Case studies

1.1  Case study 1
RAISING AWARENESS ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF A GREEN DESTINATION MODEL

Raising Awareness on Energy Efficiency through Development of a Green Destination Model aims to support social, environmental and economic transformation in the field of sustainable tourism and contributing to community based socio-economic development through raising awareness on energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. The Green Destination Model to be developed and piloted in selected destination, Küçükköy (Ayvalık) is intended to be further replicated and scaled up across the country.

The four main components are as follows; i) analysing the current status of the destination in terms of energy efficiency and potential for attracting visitors as a sustainable tourism destination, ii) develop “Green Destination Model” to promote sustainable tourism development and increase renewable energy usage and energy efficiency in the pilot destination iii) carrying out capacity building and awareness raising activities on the use of renewable energy resources and energy efficiency in the pilot destination to contribute sustainable local economic development and iv) communication and visibility activities.

Enerjisa Enerji, Sabancı University and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have joined forces with this project to develop a “green destination model” and pilot efforts to infuse energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy and other sustainable practices into tourism businesses in Küçükköy, a promising tourism location along Turkey’s Aegean coast in the Ayvalik district, which already hosts one million visitors each year

The project will raise awareness on energy efficiency and use of renewable energy resources through development of a Green Destination Model that will be replicated and scaled up across the country.

The project is also intended to offer inputs for the actions related to cross-cutting areas, buildings and services, industry and technology, energy, transportation and agriculture to be achieved by 2023 as a part of the National Energy Efficiency Action Plan and project will directly or indirectly contribute to all of the strategic goals set out in the Energy Efficiency Strategy Paper 2010-2023.

The project is also in line with the 2023 Tourism Strategy that highlights the importance of delving into environmentally friendly systems that consume minimum amount of energy and generate minimal waste, using natural resources.

1.2  Case study 2
The Use of Collaborative Practices for Climate Change Adaptation in the Tourism Sector until 2040—A Case Study in the Porto Metropolitan Area (Portugal)

Based on the growing importance assumed by outdoor recreation activities and the need to adapt urban areas to new post-pandemic challenges [5], it is mandatory that the tourism sector plays an effective role in climate resilience. To this end, an innovative research methodology was used (based on mixed approaches), where the debate on a set of defined action measures was stimulated through collaborative methods, according to the identification, inventory and diagnosis of PMA’s particularities. First, six undergraduate students participated in the winter of 2020–2021 in the study with the launch of preliminary strategic guidelines for the adaptation of the urban tourism sector, in the context of a few opportunities arising from the pandemic situation. The second collaborative method used was the application of a modified Delphi questionnaire survey to 45 international researchers and technicians in the first round and 35 international researchers and technicians in the second round, focusing on the predictability of the measures to cope with climate change. The last one was a workshop held to assess what participants (while tourists) would be willing to do, namely, through a World Café, where some of the main actions to be carried out in different time horizons were outlined.

he observation of urban spaces as ‘living organisms’ replaces the emphasis on certain actions on specific spaces of the city, such as green spaces, squares, green roofs, vertical gardens, or green facades [34,35].

Therefore, the theory of tactical urbanism applied to tourism and related activities aims to rethink urban spaces associated with several dimensions among which the flows generated by tourism, the functions of the built space (buildings, housing, equipment, and infrastructure), the stimulation of sociability and the understanding of these interventions and their ability to readapt the city to future climate change scenarios [27,36].

The integration of qualitative–quantitative criteria (QUAL–QUANT) is fundamental for the evaluation of the effectiveness of adaptation to climate change. From this perspective, this research shares the positions defended by several authors [33,37,38] based on the importance of defining recommendations at the level of urban design guidelines. The model suggested regarding the adaptation of urban areas towards the improvement of tourism enjoyment is based on the approaches proposed in the Place Diagram, in Whyte (1980) [8], PPS (2000) [39], Jacobs (2016) [40], and, more recently, Santos Nouri and Costa (2017) [41] with the introduction of the dimension of thermal comfort.

Based on this research, urban and sectoral planning measures have been found to improve the tourism enjoyment of urban space in the face of climatic and meteorological conditions as well as in the context of climate change. In fact, although there are currently thermally pleasing conditions for tourism (particularly during the summer), in the future, they may become scarce because of the increase in extreme phenomena, such as heat waves.

Twenty-three priority measures to be implemented in the short, medium, and long term have been identified. These measures should be based on an intervention guided by the governing authorities (national and local) structured in local government, companies, tourists, and local community actions. These measures will not be very easily implemented, requiring some additional investment in some cases. Given the pandemic context, action on climate change has gained additional momentum, but it is known that some of the measures will have to be implemented over a longer period of time. To contribute to these measures, some solutions have been delineated based on the companies themselves and on public administration, but also with the support of university research units.

The present work proved to be innovative, considering that it enabled the integration of different stakeholders using multiple methods. Thus, we sought to diversify the target audiences and reduce the effects of a strictly academic vision.

1.3 Case study 3
GREENinMED projects

GREENinMED is a three-year project sponsored by the EU in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Capenergies (a French sustainability cluster), Kinneret College, the Israeli Water Association, and the Arava Institute’s Center for Transboundary Water Management. The project’s official launch took place on November 2019 in Malaga, Spain.

The partners are developing innovative energy and water saving products and services for small and medium sized enterprises for tourism in the Mediterranean region. This integrated approach offers a wide range of eco-innovations like seawater air conditioning (SWAC), water/energy saving devices for spa, and garden/golf course irrigation, which have a high degree of replication potential in other sectors and can be adopted by other enterprises.

The GREENinMED project aims to make the tourism industry in the Mediterranean region more sustainable by a series of actions promoting energy and water efficient development in the sector. So far sustainability consultations by experts in the field have been provided to a total of 30 small and medium-sized hospitality businesses in Spain, France, and Israel, and a number of public workshops on the topic have been held in all three countries. The project partners are now launching open calls for the generation of new innovative products or services for the tourism industry and sector. A total of 16 companies will receive grants to develop or adapt new products or services to the needs of greater efficiency in water and energy consumption and/or management by companies in the tourism sector.

GREENinMED will upgrade the eco-innovation capacities of Mediterranean SMEs in the hotel sector and create more dynamic innovation ecosystems, thanks to a cross-border learning process and dedicated financial support. By addressing the challenges of environmental sustainability in the hotel sector, GREENinMED project will reduce the negative footprint of the tourism industry and spread knowledge about efficient water and energy consumption solutions.

Expected achievements:

• 1 strategy on eco-innovation for the Mediterranean hotel industry.
• 1 cross-border eco-Innovation support center
• 8 sub-grants to purchase innovative products, services, equipment
• 30 innovation vouchers
• 15 eco-innovative products and services designed specifically for the hotel industry
• 5 spin-offs created out of the project

1.4 Case study 4
King Fisher Village

King Fisher Village, a resort in Cape Verde, became an “eco-boutique” by designing an integrated solution for water and energy efficiency that cuts operating costs by 85%, using only the energy from the Sun.

King Fisher Village had to deal with poor water quality and its high costs. On the archipelago overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, it rains less than one week a year. Consequently, freshwater scarcity pushes up the prices of water. Particularly, the hotel was provided with water desalinated by a local utility through costly and polluting diesel-powered systems. Guests had to drink water from plastic bottles.

Also, energy supply from the grid is unreliable, highly-priced, and unsustainable, because it is mainly generated through diesel. Since energy costs are high, the domestic hot water supply was highly expensive, because the water was heated by grid-connected resistors.

King Fisher Village carried out a zero-emission solar project to redesign the water and energy supply of the resort. By doing so, they took up the challenge to cut operating costs while guaranteeing energy and water supply and has helped King Fisher Village become a low-impact sustainable resort.

They installed a 72-kWp photovoltaic plant to supply 100% of the energy required by the water desalination plant and help meet the electricity needs of the resort. The photovoltaic plant is grid-tied to ensure a 24/7 energy supply. Indeed, energy from the grid is used for night loads and during bad weather conditions. Thanks to the use of solar energy, the hotel significantly cut electricity bills and it also benefits from a strong reduction in water heating expenses.

A solar-powered reverse osmosis desalination unit was installed to produce 30,000 liters of clean water, of which 1,000 liters are remineralized for high-quality drinking and are channeled to the main distribution points via new piping. The consumption of drinking water in plastic bottles is thus eliminated.

Their desalination unit desalinates seawater only during the day, since it is powered by solar energy, and produces all the clean water needed for the day and the night. Indeed, our patented efficient technology exploits over 90% of the PV net power available and produces much more water for the same budget invested, compared to conventional solar desalination solutions.

The solar energy harvested is turned immediately into water storage, which is available 24/7, guaranteeing the best comfort for guests.

King Fisher Village can also serve fresh local food to its guests every day, since it can irrigate its own garden with good-quality water and grow its own fruits and vegetables.

King Fisher Village cut operating costs for water and energy by 85%, CO2 emissions by 92 tons/year, and eliminated the use of plastic bottles for drinking water.