REDIRECT

Background  

The Baltic Sea Region is a particularly sensitive environment, susceptible to the effects of increased tourism. The negative environmental impacts of tourism are substantial. They include the depletion of local natural resources, as well as pollution and external disturbances to the local environment. Tourism puts pressure on locally available resources through over-consumption, local waste handling as well as pollution, wear and degeneration of nature habitats through periodically condensed activity. 

We need a change in the impact of tourism. We need tourists to add measurable positive value instead of the opposite.  

Regenerative tourism seeks to move beyond reducing the negative impacts of tourism by exploring how tourism can contribute positively to the ecological, social, cultural and economic development of destinations.

Across the Baltic Sea Region, destinations face a shared challenge in translating this ambition into practical approaches that can be applied by tourism organisations, businesses, public authorities and visitors. While interest in regenerative tourism is increasing, the concept remains relatively new and can be difficult to operationalise across different governance structures, destination types and local contexts.

REDIRECT Regenerative Tourism brings together nine partners from seven countries to address this challenge through the joint development and testing of a practical toolkit for regenerative tourism.

The Project aim  

The REDIRECT approach aims to have a positive impact on the development and resilience of local communities, contributing to a higher level of environmental self-sufficiency in the tourism sector. Furthermore, aiming for the establishment of a higher level of public awareness and hereby strengthening culture and heritage within the Baltic Sea Region. 

The key aim is to create a thoroughly tested generic guide on how to establish and promote environmental regenerative tourism practices in the Baltic Sea Region.  

The purpose of the transnational collaboration is to inspire and strengthen the shared European development of sustainable tourism, through the development of regenerative tourism projects in the entire Baltic Region.  

The project approach 

The goal is to define, develop and launch regenerative tourism initiatives locally, and evaluate and test the effects, to gather relevant and valuable experience and data. The experience and results will be converted into a final toolkit and best practice guide which will be disseminated for further implementation.  

Initial phase (WP 1) – developing and building 

The project partners will develop a Regenerative Tourism Planning Toolkit aiming to establish a uniform tourism sector design using circular practices and metrics, utilized to implement regenerative tourism activities and tours. Such a toolkit will consist of: 

• Procedures to follow  
• A guide to regenerative behavior practices 
• A way to measure the effect 

Mid phase (WP 2) – testing and shaping 

• Pilot testing the toolkit in at least 5 regions (interregional approach) 
• Collecting data and learning from experiences and feedback 
• Adjust and edit the established toolkit solutions 

Final phase (WP 3) – disseminating 

• Communicate the developed solutions to the target groups within & outside the project partnership. 
• Facilitating workshops, webinars, local regenerative tours, etc. 
• Hosting a conference, where results will be shared with stakeholders and target groups 
• Defining a regenerative tourism mindset and formulating a durability plan. 

The Project output – the Regenerative Tourism Manual 

The REDIRECT Toolkit consists of complementary tools addressing different aspects of the tourism system and different target groups. The 7-steps guide provides a structured process for regenerative tourism planning and development. The Savoir Vivre focuses on visitor behaviour and the role of visitors as active contributors to destinations. The Regenerative Tour Design Checklists and Monitoring Templates support tourism organisations in assessing and continuously improving regenerative tourism practices, while the Impact Calculator enables tourism businesses and visitors to assess environmental, social and economic dimensions of their impact.

Following the development phase, the tools are now being tested across the partner regions with relevant tourism stakeholders. The testing examines their usability, relevance and practical applicability in different regional and organisational contexts and provides an evidence base for their further refinement.

Initial findings demonstrate both the potential of the Toolkit and the importance of translating regenerative tourism principles into accessible and context-sensitive tools. Across the different components, recurring feedback points to the need for practical guidance, clear and accessible language, stronger differentiation between target groups and sufficient flexibility for local adaptation. The testing has also highlighted the importance of coherence between the individual tools and of connecting assessment and guidance with concrete opportunities for regenerative action.

The transnational dimension is central to this process. The partner regions represent different destination types, governance structures and stakeholder environments. Testing the Toolkit across these contexts enables REDIRECT to identify both common principles and areas where adaptation is required. Experiences from the pilot regions demonstrate that the practical application of regenerative tourism is closely connected to local resources, relationships, challenges and existing stakeholder structures.

The knowledge generated through development and testing will inform the further refinement and dissemination of the REDIRECT Toolkit. The long-term ambition is to strengthen the capacity of destinations and tourism actors to integrate regenerative principles into tourism planning and practice, while creating meaningful opportunities for visitors to contribute positively to the places they visit.

Project funding 

The project is 80% funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea program and runs for three years, with kick-off in Marts 2025, and completion in February 2028.  

The project has a total budget of EUR 2,764,256.  

The Partners Behind the Project 

The REDIRECT partnership includes solution-providers as well as implementers and promoters, who cooperate with each other throughout the project, from the solution preparation, through piloting and finalizing the results, to the outcome promotion and anchoring a durability plan. 

The project partners are: 

1. Lower Silesia Regional Development Agency (Poland) is the REDIRECT Lead Partner. The aim of the agency's activities is the development of the region and the increase of competitiveness in the region’s economy, and the preparation of enterprise and business environment structures for sustainable development.  
2. Olemisen Balanssia (Finland), a research-based entity conducting research and development studies in the fields of formal education and training, combining theoretical and methodological studies with real-life field studies. 
3. Lithuanian Sports & Tourism University (Lithuania), an institute of sports science and innovation as well as research and studies.  
4. Sigulda municipality (Latvia), where tourism is an essential part of the municipality's business environment. It is a huge tourist center, a resort, a place for winter sports, and hosts thousands of tourists every year. 
5. Læsø Tourist and Business Association (Denmark) represents the interests of the municipality and businesses on the island. Læsø’s economy and population are heavily dependent on tourism related to its cultural heritage (UNESCO tentative list), nature and the sea.  
6. Klaipėda Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts (Lithuania) represents the interests of entrepreneurs and business development objectives in the Klaipeda and Taurage regions. 
7. Skagen Uddannelscenter (Denmark), a locally based education and development facilitator supporting local development and resilience through education, network and skill development. Skagen is one of Denmark's strongest tourism brands with a very broad range of tourism products. 
8. Experience Bremerhaven (Germany), a publicly owned destination marketing organization in the city of Bremerhaven, which focuses on sustainable development, with attractions known far beyond the borders of Bremerhaven, such as the Climate Experience Center Bremerhaven. 
9. City of Lund (Sweeden), coordinates the work to develop a UNESCO biosphere reserve in the 3 municipalities (Lund, Sjöbo, Eslöv). The area known as “Storkriket” has many unique values, i.e. the highest measured biological diversity in Sweden.  

For the Consortium Project to be balanced and well-developed, several associated partners are involved, including tourism information centers, tourism associations, regenerative tourism pioneers, and local authorities, who are involved in and managing the development of tourism within their territory.