Closed for maintenance, open for voluntourism

The Visit Faroe Islands initiative is on a mission to preserving the unspoilt beauty of these remote islands and protecting them from the harmful effects of pollution. But they do not limit themselves to conservation, but use the magic of storytelling to attract travellers while staying true to their promise of sustainable tourism.

With this innovative campaign, the Faroe Islands strive not only to improve their tourism offer, but also to minimise negative impacts. At the heart of this story is a remarkable group of dedicated volunteers who generously share their experiences and feelings resulting from the positive outcomes of their hard work.

To make this vision a reality, certain famous sites and attractions are temporarily closed to ordinary visitors for a few days each year. Instead, the islands warmly welcome volunteers from all over the world to reach out and support them. This unique approach allows volunteers to build a personal connection with the islands, actively participate in their conservation and ensure that they are not seen as a burden.

Why is it regenerative?

The Visit Faroe Islands initiative demonstrates regenerative tourism by preserving the unspoiled beauty of the islands while attracting tourists in a sustainable way. Through storytelling and volunteer involvement, the Faroe Islands strikes a balance between enhancing its tourism offerings and minimising negative impacts. This approach fosters a sense of responsibility and active participation, making it a model of regenerative tourism that protects and promotes the natural environment.

Project partners met in Aveiro on the 14th and 15th of September 2023. It was the perfect opportunity to visit the destination with regenerative glasses on, to understand its many assets but also some of the challenges the destination is facing. Face to face project meetings always provide the partners with the unique opportunity to learn about the work of the hosting partner and get valuable insights about the destination. In this case partners were hosted by the dedicated team of management and tourism professionals of the University of Aveiro who shared a wealth of insights about a city that was new to many of the participants.

The Enforce project is well on track when it comes to the project work plan, which means that after having completed the Best Practice collection of innovative examples about storytelling for regeneration and also the Storyteller’s Guide, partners used the meeting to discuss the development of the Enforce Training Programme.

For the next few months partners will be working on developing the content in line with guidelines provided by the University of Usak, our project partner from Turkey.
The course should be available for piloting in January/February 2024 and will also be available in the partner languages once all translations are finalised.

The ENFORCE team met in the beautiful city of Luxembourg for its kick-off meeting. It took place at the premises of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg (also known as CCIL), which opened its doors to warmly welcome all partners.

The team was aware of the importance of this first meeting and approached it with the same enthusiasm, as it plays an important role in building strong bonds that will contribute to the success of the entire cooperation. With the common goal of building a solid foundation, the participants discussed in depth the first steps required for the project ENFORCE.

During this visit, the project objectives were discussed in depth to ensure that each partner has a comprehensive understanding of the overarching goals. The outcome of the kick-off meeting was extremely satisfying for all partners and generated enthusiasm among the team. It was a success and left everyone inspired and energised.

The journey of ENFORCE has officially begun and with the collective expertise of the committed partners, there is no doubt that it will thrive and achieve remarkable results.

Enforce

“The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein”

Project N: 2022-1-LU01-KA220-VET-000089887

© 2024 Enforce Project
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