The Blue Flag National Operators Meeting 2022 was held from the 13th until the 16th of October in Madeira, Portugal. With the participation of national operators from 43 countries, strategic discussions, thematic working groups, best practices and partners’ meetings were on the agenda to pave the future of the Blue Flag. We also welcomed 11 new countries and national operators to the team.
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Our meeting started by sharing highlights from the last year from the international direction of the programme, including FEE’s Biodiversity Campaign 2022, our participation in the United Nations Ocean Conference, supporting the UN Ecosystem Restoration Decade, FEE becoming a signatory of the UNFCCC Glasgow Declaration, and the ongoing “Running Out of Time” campaign.
The discussion continued with the strategic development of the Blue Flag programme, specifically in regard to the FEE’s GAIA 20:30 strategy. We discussed the next steps towards the implementation of the strategy in the Blue Flag programme, the role of Blue Flag in the sustainable management of coastal zones and best practices shared by national operators.
Break-out groups and interactive sessions, where national operators and FEE Board Members shared their knowledge and expertise, provided valuable feedback and ideas to implement in the coming years.
“ The Blue Flag NOM in Madeira celebrated 35 years of this unique sustainable tourism and coastal management programme. I am inspired by the National Operators’ reflections to contribute to FEE’s GAIA 20:30 strategy. Countries in the Global South, with socio-economic and environmental governance contexts that are quite different from those in regions where Blue Flag has historically developed, provide opportunities for new approaches. The possibility of improved environment management with local economic development planning can help expand and renew the Blue Flag programme in more challenging contexts. Strengthening Education for Sustainable Development at Blue Flag sites is an imperative as the world needs many more committed and creative actors for climate action, biodiversity conservation and pollution control.”
- Sanskriti Menon, the chairperson of the Blue Flag NOM and FEE Board Member
As part of the National Operators Meeting activities, the Blue Flag team visited the Municipality of Funchal, where 35 Blue Flag flags, one for each year of the programme’s operations, were raised to witness the evolution of Blue Flag´s history.
“ Standing in front of those thirty-five Blue Flags, knowing that each of those represents the hard work of thousands of local site operators, and local communities to make their sites environmentally sustainable, accessible and safe for tourists, really made me realize how connected the Blue Flag network is and has been towards the same objective, that is achieving sustainability for the people, for the planet, and for the prosperity of generations to come.”
- Alessandro Venti, International Blue Flag Coordinator
We would like to express gratitude to our Portuguese member organisation ABAE, for hosting this year’s national operator meeting and to everyone who participated and helped to strengthen our global network.
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