The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism announced in Ponta Delgada that various forums will be held in the 19 municipalities of the archipelago by the end of 2019, thus "contributing to the reinforcement of the Sustainability Charter of the Azores as well as to a more constant and dynamic follow-up of the goals set by each member."
Marta Guerreiro spoke at the opening of the 1st Forum on the Sustainability Charter of the Azores, an event held under the celebrations of the World Tourism Day. It brought together various members who have signed this document at a session that focused on the implementation tools of the Charter as well as on the scheduling of activities for 2018 and 2019 throughout the archipelago.
The Secretary for Tourism highlighted the meeting as a "space for reflection and debate in sectoral working groups," where members have the opportunity "to report progress on their commitments and to set priorities for action."
"The first forum demonstrates that the Azorean Government is committed not only to implementing sustainable policies, but also o monitoring their implementation," stressed the government official. In this regard, she added that the main goal is to "continue following and supporting the members that have already signed the Charter, while challenging all those who have yet to do so."
Marta Guerreiro stressed that the Sustainability Charter of the Azores is a dynamic forum for debate and sharing of sustainable practices, where the goals are set on an annual basis; it currently has 59 members. The government official also emphasised that "each of them has proposed three sustainable development goals."
"This is an important tool insofar as various relevant stakeholders from the public, private and civil society sectors work together in an integrated manner by combining resources, knowledge and experience to raise sustainability standards," added Marta Guerreiro.
The Regional Secretary called for the "voluntary participation" of several stakeholders, including municipal councils, organisations and associations and the business community of the Azores, "whose efforts will contribute to the implementation of sustainable development goals and commitments."
According to Marta Guerreiro, "this is a necessary path to strengthen the positioning” of the Azores destination, but also to the "anticipation of already visible trends in new consumers and, therefore, to the resilience capacity of all regional companies."
"As a movement that has already begun, and now reinforced by various companies and entities, its policies for the acquisition of goods and services will be increasingly guided by criteria based on ethics and sustainability. The sooner producers and regional services are aligned, the greater capacity for anticipation and differentiation will be reached," said the government official.
The Regional Secretary also highlighted the importance of tourism for creating "a dynamic influx that has proven very effective in the pursuit of sustainability policies worldwide," given its "collaborative and multisectoral" management."