When final destination is not geographical, but rather a new way of looking at things

It is 5.40pm on Bee Day and I just left the office. Finally, days last longer and there is still some light at this time of the day, which always gives me energy to consider new activities. I admit that I have an obsession right now, as I keep focusing on a trip I want to organize. This time-period is certainly a good excuse, even more so thinking of what Gino told me.

Who is Gino? Gino is my colleague, the one with curly hair, young and athletic. A Judo champion, but not only you.

Freud said:

“There is a story behind every person.

There is a good reason for them to be the way they are."

Gino really has a lot of stories to tell, in fact Gino even knows how to write stories. For example? His latest novel “Inside to the Bones”. But do you know why I am telling you about all this? Because, in order to be able to publish it he launched a public crowdfunding partially related to the publication of the book,   but also partially meant to support the "Judo Everest Scholarship project" and help the community of a Nepalese village where the highest judo gym in the world is located (almost 4,000 meters above sea level).

So yesterday he told me about his trip to Nepal, needed to get to know the school he helped firsthand. An incredible journey, in one of the countries hardest hit by the climate crisis: of its 75 provinces, 29 are highly vulnerable in the case of natural disasters, 22 are threatened by severe droughts and 21 may suffer catastrophic floods.

Sono le 17:40 del Bee Day e sono appena uscita dall’ufficio. Finalmente le giornate sono lunghe e la luce che c’è ancora a quest’ora, mi regala sempre l’energia per pianificare nuove attività. Ammetto che in questo periodo ho una fissa: non faccio che pensare ad organizzare un viaggio. Sicuramente è complice il periodo, ma ancor più quanto mi ha raccontato Gino.

Chi è Gino? Gino è il mio collega, quello con i ricci, giovane e atletico. Un campione di Judo, ma non solo.

Freud diceva:

“C’è una storia dietro ogni persona.

C’è una ragione per cui loro sono quel che sono.”

Gino di storie da raccontare ne ha davvero molte, anzi Gino sa pure scriverle le storie. Ad esempio? Il suo ultimo romanzo “Dentro fino alle ossa”. Ma sapete perché ve ne parlo? Perché per riuscire a pubblicarlo ha lanciato un pubblico crowdfunding collegandolo in parte alla pubblicazione del libro, ma in parte al sostegno del progetto “Judo Everest Scholarship project” per aiutare la comunità di un villaggio nepalese in cui si trova la palestra di judo più alta del mondo (quasi 4000 metri sul livello del mare).

Così ieri mi ha raccontato del viaggio che ha fatto in Nepal per conoscere da vicino la scuola che ha aiutato. Un viaggio incredibile, in uno dei paesi più duramente colpiti dalla crisi climatica: delle sue 75 province, 29 sono altamente vulnerabili in caso di calamità naturali, 22 sono minacciate da severe siccità e 21 possono subire inondazioni catastrofiche. 

According to the United Nations, Nepal is the 4^th most vulnerable country in the world due to climate changes.

While reflecting on this, I thought I would tell you about a new phenomenon that is spreading. This is certainly not Gino's case, but many people have become attracted by a type of tourism defined as "last chance".

Two University of Groningen researchers,  Anne van Valkengoed and Annette Scheepstra, have highlighted a worrying phenomenon regarding tourism in areas having a great environmental value. These places, often visited with the intention of admiring their natural beauty before it is too late, may be associated to forms of eco-anxiety. The phenomenon is known as "last chance tourism".

Last chance tourism may definitely become a powerful tool to stimulate awareness. Places affected by the climate changes, when made available to a large audience, acquire a new value. In fact, they become instruments of memory and awareness that may educated and mobilize consciences.

However, "last chance" tourism has a "dark side". It feeds on a morbid relationship with catastrophe, transforming the direct experience of climate collapse into a real attraction. The expected growth of this phenomenon in the incoming decades raises questions about possible negative effects. There is a risk that the impact of mass tourism on these fragile ecosystems could overshadow the educational benefits of such travelling.

The first cases of "last chance" tourism relate to the melting of the ice, a melting that also takes away our memory. The most popular destinations? Obviously the Arctic pole, but also the glacier located on the French side of Mont Blanc, called Mer de Glace. The impacts? The data has yet to be consolidated, however it is estimated that Arctic summer tourism in terms of CO₂ grew at least fourfold from 2006 to 2016.

Without forgetting that the tourism sector by itself is responsible for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

While the Mer di Glace loses an average of one meter of thickness per year.

As New York Times journalist Paige McClanahan explains:

“For thousands of years, humans have competed to be the first to climb to the top, cross a border, or document a new species or type of landscape. Now, in some cases, we are rushing to be the last".

While this type of tourism may stimulate a reaction on the one hand, on the other hand it generates more emissions. Furthermore, as demonstrated by from the Volotea survey, there is still little interest in sustainability.

Sometimes, we want to be the first, sometimes the last, but necessarily without taking into consideration any responsibility.

The responsability that we can have instead in the case of little things. A sum of small things.

Do you know what the kids from the Judo school asked Gino to bring from Italy? Fruit, simply fruit.

Chiara Pontoni
Sustainability Manager Gesteco