MOSAIC - The training kit for Euro-Mediterranean youth work

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Tips for the facilitator
Participants will be more likely to see the urgency of this issue if you can provide some
examples of tourism harming the environment: for example, photographs or statistics
from some of the sites mentioned below. You could also collect any local information
about tourism to share with the participants.
You might raise the issue of air travel, if any participants have travelled to the training
venue by air.
Variations
If the region you are working in is visited by tourists, participants could spend some
time in the area, collecting information before drawing up their flipcharts. If they
have cameras, they can record evidence of lack of care for the environment and
show these in the presentation.
The number of groups is variable: if you have a small number of participants, you can
choose two or three of the themes for them to work on. If the group is large, you could
add a fifth group to look at respect for cultural resources (point 4 in the principles).
Ideas for action
Ask participants to draw a simple map of the Euro-Mediterranean region (or the region
from which participants have come). Each person should decide on at least one thing
they will do to help ensure the social, economic and environmental sustainability of
the Euro-Mediterranean region. They should represent this on the map, with a picture
of themselves and a symbol of what they are going to do.
Suggestions for follow-up
Try the activity “The web of life” from Compass, which looks at how living and nonliving
things are inter-related and interdependent. Activity No. 14 “Mapping the
globe” in this T-kit also looks at connections between human behaviour and the
environment, this time focusing on the impact of the rights to health, food and water.
Further information
Tourism has an important impact on people’s lives and on the environment. European tourism
accounts for two thirds of global tourism; the Mediterranean is the number one tourist destination
in the world. By 2020, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) estimates that there will
be an estimated 717 million tourists in Europe alone.
Tourism is of vital importance for most countries in the Euro-Med region. It generates income
through increased consumption of goods and services by tourists and it opens up new areas
for employment; but mass tourism often results in overdevelopment and environmental degradation.
A new form, ecotourism, tries to combine tourism with sustainable development.
Ecotourism aims to have a positive impact not only on the economy but also on social, cultural,
and environmental aspects.
Responsible tourists