From the 9^th until the 18^th of November MedCities, as leader of the Capitalisation phase of the INCIRCLE project, organised a series of online capacity building sessions aiming at training selected replicating territories on the tools and methodologies developed by the project.

The INCIRCLE School is the first step of the replication process of the project which will assist the following institutions in the creation of territorial strategies to increase circularity and sustainability of tourism:

• Attica Islands Regional Unit (GR)
• Tourist Board of Split-Dalmatia country (HR)
• Natural Park of Delta de l’Ebre (ES)
• LAG Terra Barocca, Sicily (IT)
• Bergueda’s County Development Agency (ES)
• Consorzio Oltrepò Mantovano (IT)

Moreover, the following four candidate territories were invited to attend the school as observers:

• Junta de Andalucía (ES)
• Vallès Occidental County (ES)
• Vallès Oriental County (ES)
• Municipality of San Lucido (IT)

During four online session’s more than 60 participants of the school learnt about the INCIRCLE replication package, including the following project’s methodologies and available tools:

1-Operational model toolkit: which offers a framework for incorporating the critical sustainability and circularity aspects during all the phases of the policymaking.

2-Participatory process toolkit: which guides the institutions towards the development of stakeholder working groups with relevant actors of the tourism sector, in order to ensure that strategies include their point of view.

3-Circular Tourism tools for public and private stakeholders: which are management and monitoring tools to assess tourism impact at destination and tourism industry level.

4-Strategy evaluation toolkit: this defines the ideal accomplishment a strategy should reach. These are indicators that cross the 5 principles (reduce, regenerate, re-value, rethink and innovate) and 4 pillars (energy, mobility, water and waste) of the project. 

These tools were supported by lessons learnt on real implementation by the Institutional partners in their destination, through demonstrator projects highlighting dos and don’ts after real examples on circularity pilot actions, and the development of regional strategies.

Now replicating territories will work first in the assessment phase of their circularity and in the organisation of Stakeholder Working Group meetings and second in the development of their own circular tourism strategies under the guidance and support of an expert on sustainable tourism. Peer-review sessions and a study visit to Larnaca (CY) and Rethymno (GR) will be organised from January to May 2022. Moreover, replicators will implement tailor-made activities to tackle the specific needs and particularities of the touristic sector of the territory, especially by taking into account the needs risen after the covid-19. Such activities will be in line with the strategies under development, and will aim at tackling one or more of INCIRCLE four pillars (energy, waste, mobility and water).