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Adriana Ballón Ossio, Project Manager at CSCP, and Olivér Szabó, CEO and Founder of Greencentive, joined us for a fireside chat sharing their perspectives on circular destination experiences and sustainability initiatives. Greencentive seeks to generate education and entertainment - edutainment - around sustainability. CSCP is a non-profit organisation in Germany; think and do thank working on sustainable projects.

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To begin with, the speakers reflected on the idea of circularity. Adriana mentioned that it is essential to understand that a circular economy is not necessarily sustainable. The art is in translating it into sustainable solutions. She added that we move on from the concept of the end of life to the extension of life by recycling materials and resources. To Adriana, a circular economy is an invitation to collaborate and create synergy between stakeholders. The question that we need to ask ourselves in the process is 'how can my resources be used by someone else?. Adriana has worked with SMEs post-covid time to integrate circularity in business models.

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Oliver started Greencentive 5 years ago, looking for ecological products. First, he began running tours in his neighbourhood. Later, to scale up, he started festivals. The EcoHopper introduces shops that contribute to the circular economy but are outside the green circles. Through partnerships, Oliver created an app which today functions in four German cities with the hope to expand further in the future. Thinking about tourism, EcoHopper supports travellers who wish to be sustainable by making more sustainable decisions.

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Adriana added that having global experience working with SMEs, for them not receiving governmental support is a major issue. Therefore, to create motivation and incentive, sharing stories from projects in other parts of the world and communicating results and success stories is vital. She added that tourism, as one of the biggest socio-economic activities, has a great impact by creating job opportunities and income. However, at the same time, it is one of the main reasons for pollution and environmental impact. Therefore, we can also look at tourism through the lens of its transformative impact on travellers, integrate elements of circularity and recycling, and involve the local communities. As a result, we can make an impact on people and businesses.

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Olive added that the first thing that needs to be considered in making destination experiences circular is to realise the need for supporting localshops and promoting the destination more comprehensively. The idea should be to communicate the inspiring and authentic stories of all people and social projects.

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To conclude, Adriana mentioned that ambassadors play a key role in growing circular destination experiences. They are the people who create trends. To move forward from business today to a better version in the future.