Eco-efficient tourism (KA358)
Funded by Karelia ENPI 2007-2013

Objective of the project

To make Euregio Karelia region more attractive for tourists through gradual leveling of quality of the services provided to tourists on two sides of the border.

Main activities

• Development of models for sustainable management of actively visited tourism destinations • Development and introduction of environmentally sustainable technological solutions for facilitation of specific recreation areas and tourist routes • Training and marketing

Achievements

The project has been producing both theoretical results and practical outputs as well as having a societal impact. The former have to do with the theory of sustainable development of the territories, which was applied to study the effect of tourism projects on the environment, economy and social development of the local community. Theoretical results have close interconnection with the practical ones especially when it comes to elaboration and publication of the guidelines and guidebooks on how to implement the models developed into practice. One of the important practical results was the adaptation of corresponding Finnish practices in sustainable tourism to Russian realities. In this regard the publication “Guidelines on establishment and management of open-use recreation areas” has become a good visibility material. Another specific output is a manual “Eco-efficient travel in Karelia” that gives answers to many questions on why eco-efficiency is needed and how it can be utilized with the benefit for entrepreneurs, tourists and local communities on both sides of the border. The mentioned guidelines and manual are in a way a bridge from “why” and how” tool to a more glittering leaflet showing “how it looks likes”. The guidebook “Eco-efficient technologies on the “Blue Road” was especially designed to attract more public attention to eco-efficiency and promote its values with specific examples of the tourist treasures of the region where eco-efficient technologies were applied. The implemented demo projects have become the best demonstration of the published concepts and the representation of the project’s investment part that provoked the interest of society and showed the possibilities for making positive changes in infrastructure having limited funding thanks to rational distribution of resources.