Unlike your typical festival with stand and pavillions, IT.A.CA Festival of Responsible Tourism in Italy involved 10 days of events, activities and conferences, hosted by the region Emilia Romangna, related with responsible and sustainable tourism. Trekking, biking and hiking, tours, concerts, book presentations, tastings and special contests were all part of the festival which gave life to the program.
Held from 30 May to 8 June, the master location was Bologna but there were activities and events all over the region: from Ferrara to Rimini, passing through Parma. Between Bologna & la Piccola Cassia, the route between Bologna and Modena and up to the Apennines.
The were also conferences and seminars such as:
- How to Offer Sustainable Hospitality, an educational seminar on accommodation facilities;
- Learning Sustainability by Travelling, a convention with prizes awarded for the contests. Racconta la tua città (Tell us about your city) and Adotta un turista (Adopt a Tourist);
- A Responsible Trip, a seminar with contest announcement and presentation by the Carta Etica del Turismo Scolastico (Ethic Chart of scholastic tourism);
- FU-TURISMO conference on responsible tourism and World Heritage sites with UNESCO and an award ceremony for the IT.A.CA is Bologna contest – Prize for Sustainable Tourism 2014.
Activities in Bologna organised by IT.A.CA. fair included:
- From the Botanical Gardens, a journey through the streets of Bologna. This was a walk for travellers of all ages, in discovery of the ‘green’ citizen presented by Vivisostenibile and other association.
- A performance about ethnic groups and the commodification of tourism: the Masai, Hadza and Datooga, with Davide Palumbo
- Daily Life in Area C – Photographic exhibition from the Palestinian territories
Further information:
http://www.festivalitaca.net/2014/05/english-program-it-ca-2014/
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