Sustainable Tourism 4 the Region

The aim of the project Sustainable Tourism 4 the Region was to develop an understanding for the interpretation of the global agenda of the United Nations in relation to sustainable tourism. Using the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park as an example, students from Trier University of Applied Sciences worked with students from partner universities in Israel and Croatia to develop holistic concepts for sustainable tourism that harmonize ecological, social and economic sustainability goals.

The project‘s longer-term outcome goal is strengthening the students sense of democracy and co-designing the living environment. In order to do that, it was divided into three phases: 1) A transnational online lecture series provided students with knowledge in sustainable regional development, civil society organisations and legal frameworks. 2) The students from the three participating countries prepared reports on the culture-specific understanding of sustainability and tourism. 3) In a final one-week project meeting at Trier University of Applied Sciences, the students worked in internationally mixed teams to develop concept ideas for sustainable tourism to meet the specific challenges of the practice partner. These ideas were presented using classic and virtual media and serve as starting points for the sustainable design of the national park region.

The international partnerships could be expanded and deepened within the framework of the project. In particular, interdisciplinary networking with the partners could take place. Due to the interdisciplinary approach and the interweaving of virtual elements with presence formats (blended mobility), the pilot project can also be extended to new topics, new subject areas and an expanded partnership network in the future and thus be made permanent.