Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty Initiative (ST-EP)

Posted on: 20 November 2013
By: mackene
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The UNWTO Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty Initiative (ST-EP) was born in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.to promote poverty alleviation through the provision of assistance to sustainable development projects. The initiative focuses on activities that specifically alleviate poverty, deliver development and create jobs for people living on less than a dollar a day. The initiative has been strongly supported by several countries and particularly by the Republic of Korea, host to the ST-EP Foundation. The process leading to the creation of the ST-EP International Organization was presented during the World Travel Market in London in November 2013 and discussed with the over 35 countries which have so far expressed their interest in joining as founding members and hosting regional offices for the new organization.

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Sustainable tourism governance and management in coastal areas of Africa

Posted on: 13 November 2013
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By assessing how to apply sustainability principles and policy instruments for coastal tourism development in Africa, this report presents detailed recommendations are provided to strengthen governance and management to ensure that tourism serves as a positive force in coastal areas, helping to conserve environments and biodiversity, minimising environmental impact and contributing to the well-being of local communities.

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Food and cities: Analysis

Posted on: 10 October 2013
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This analysis summarises the main aspects of urban food topics: why should cities address food issues, how to strengthen urban food systems, what are the components of a food system, what is a food strategy, how to engage citizens, and the many advantages of promoting a sustainable food system.

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EU-wide establishment of enduring national and European support networks for sustainable urban mobility (ENDURANCE)

Posted on: 7 October 2013
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The ENDURANCE project aims to build 25 national networks and an overarching European network organisation on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. The main target groups are urban mobility professionals, cities and national authorities. The ENDURANCE networks will offer a training and policy exchange programme based on yearly national meetings in each country as well as on international meetings. The project is represented in 25 countries, and one objective is to motivate 250 cities to participate in the networking and to develop, improve and/or implement a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan.

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Global Sustainable Coast Review: Coast and islands

Posted on: 2 October 2013
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QualityCoast has published a comparison of 1000 island and coastal destinations on sustainability issues. The study concludes that 95% of tourism destinations do not have a proper sustainable tourism policy. This is described as the broadest sustainability review of tourism destinations worldwide ever published, including social, environmental and economic aspects. The Review is designed to assist tourists in holiday destination selection, and show all destinations the weak points that should be improved, especially the lack of a sustainable tourism policy.

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Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Report 2013

Posted on: 2 October 2013
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The Global Real Estates Sustainability Benchmark GRESB has released 2013 Report, which is based on sustainability data gathered from 543 property companies and funds, providing aggregate information on 49,000 properties across the globe.  The report  shows that the real estate sector is significantly reducing its environmental impact, decreasing energy consumption by 4.8 percent over the 2011-2012 period – equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of 163,000 homes. Over the same period, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.5 percent, and water consumption decreased by 1.2 percent.

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The upper floor: Vertical mobility in the city. Lisbon, 2-4 September 2013

Posted on: 13 September 2013
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The concept of urban mobility is built on the idea that movement in town is not only a technical issue but also a social issue that has to deal with urban practice, spatial behaviour, and relation to the environment. Urban mobility invites cities stakeholders to enlarge their vision of urban transportation to a more systemic and global approach: movement in town cannot be understand without taking into account the technical conditions of moving (urban transportation), the organization of activities (urban structure), the daily practice of inhabitants and visitors (urban society), the quality of space (urban landscape) and the measures taken by decision-makers to shape the city (urban policy). More than a concept, urban mobility is a framework, meaning a basis to build new relations between people and space, and to propose more services to the inhabitants.  The first two days of the workshop was by invitation only, and the following seminar open to the public, are part of the program of the World Mobility Week. The workshop focused on the case of Lisbon to discuss and design a project redefining mobility in a complex topographic environment. Technical solutions are many, ranging from surface equipment or air system to mixed solutions (stairs, ramps, passages, lifts, funicular), etc. Presentations are available online.

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Promoting low carbon transport in India

Posted on: 11 September 2013
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Three reports released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluate and summarise options for low carbon city planning, non-motorised transport (NMT) and infrastructure risks due to climate variability in India. The reports were published as part of the project on ‘Promoting Low Carbon Transport in India.’ The first report, Low carbon city: A guidebook for city planners and practitioners, provides basic guidance to city level policy makers, urban planners, transport planners and consultants. The guidebook focuses on: the meaning of “low carbon” in the context of long-term global climate stabilization target; low carbon scenarios and alternate development pathways to achieve these scenarios; and the role of low carbon development in India.  The second report, NMT infrastructure in India: Investment, policy and design,  identifies gaps in the implementation of policy for NMT-use in Indian cities. The third report, Framework for infrastructure assets: A case study of Konkan Railways, summarises the uncertainties and risks that infrastructure assets face due to climate variability and suggests possible adaptation strategies.

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Financing sustainable urban transport: International review of national urban transport policies and programmes

Posted on: 10 September 2013
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The study presents an analysis of a variety of financing and planning practices world-wide in order to help decision-makers identify suitable elements for their local context. While focusing on decision-makers in China, the study is also relevant for other countries facing similar challenges. It presents insights into financing arrangements for urban transport in eight countries: Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

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ITP Water Risk Assessment

Posted on: 4 September 2013
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The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) has published a report on water risk issues in key development areas for the hotel industry – Rio de Janeiro, Beijing and Shanghai, India’s Golden Triangle and Dubai. The study, conducted for ITP by the Stockholm International Water Institute, provides an overview of how freshwater may become a constraint to the hotel industry in the specified regions in terms of maintaining current operations, as well as future growth.

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