Sustainability & Stewardship
2022
Nominee
Finalist
Shortlist
Winner
Tourism Matters - Leave Nothing but Footprints
Tourism in Skåne
Leave nothing but footprints focused on addressing problems created by the aggressive wear and tear of increased visitors at Söderåsen National Park, the pressure and negative impact visitors had on nature and nearby residents, as well as attempted to change visitors’ mindset. There is a cost when people visit nature and don’t take care of it, visitors need to realise that a national park is a special place which deserves to be revered. Project Footprints’ goal was to change the mindset of visitors from that of consumers, to stewards. We explored how we could forge an anchored connection to nature among visitors, so they develop a sense of stewardship for a location.
Sweden is known for its Right to Public Access which allows people access to camp in nature no matter if it is on private or public lands. However, there are exceptions to this rule and those exceptions occur in national parks. This is something that is not well known. Often visitors are aware of their rights, but not about their responsibilities. With the increasing number of visitors during the pandemic, there was an impact on the environment and community around those high-pressure locations. The County Administrative Board and Tourism in Skåne partnered up to address this issue as it not only impacts natural resources, but also society and tourists’ experiences. If we want to make Skåne more attractive for all parties, then everyone involved needs to contribute to sustainable change.
Judges Comments
Here is a summary of the judges comments for the winner of the Sustainability & Stewardship Award - Awarded to Tourism in Skåne's 'Leave nothing but footprints'.
Why it's a winner
Sustainability is a priority that concerns all of us. As an industry there has been a sea change shift towards trying to build a more purposeful future, where tourism offers net-positive regenerative benefits for both people and planet. This requires everyone to be involved in the process of change.
Leave nothing but footprints is a winner because it stands apart from anything else we've seen, putting human centred design at the heart of addressing problems that deserve empathy and a diversity of perspectives. The project is about getting in touch with the problems we're trying to solve, using creativity and design methods to identify possible solutions. The judges loved this for its sense of creativity, inclusive approach to solving challenges and hands on sense of taking ownership.
What it taught us
This teaches us that as tourism organisations, we shouldn't be afraid to try new things and find ways to bring creativity into our processes. When solving problems in the wider environment that we might not fully understand, it is important we challenge our assumptions, involve everybody in the process and avoid outsourcing solutions that require ownership.
Scoring
The judging criteria looked at Execution, Impact, Creativity and Strategy. The judges felt that the holistic and rounded nature of this project is the reason it scored equally highly across all four judging categories, making it a deserving winner of 2022's X Awards.
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