From 12-15 June 2016, Green Key International attended the sixteenth “Building Excellence in Sustainable Tourism Education Network” (BEST EN) Think Tank at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Berlin-Eberswalde in Germany.

The BEST Education Network is an international consortium of educators, students and professionals committed to the production and dissemination of knowledge and research in the field of sustainable tourism. At the yearly BEST EN Think Tank the network comes together to discuss the latest developments and research findings in sustainable tourism, and to find new ideas for research and educational materials.

This year’s BEST EN Think Tank XVI entitled “Corporate Responsibility in Tourism - Standards, Practices and Policies” presented a valuable opportunity for Green Key International to get an insight into the academic’s perspective on CSR in tourism, and to bring a practical viewpoint from an eco-label in tourism to the conference.

In the frame of break-out sessions topics such as consumer’s perception of sustainability, marketing of CSR in tourism as well as community engagement have been discussed.

Isabel Lissner, International Green Key Assistant, attending the conference said: “I think it was a very valuable and fruitful experience to attend the BEST EN Think Tank on behalf of Green Key International. Learning about the academics’ perspective on CSR in tourism and their research findings helps us to better understand the role eco-labels play in sustainable tourism, and which challenges they have to face. There is so much knowledge out there, but we rarely get the chance to benefit from it. The Think Tanks was therefore a good opportunity to bring praxis and theory together.”