CENTOUR – Circular economy in tourism (COSME)

General concept

CENTOUR fosters innovative solutions for sustainable tourism development and management of tourism enterprises, through transnational cooperation and knowledge transfer, in particular toward SMEs focused on local supply chains and developing industrial symbiosis to develop circular business models. The proposal addresses the specific challenge and scope of the topic, as set out in the COSME 2019 Work Programme and in the present Call: strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of the tourism sector and its contribution to economic growth and jobs in the EU, boosting capacity of tourism SMEs through transnational cooperation and knowledge transfer in the field of sustainability. 

The role of UNIVPM in CENTOUR

UNIVPM develops innovation strategies with a special focus on developing circular supply chain and reverse supply chains solutions. Special attention is paid to three focus themes: – Reducing Food waste in food sector, specifically referring to the reintroduction of the exhausted oil coming from the tourism sector, Plastic free offer and rethinking the packaging through the whole supply chain within single SMEs and at evaluation at system level. – Collaborative consumptions, a communal way to find alternative and efficient business models and at the same time increase the community lead tourism approach. Furthermore, UNIVPM will bring marketing strategies linked specifically to circular tourism and the project results in 2 focus-regions. 

Expected impacts

The outcomes of the project will enable an effective support scheme for SMEs to provide them with the necessary skills, knowledge and the appropriate mindset and resources (also in terms of local governance) to develop innovative solutions toward a circular economy, increasing their capacity to rethink their business models, products and services. The results will help the participating SMEs to develop and implement solutions for circular models, in particular foster brainstorming and innovative solutions through design thinking approaches, establishing communities of practices and cross-sectoral cooperation. Furthermore, an enduring network of Institutions will be created that can collaborate on circular economy support schemes for SMEs in the tourism sector and the exchange of practices and results at EU level will be promoted within a circular economy network of stakeholders and the development of an operational framework to replicate the business support scheme elsewhere.