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Costa Nostrum - Sustainable Beaches
Published on 29 July 2021
Greece
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
It’s the first time worldwide that a protocol for the sustainable development and management of the Mediterranean beaches is created, aiming to prevent the environmental causes instead of “curing” them, as well as, proposals are made for economic viability & social well-being of the wider region, in order a balance to be achieved in three pillars of sustainable development.
It is a dynamic upgrading system that can incorporate solutions, depending on the needs and characteristics of each beach. Bathers can take part in the evaluation of the certified beaches through the non-stop online questionnaire survey and allows its annual scoring upgrade. It creates an experiential two-way link between the bather and the beach (and the mainland) and a very personalized tourist experience. It gives practical beach management tools to their managers and a healthy competitive environment is created.
It can be adopted and applied by all the Mediterranean coastal municipalities, as well as, by private businesses, such as hotel units and camping, that financially exploit a number of beaches.
The major outcomes of the implementation of the specific protocol are the environmentally - sustainable and qualitative improvement of the awarded beaches, resulting firstly in environmental protection, conservation & increase of the awareness of a very fragile ecosystem, coastline.
Finally, a new protocol for the operation of the beaches due to COVID19 was created, in May 2020.
It is a dynamic upgrading system that can incorporate solutions, depending on the needs and characteristics of each beach. Bathers can take part in the evaluation of the certified beaches through the non-stop online questionnaire survey and allows its annual scoring upgrade. It creates an experiential two-way link between the bather and the beach (and the mainland) and a very personalized tourist experience. It gives practical beach management tools to their managers and a healthy competitive environment is created.
It can be adopted and applied by all the Mediterranean coastal municipalities, as well as, by private businesses, such as hotel units and camping, that financially exploit a number of beaches.
The major outcomes of the implementation of the specific protocol are the environmentally - sustainable and qualitative improvement of the awarded beaches, resulting firstly in environmental protection, conservation & increase of the awareness of a very fragile ecosystem, coastline.
Finally, a new protocol for the operation of the beaches due to COVID19 was created, in May 2020.
Expert opinion
Litter has a devastating impact on vulnerable marine eco-systems and for many coastal communities, it also has a negative economic impact, as marine litter is deterring tourism, has negative effects on the blue economy and coastal cities spent millions of Euros in clean-up actions. The reduction of plastics waste is thus a key measure to prevent littering with single-use plastics items such as beverage and food containers, plastic bags and cigarette butts. To this end, the EU Directive on single-use plastics is limiting the use of SUPs and puts forward a 77% separate collection target for plastic bottles by 2025 – increasing to 90% by 2029. The Costa Nostrum projects sets an environmental standard for the quality of beaches which supports both economics interests of the local industry as well as the environmental quality of coastal eco-systems. It is a very good example that can be implemented by coastal municipalities and can inspire approaches in other fragile eco-systems as well.
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
The cost of the overall procedure of the certification of a beach (including the standard and the premium services) is estimated at about 20000€ per beach with a total length of 500m. The annual cost of the recertification is 1500€ per beach.
Evidence of success
Until today 13 highly tourist beaches in Crete have been certified from Costa Nostrum’s protocol.
Through our non-stop online questionnaire survey, more than 6000 questionnaires have been answered.
The bathers’ satisfaction degree about the most important indicators for a beach are stated below:
Sustainable waste management procedures => 81%,
Cleanness of the beaches => 85%
Cleanness of the sea bottom => 84%
Environmental information => 70+%
Total satisfaction degree => 80+%.
Through our non-stop online questionnaire survey, more than 6000 questionnaires have been answered.
The bathers’ satisfaction degree about the most important indicators for a beach are stated below:
Sustainable waste management procedures => 81%,
Cleanness of the beaches => 85%
Cleanness of the sea bottom => 84%
Environmental information => 70+%
Total satisfaction degree => 80+%.
Potential for learning or transfer
Through the dissemination of our work, all the certified beaches’ management bodies, as well as, thousands of bathers at the certified beaches have realized the significance of the coastal ecosystem and the environmental awareness have been raised significantly in both the bathers - visitors of the certified beaches, as well as, to the wider coastal area.
Moreover, we have succeeded to inform thousands of people about the uniqueness of every beach - coastal area, and the importance that it must be given, concerning the management procedures of the beaches, in order the sustainable development and management of both the beaches and the wider coastal area to be succeeded.
Moreover, we have succeeded to inform thousands of people about the uniqueness of every beach - coastal area, and the importance that it must be given, concerning the management procedures of the beaches, in order the sustainable development and management of both the beaches and the wider coastal area to be succeeded.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Costa Nostrum
Greece
Kriti
Contact
CEO - Founder