Regenerative Hospitality Summit 2024 – Transylvania – 5th to 8th May

CASA RATIU, TURDA, TRANSYLVANIA, ROMANIA

5TH TO 8TH MAY 2024 (arrive 5th – depart 8th)

From Ulster University and the Oxford Cultural Collective

Follow link to book your place

 

 

Regenerative Hospitality Summit 2024 will explore how to harmonise the activities of hospitality, food and drink organisations, with the natural ecosystems, communities and places of which they are a part, to help them thrive.

Join other leaders and change makers from the international hospitality community, to learn from each other and to map a path for the future.

The Regenerative Hospitality Summit will:

• Build a supportive international network of organisations and individuals, committed to achieving regenerative impact.
• Showcase ways in which food, drink are hospitality organisations are embracing regenerative practice, as a source of inspiration to others.
• Lay the foundations for significant future collaborations, in industry and higher education.

 

The Summit will promote the idea that hospitality businesses can be more profitable by adopting higher, purpose-led objectives, focused on helping people and places thrive and creating a just and more equitable society.

 

To achieve its aims, the Summit is attracting a cross section of leading thinkers and practitioners representing a diversity of perspectives associated with food production and preparation, farming, soil health, landscape restoration, nature conservation, tourism destination management, cultural representation and higher education. 

 

Your hosts

Discussions will be facilitated by active proponents of regeneration, in the context of place, hospitality and tourism, and higher education.

Lead facilitators (pictured above):

Bill Reed, a distinguished Principal of Regenesis Inc – a regenerative design, living and systems integrator and education organisation – is an internationally recognised planning consultant, design process facilitator, lecturer and author in sustainability and regeneration. An architect and planner by profession Bill is known for his contribution to the development of the LEED standard and has since been a key contributor to the application of regenerative/living systems to the design and development of places and their communities. Playa Viva resort in Mexico is an example of a partnership project, where Bill has been able to apply regenerative design principles with great success. In 2021, Bill and Anna Pollock worked together to introduce Hospitality Design Principles to RegenerativeTravel.com and, more recently, Bill was retained by Destination Canada to articulate a regenerative design approach to future tourism development in Canada.

Anna Pollock, founder of the independent consultancy, Conscious.Travel, has 50 years experience serving the international  tourism sector with a particular focus on destinations; understanding the change forces in the way tourism is marketed, managed and delivered; and thinking creatively about alternative models needed to thrive in a post-modern world. She has been researching and pioneering regeneration, applied to tourism and hospitality, for at least 10 years and is educating and inspiring practitioners internationally via her talks, writing and courses. Anna is a Patron of the Oxford Cultural Collective.

 

Background

For a fuller exploration of Regenerative Hospitality – read this article by Anna Pollock (follow this link). 

 

2023 was the year when some of our global institutions paid serious attention to the way climate, biodiversity, economic, cultural and social crises were converging and leaders at the highest level (WTO, WEF, UNWTO) first applied adjectives such as “poly”, “meta” and “perma” to the now familiar noun “crisis”.  The Secretary General of the UNWTO was clear:

“We need to change course – now – and end our senseless and suicidal war against nature,” he said. “We must place true value on the environment and go beyond Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of human progress and well-being.”

In the face of such overwhelming challenges, the hospitality community is uniquely well-placed to lead systemic change to ensure the natural environment, people and places can thrive. Its position at the heart of our food system, influence over consumer behaviour, public reach through media engagement and role in defining the character of urban and rural locations, give it immense influence.   

Yet despite this potential, the hospitality-tourism sector too often plays catch-up (with some very notable exceptions), shifting its aspirations slightly towards achieving ‘net positive’ impact on the environment. The term ‘regeneration’ is increasingly used, but not in a way that reflects its true weight or potency, thereby discouraging deeper examination of the level of change that is required and denying the sector the opportunity to step forward, return to its essence and fulfil a leadership role.

 

Distinctive format of Summit

The Summit will not follow a traditional conference format. Built around three interconnected themes – Place, Food System and Higher Education – its various sessions will enable deep exploration of issues, sharing of experiences and ideas, and future planning.

It will include:

• Panel discussions and ‘in conversations’ featuring expert contributors.
• Facilitated, structured discussions, which provoke delegates to address challenging issues.
• Delegates’ reflections on how to achieve greater regenerative impact in the future.

 

Social programme

The social programme will provide time for delegates to enjoy each other’s company and build new working relationships.

It will include special dinners prepared by Romy Gill MBE (tv chef and author) and Paul Bloomfield (chef and OCC Patron), with support from Culinary Arts and Hospitality students from Ulster University.