Location: islands of Lastovo (Croatia), Brownsea (UK), Paros (Greece) and Kerkennah (Tunisia)

Financial partners: Anna Lindh Foundation, European Union

Local partners: Municipality of Kerkennah, National Trust, Nature Park Lastovo Islands and FOTOESSA, and with the expertise of the Travel Foundation

Budget: 69,269 € (50,000€ from the Anna Lindh Foundation)

Project description

Although islands represent only 5% of the earth’s surface, they are home to 20% of terrestrial species and 600 million people depend on their ecosystem services for their sustainable development. The islands are exceptional territories also for their cultural wealth (heritage or intangible heritage). The vulnerability of these territories is matched only by their resilience, and they can be a leader and a source of inspiration to bring about social and environmental change at the global level. The project aims to encourage the birth of a more resilient, diversified and spread out tourism over time, of which women can be important drivers, on the islands of Kerkennah (Tunisia), Brownsea (UK), Lastovo (Croatia) and Paros (Greece). The NGO SMILO will support these islands in a holistic and participatory approach for the strategic planning of sustainable tourism. Alongside the Municipality of Kerkennah, National Trust, Nature Park Lastovo Islands and FOTOESSA, SMILO will support public, private and civil society actors to identify the natural and cultural resources to be valued and the key actors who will be able to bring out innovative and sustainable touristic products and experiences. Pilot activities aimed at diversifying the local tourist offer, led by women committed to the sustainable development of their island, will be supported through this project.

The project hence aims to reduce the isolation of island territories in the EuroMed region, through the networking of actors in these territories, and to improve their knowledge of sustainable tourism and the promotion of island heritage. The objective is to help diversify the tourist offer and reduce dependence on mass and seasonal tourism, which endangers the local cultural heritage, the biodiversity and the economic resilience of the islands, and thus protect and enhance their heritage cultural and natural, and promote intercultural dialogue and the cultural diversity of the islands. It is also about sustaining the action of local organisations led by women and promoting the role of women as engines of more sustainable development on an island scale.