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KiNESIS at Symposium on Sustainable Tourism

Posted on 03/07/2022 scaduto
KiNESIS at Symposium on Sustainable Tourism

KiNESIS interns MAUREEN SHISIAMuhammad Nasir and Sabrina Stieber presented their projects at the Symposium on Sustainable Tourism organized at the University of Navarra by KiNESIS (https://lnkd.in/ewdvJcEe) partners from the Instituto Cultura y Sociedad in collaboration with the School of Engineering on 30 June and 1 July.  

KiNESIS interns Maureen Shisia Barasa, Muhammad Nasir and Sabrina Stieber 

The Symposium, held at the School of Engineering in San Sebastián, brought together experts from 9 countries to discuss the challenges of making tourism sustainable, and to propose ways of communicating sustainability in the tourist sector. Under the direction of Ana María Fernández Vallejo and Ruth Breeze (Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra), and María Jesús Álvarez (Tecnun School of Engineering, University of Navarra), the symposium included 28 communications on subjects ranging from slow tourism, cultural heritage and thematic tourism to the technical and human challenges of implementing the circular economy in the tourist sector.  
The KiNESIS interns presented the overall aims of the KiNESIS project, and explained the different activities they are carrying out: Maureen Shisia Barasa, a student at Tallinn University, Estonia, is investigating the impact of the Camino de Santiago on the villages it crosses in Navarra, while Muhammad Nasir, also studying in Talinn, is collaborating with an innovative marketing campaign for tourism in the historic village of Fitero. Sabrina Stieber, from Harz University in Germany, is investigating ways of lessening the impact of local industries on historic villages in the Sangüesa region. 

 

Round table: Ana María Fernández Vallejo (Institute for Culture and Society), Maitena Ezkutari (Director General of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs in the Regional Government of Navarra), María Cruz Díaz de Terán (Institute for Culture and Society), Mikel Zaldúa (Director of Hotel Lasala Plaza, San Sebastián) and David Mora (Basque Culinary Center) (from left to right) 

 

During the round table discussion, Maitena Ezkutari, Director General of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs in the Regional Government of Navarra, emphasized the pioneering role of Navarra in rural tourism, and expressed her commitment to sustainability, as emphasized in the recent campaign “The other footprint”. In her words, “Navarra has sustainability in its DNA.”  
Other highlights included a stimulating plenary session by Ana María López de San Román, who explained how sustainability is operationalized in the Ilunión Hotels, a hotel chain that leads the field in the inclusion of people with disabilities. 

 

Prof. Alfonso Méndiz, President of UIC-Barcelona, shows extracts from a Bollywood film featuring Spain, including episodes in the festival of San Fermín, Pamplona 

 

The conference ended with a plenary session by Professor Alfonso Méndiz, President of UIC-Barcelona, on the role of films in promoting tourism, a phenomenon which is increasingly being mobilized in the form of “city placement”. This presents a new opportunity for promoting cities and regions and can be shown to have a massive impact on tourist numbers in the areas concerned.