Sustainable Tourism - Effective Use of External Funding

The past use of external funding to develop innovative pilot approaches has culminated in the current South Hams Sustainable Tourism initiative which ran from April 2001. The European Objective 2 funding has been matched by input from South Hams District Council and the following partners:

Countryside Agency
South West Tourism
South of England Regional Development Agency
Devon County Council, Dartmoor National Park
Environment Agency
East of England Tourist Board
representatives of the industry
Agenda 21 Group

The initiative which is an example of best practice at both a regional and national level also works well with many other agencies and organisations to promote and share information and provide training opportunities for businesses involved.

The sustainable initiatives that SHDC have been involved with began in 1993 with:

South Devon Green Tourism Initiative (pilot 1993-1995)
Pilot for Green Audit Kit 1996
South Devon Green Tourism Initiative 1998-2000
South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme (pilot 2000-2001)
South Hams Green Tourism Business Scheme (current project)

The Council has been leading in green tourism since its involvement in the South Devon Green Tourism Initiative (1993), a national pilot project which was recognised with an England for Excellence Award in 1995. It aimed to encourage those with business interests in tourism to profit from a green tourism business approach. The Council, as a key partner, was keen to ensure “that local communities benefit positively from tourism and that the unique quality of the environment is safeguarded.” One of the results from this pilot was the Green Audit Kit, which has now been adopted nationally by the Countryside Agency and the English Tourism Council. This business guidebook provides advice on undertaking environmental improvement and an approach that values the environment as a business asset, limiting business impact upon it.

For more information, please download our pdf information sheet; ‘ Effective use of External Funding’ (214kb)