Context

The project Community 4 Tourism (C4T) is part of the activities of the thematic community of the Interreg Euro-MED program on sustainable tourism. It aims to contribute to the improvement of European and transnational territorial cooperation by targeting objectives concerning the strengthening of sustainable tourism in the Mediterranean area and the transition towards a resilient and climate-neutral society.

The project draws on the results of Interreg Euro-MED’s projects Communauté du Tourisme Durable and BlueTourMed, but strengthens its objectives to respond better to new challenges.

Project’s objective

The project is based on a main objective : achieving better gouvernance of cooperation, both at the level of political governance and territorial multi-sectoral, multi-level and transnational governance. The emphasis is mainly on the environment and climate, to move towards cooperation promoting a smarter and greener Mediterranean, in line with the Green Deal européen, of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and of the territorial Agenda 2030.

The project integrates the four specific objectives of the Interreg Euro-MED program. Tourism has revealed itself as constituting a transversal issue in the Mediterranean area, involving all kinds of actors, agents and territories. The project therefore approaches its activities in order to :

• continue the consolidation of a competitive innovation ecosystem,
• support a circular economy,
• promote adaptation to climate change, and
• value nature and biodiversity.

Through the various activities that will be carried out, the project aims to propose jointly developed solutions, encouraging cross-border cooperation.

The project aims to optimize the conditions for sharing knowledge of thematic projects of the Interreg Euro-MED program, to promote their results and amplify their collective reach, while mobilizing the regional, national and trans-regional actors concerned, in order to support the transfer and integration of project results in the development of policies, including outside of the Mediterranean area.

The project Geographic scope and countries involved

Euro-Mediterranean countries:Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain

IPA cooperation zone(Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro

The partnership is made up of 8 members: 5 based in the Mediterranean area (Spain, France, Croatia, Italy and Greece), one from an IPA country (Albania) and one based outside the Mediterranean area (Belgium).

There is a public administration responsible for tourism, two universities, a network of universities, three European networks (including one specializing in tourism) and a UNEP/MAP RAC

The plan Bleu in the project

The Plan Bleu is responsible for the following elements :

• coordinate the Mediterranean cluster on “promoting adaptation to climate change and disaster risk prevention, resilience, taking into account ecosystem-based approaches” in collaboration with NECSTOUR ;
• contribute to the United Nations best practice indicators;
• participate in the establishment of a manual for the implementation of the ICZM protocol at the regional level and training;
• organize annual cluster meetings – reports;
• develop policy documents and reports;
• organize events ;
• plan potential study visits for public decision-makers;
• participate in the Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Tourism.

Method and specifics