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NederlandsThe 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 |