This Manifesto is a collective and ongoing commitment. We believe that through the collaboration and engagement of all, we can achieve significant and lasting impact. Let us together transform our actions into a global movement for a better world!
We invite all stakeholders, travellers and consumers to sign this pledge and join us in building a more sustainable and just future for all. Together, we can make a difference and leave a positive legacy for future generations.
PREAMBLE
Accepting the reality of climate change and its impact at local and global scale, we, the tourism community stakeholders, including tourists, visitors and individual consumers in general, commit ourselves to adopt and implement concerted, practical actions to enhance sustainability and resilience in our community via sustainable management of indispensable resources (water and energy), minimization of waste and offer/use of more responsible and sustainable products and services.
COMMITMENT
As touristic community stakeholders, together we recognize that our communities are vulnerable to the impact of climate change, which affects both their well-being and our sector's resilience. We understand that our own choices and behaviors, as tourism SMEs, operators, authorities and decision-makers, tourists and consumers, can influence the environmental sustainability of our communities and of the communities we visit.
We are aware of successful existing practices and actions that can be adopted to reduce our environmental footprint and contribute to the sustainability of our sector and communities. By developing and adopting sustainable solutions, we have the potential to new and more responsible tourists and customers
We see our destination as a community, and the transition towards a more sustainable community as the sum of the single and simple actions of each.
SHARED CAUSE
We share a common cause of reducing the tourism impact on the planet, its natural resources and heritage and commit to collaborate with each other to better address our common challenges. We believe we all can contribute for the community sustainability, recognizing our role alongside with authorities at every level of governance, academy and relevant specialists to increase knowledge and build capacity to adjust our practices and behaviours. And we aspire to achieve valuable synergies through simple and articulated actions and commit ourselves to share our stories and practices, inspiring others to follow our path.
AS TOURISM COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, WE PLEDGE TO:
Actively participate in the movement proposed by With4Less initiative and coordinate our action to develop local sustainable communities, as a compass for deploying sector resilience, innovation, competitiveness and responsible consumption, covering three main pillars:
- Sustainable management of key resources, in particular water and energy, to ensure consumption efficiency, cost reduction and adoption of sustainable practices to reduce the environmental impact of tourism sector
- Waste minimization, assuming a responsible and wise consumption behaviour, reducing the use of environmental prejudicial materials, and contributing to concrete circular economy
- Offering and using more responsible and sustainable products and services, supporting the local economy, reducing carbon emissions, and fostering the adoption of biological, sustainable and fair trade of products in the tourism supply chain
REQUIREMENTS
We acknowledge that this requires:
- Openness to new knowledge and to learn about and new simple practices and behaviours
- Good level of collaboration among all relevant stakeholders in the community
- Engagement and determination of all tourism community stakeholders, including tourists and consumers in general
CALL TO ACTION
As community stakeholders, we invite:
- Civil Society Organizations to develop innovative and socially responsible projects to support communities reducing environmental impact and fostering social equity and fair climate resilience
- Public Authorities to collaborate with the local communities and tourism stakeholders by developing supportive policies, providing opportunities for common visions, joint plans and actions, while implementing communication strategies aligned with a socially and environmentally responsible tourism
- Local Business and Industries to perceive the active engagement in carbon neutrality and climate resilience as an investment in the competitiveness of the tourism business and in boosting the future economy of the destination
- Educational and Research Institutions to highlight best practices and introduce research and education actions oriented at advancing the transition towards carbon neutrality and climate resilience, engaging future generations and raising awareness for supporting the adoption of more responsible behaviours
- European Institutions to consolidate policy frameworks which support the implementation of environmentally sustainable practices in the tourism sector, including relevant policies, support programmes and EU activities
- Tourists, visitors and consumers to be aware and understand the impact of their actions and consumption behaviours in the environment, in the communities and its people, and in their responsibility preserving natural and cultural heritage.
Join Us!
FINAL COMMITMENT
All signing parties, in full knowledge of the official WITH4LESS Manifesto, pledge to:
- Assure knowing their individual roles and responsibilities in the process of building sustainable tourism communities and in adopting sustainable practices and behaviours
- Strengthen the tourism community by forwarding the Manifesto and welcoming relevant people and organizations who wish to pledge together
- Ensure availability and promoting fruitful collaboration across all relevant stakeholders.