WP3 – Capacity building – programme

WP4 – Impact and sustainability

WP5 – Communication and dissemination

WP6 – Management

The following are the Deliverables of the Project:

NUMBER	DELIVERABLE	OBJECTIVE
D1.1	Situational Analysis & Training Needs Analysis	To establish current activities, challenges , constraints to sustainable development in regions.
D2.1	Criteria for Selection SMEs	To identify and develop a selection matrix for openness and transparency in the selection process and to adhere to the SMP call.
D2.2	SME Call	To recruit appropriate SMEs to engage in the programme in an open call.
D2.3	Evaluation & Selection Process	To develop an open, published widely to EU standards concerning transparency, equal treatment, conflict of interest and confidentiality.
D2.4	Final List of Participants	To share the outcome of the call, list of all successful SMEs names and countries.
D3.1	Education Programme	To support SMEs to implement sustainability practices in their businesses and to use innovative methods for creating authentic tourism experiences
D3.2	Sustainability Plan	To contribute to the sustainability success of the tourism SMEs in both the short term and long term.
D3.3	Guidance & Tool Box Repository	To support sustainable actions within tourism SMEs and contribute to longevity of the research by openly sharing resources.
D4.1	Data Collection Framework	To establish a sustainability baseline for SME and a measuring mechanism to record their improvements.
D4.2	Project Data Analysis	To monitor progress and report on success stories
D4.3	Findings & Good Practices	To share new methods and solutions for tourism SMEs to adopt
D5.1	Communication & Dissemination	To ensure the project results have an impact on tourism SMEs across Europe to exploit results.
D5.2	Newsletters	To communicate constant progress of the project and raise awareness To
D5.3	Leaflets	To inform stakeholders and target groups about the project
D5.4	Project Video	To share the progress and success to a wider online audience
D5.5	Community Event	To facilitate peer to peer learning and support the Leaders and Learners concept.
D5.6	Sustainability Report	To compile a compendium of best practice information from the project activities for Tourism SMEs and Destinations
D5.7	International Hybrid Conference	To showcase the learnings from the project with academics and practitioners and support the Leaders and Learners concept in the project.
D5.8	Newsletters	To share success stories of the project
D5.9	Community Events	To support the principles of regenerative tourism and share best practice
D6.1	Team Project Meeting	To present the project details and to develop the team’s work ethics and expectations of the project and each other
D6.2	Consortium Agreement	To establish expectations of all consortium partners and what the framework in which they are expected to operate.
D6.3	Project Documentation	To develop a project handbook and templates for all partners to deliver consistent work standards in the project.
D6.4	Technical Progress Reports	To provide status of the project to relevant stakeholders and to ensure the project deliverables are achieved.

The following Milestones have been defined:

Milestone  Number	Milestone Name
MS1.1	`Situational Analysis complete and report delivered
MS1.2	Survey Findings
MS2.1	Selection Matrix
MS2.2	Recruitment and engagement
MS2.3	Registration to the program
MS3.1	Training Activities
MS3.2	Community Engagement Event
MS3.3	Educational Familiarisation Trip (Iceland)
MS4.1	Implementing monitoring Systems
MS4.1	Implementing monitoring Systems
MS4.1	Implementing monitoring Systems
MS4.2	Generate data and tools for long term practices
MS5.1	Communication and Dissemination Plan
MS5.2	Project Website
MS6.1	Consortium Agreement, EC Grant Agreement and Project Handbook in place