On 11 December the ‘Mediterranean Experience of Eco-Tourism' (MEET) team held the final public event in the three years of activities of the MEET project, which was co-funded by the EU's ENPI CBC (Cross-Border Cooperation) Med Programme. Two meetings - the MEET Final Conference and the Advisory Panel on Ecotourism (APE) workshop - were held in Barcelona on 10-11 December.

The events were hosted by the Generalitat de Catalunya Sustainability Department and involved the MEET Network - 25 parks and 9 institutions from 8 countries (France, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Spain and Tunisia) - along with special guest speakers from organizations such as international tour operator Greenspot Travel, sustainable tourism consultants Sustainable Travel International and representatives from the Europarc Federation and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

The main achievement of the MEET project has been the establishment of this network, which consists of a set of partnerships across the private and public sectors enabling protected area managers and tour operators to work together to coordinate the MEET Ecotourism Catalogue. The Final Conference was an opportunity to showcase their main achievements, as well as the good practices that have emerged from the project.

Contributions from similar projects and experiences in the Mediterranean and abroad, such as MARTI, the Meso-American Reef Tourism Initiative, were presented, together with ideas for follow-up to this initiative.

On the second day, the APE workshop provided an opportunity to develop a strategic ecotourism guideline document in collaboration with relevant national and regional experts and policy makers, with a view to influencing ecotourism policy in the Mediterranean region and introducing positive changes.

For further information: Carla Danelutti

Photo: Two-pagers © MEET Network