Sredinom decembra, u kafe-baru “16” održana je promocija dve publikacije: “Održivi banjski turizam u Srbiji” i “Održivi turizam na Staroj Planini”, koje su nastale kao rezultat istraživanja u okviru projekta Zelene evropske fondacije pod nazivom “Održivi i pravični turizam”. Zajedno sa organizacijama iz Austrije, Hrvatske, Severne Makedonije, Španije i Srbije, istraživali smo o negativnom uticaju turizma na životnu sredinu, kao i alternativnim načinima razvoja koji su u skladu sa očuvanjem životne sredine i autentičnosti regiona, uz istovremeno poboljšanje načina života ljudi.
Govornice su bile Nataša Gligorijević, direktorka Centra za održivi razvoj Srbije, i Katarina Lević, članica PolEkola, autorka publikacije o banjskom turizmu i ko-autorka publikacije o turizmu na Staroj Planini (zajedno sa Milanom Zlatanovićem).
Moderatorka tribine i članica PolEkola, Žaklina Živković, započela je tribinu pitanjem o samom konceptu održivosti turizma i problemima sa kojima se suočava.
Naime, održivi turizam ekonomski doprinosi razvoju jedne zajednice uz, istovremeno, očuvanje životne sredine. Kako bi se ovo postiglo, najvažniji korak je sarađivati sa lokalnim stanovništvom, i uzeti u obzir sve posebnosti, kako bi se uključila u planiranje i realizaciju održivog turizma, ali i kreirati sistem vrednosti koji će sprečiti dalje uništavanje prirodnih dobara, istakla je Nataša Gligorijević.
O tome zašto su kao studije slučaja odabrane baš Vrnjačka Banja i Stara Planina govorila je Katarina Lević. “Prva godina projekta imala je za cilj da istraži negativne primere razvoja turizma, kojih je nažalost puno i nije bilo lako odabrati. Prevagnula je tema banjskog turizma, jer je u istoriji bio primer sjajne prakse, a danas sadrži i pitanje prekomerne eksploatacije prirodnih dobara, privatizacije i zagađenja – što su najvažniji problemi na koje Polekol pokušava da ukaže. Druga godina projekta imala je za cilj da prikaže pozitivne primere razvoja turizma pa se Stara planina nametnula kao najlogičniji izbor, jer su meštani oživeli ovu oblast i čvrsto su rešeni u nameri da ne dozvole da se pretvori u novi Zlatibor ili Kopaonik”.
Kada je reč o preporukama i pozitivnim primerima razvoja turizma u Srbiji, Nataša je istakla da su difuzni hoteli jedan od oblika održivog turizma koji je već prisutan u ovoj oblasti. “Na Staroj planini možete odsesti u kućama lokalnog stavovništva, a hraniti se lokalno proizvedenom hranom u zajedničkom prostoru mesne zajednice i koristiti iste prostorije za druge aktivnosti. Osim toga, na Avali postoji razvijeni sistem udruženja lokalnog stanovništva, koje nudi avalske proizvode i trudi se da razvije i ispromoviše turističku ponudu. Dakle, naznake razvoja održivog turizma postoje, međutim nisu definisane zakonima, niti potpomognute od strane države. Potrebno je naterati državu reaguje na signale i pomogne razvoj ove oblasti, jer je evidentno da su ljudi savršeno sposobni da se samo-organizuju.”
Katarina se nadovezala na ovu priču predstavljanjem statusa quo kad je banjski turizam u Srbiji u pitanju i još jednom naglasila važnost uključivanja lokalnih zajednica: “Većina banjskih lečilišta izgrađena je novcem građana putem PIO fonda, ali u njih decenijama nije ulagano, tako da većina nije u funkciji. Danas smo svedoci prikrivenih i planski sprovedenih privatizacija, kojima se vlasništvo građana Srbije prodaje privatnim investitorima ispod procenjene vrednosti, pa se tako u obnovljenim i popularnim banjskim lečilištima, bez ikakve zakonske regulative, neodrživo gradi na štetu izvora mineralne vode. Jedan od takvih primera je i Vrnjačka Banja, u kojoj je ugroženo čak 4 od 7 izvora mineralne vode. Upravo zato je neophodno edukovati i osnažiti lokalne zajednice kako bi zahtevale da budu informisane, uvažene i uključene prilikom planiranja i razvoja lokalne turističke ponude.”
Događaj su zatvorila pitanja publike, od kojih je najvažnije bilo pitanje kako je korona uticala na razvoj turizma. Obe govornice složile su se oko toga da je Covid-19 era doprinela istraživanju netipične ponude i većom potražnjom za uživanjem u prirodnim lepotama, dok se (makar trenutno) smanjio pritisak urbanizacije u turističkim mestima.
Zaključak je da je, u kontekstu razvoja održivog turizma, najvažnije pronaći balans: dakle, uspostaviti saradnju sa kreatorima politika i ostvariti ekonomsku dobit za lokalnu zajednicu (uz privlačenje domaćih i stranih turista), ali, istovremeno izgraditi sistem zelenih vrednosti, koji će sprečiti negativne posledice po životnu sredinu, lokalni duh i kulturno nasleđe te turističke oblasti.
Video sa događaja možete pronaći ovde.
Preservation of nature commons and local authenticity – sustainable tourism in the Republic of Serbia
On December 17th, the Cafe-bar „16“ hosted the promotion of two publications: „Sustainable spa tourism in Serbia“ and „Sustainable tourism on the Balkan Mountains“, which were created as a result of research within the Green European Foundation’ project named „Fair and Carbon Free Tourism“. Together with the organizations from Austria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Spain and Serbia, PolEkol conducted a research about the negative impact of tourism on the environment, as well as alternative ways of development that are in line with the preservation of the environment and the authenticity of the region, while at the same time improve the life of people.
The speakers were Nataša Gligorijević, director of the Center for Sustainable Development of Serbia, and Katarina Lević, member of PolEkol, author of the publication on spa tourism and co-author of the publication on tourism in Stara Planina (together with Milan Zlatanović).
Moderator of the event and member of PolEkol, Žaklina Živković, started with a question about the very concept of sustainable tourism and the problems it faces.
Namely, sustainable tourism as a concept represents a type of development that contributes economically to the development of a community while, at the same time, preserves the environment. In order to achieve this, the most important step is to include local community in order to get involved in the planning and implementation of sustainable tourism, but also to create a system of values that will prevent further destruction of nature, as Nataša Gligorijević pointed out.
Katarina Lević spoke about the reasons why Vrnjačka Banja spa and Balkans monutain were chosen as the case studies. „The first year of the project aimed to investigate the negative examples of tourism development, which are, unfortunately, numerous in our country, therefore – it was not easy to choose. The topic of spa tourism prevailed, because in history it was an example of great practice, and today it also includes the issue of overexploitation of nature commons, privatization and pollution – which are the most important problems that Polekol tries to point out. The second year of the project aimed to show the positive examples of tourism development, so Balkans mountain emerged as the most logical choice, because the locals have revived this area in the past yeare and are firmly determined not to allow it to turn into a new Zlatibor or Kopaonik“.
When it comes to recommendations and positive examples of tourism development in Serbia, Nataša pointed out that diffuse hotels are one form of sustainable tourism that is already present in the area. „On Stara Planina, you can stay in the houses of the locals, eat locally produced food in the common area of the local community, and use the same premises for other activities. In addition, there is a developed system of associations of local residents in Avala, which offers locally produced products and strives to develop and promote the tourist offer. Therefore, there are indications of the development of sustainable tourism, but they are not defined by laws, nor supported by the government. It is necessary to make the state to respond to these signals and help the development of sustainable tourism, because it is evident that people are perfectly capable of self-organization.“
Katarina followed up on this story by presenting the status quo when it comes to spa tourism in Serbia and once again emphasized the importance of involving of the local communities: „Most spa resorts were built with citizens’ money through the public health fund, but they have not been invested in for decades, so most of them are not in function. Today, we are witnessing covert and planned privatizations, by which the property of Serbian citizens is sold to private investors below the estimated value, so even in the renovated and popular spa resorts, without any legal regulation, excessive construction has detrimental effect on the mineral water sources. One of the examples is Vrnjačka Banja, where even 4 out of 7 sources of mineral water are threatened by the over-construction. This is precisely why it is necessary to educate and empower local communities in order to demand to be informed, respected and included in planning and development of the local tourist offer.“
The event was closed by questions from the audience, out of which the most important was the question of how the corona virus affected the development of tourism. Both speakers agreed that the Covid-19 era has contributed to the exploration of atypical offers and a greater demand for enjoying natural beauty, while (at least temporarily) the pressure of urbanization in tourist areas has decreased.
The conclusion is that, in the context of the development of sustainable tourism, the most important thing is to find a balance: therefore, establish a cooperation with policy makers and achieve economic gains for the local community (by attracting domestic and foreign tourists), but – at the same time, build a healthy system of values, which will prevent negative consequences for the environment and cultural heritage of the tourist area.
You can see entire video from the event here.