II. FESTIVAL OF RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL – March 17-20, 2022

– A series of online events around the topic of sustainable tourism

Vacation, vacation, vacation or weekend getaway. Closer or farther – a direction directly proportional to our time and financial possibilities. Miscellaneous motives. A well-deserved break from work, reality or more brashly in the variant “leave everything and go to the end of the world”. And at this “end of the world” (or much closer) we want to “discover”, explore, experience and taste the “other”, or just relax and pause.

Surely everyone/everyone has at least once come across the phrase “the tourism sector is one of the fastest growing areas of the world economy” somewhere. The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily halted this process, but is it for sure? The facts and counts are indisputable – we travel en masse. In the glare of the holiday sun, however, it is hard to see the dark side of tourism – this global trend – such as violations of human and animal rights, environmental degradation, neo-colonialism, overtourism. The list is long.

We – understood as millions of individual tourist decisions – influence the local community, the local economy and the environment of the visited destinations. That’s why it’s so important that we travel ethically and responsibly.

The festival will be held via the ClickMeeting platform, where registration is mandatory and there are limits on places (participation is free). Links to application forms can be found at www.okn.edu.En and at the event II. Festival of Responsible Travel. But no worries – even if the ClickMeeting’s rooms run out of space, everything will be streamed in real time on Facebook’s New-Houston Heritage Lab with no restrictions on gaining access.

PROGRAM

17 III (Thursday), at. 19.00 – s we will provide details soon.

• 18 III 2022 (Friday), godz. 19.00 – “Is there such a thing as sustainable high altitude tourism?”. Moderated by Lukasz Kocewiak

During the meeting we will go on a journey through the snowy peaks of the Alps, Andes, Alaska, Hindu Kush, Himalayas to see if there is such a thing as sustainability in high mountain tourism. We will check whether it is still possible to climb beautiful peaks without the participation of travel agencies. We will try to answer questions such as whether such popular peaks as Aconcagua, Denali, Manaslu are already completely surrounded by a commercial environment, and what the future holds for high-mountain tourism in developing countries.

Lukasz Kocewiak – traveler and Himalayan mountaineer. Author of the mountain-travel book “Aconcagua. In the shadow of the Snow Watchman”. Organizer of high altitude expeditions in the Himalayas, Pamir, Hindu Kush. For the past ten years, he has passionately run the popular travel blog Card from a Journey. He has repeatedly published on mountain, travel, socio-cultural magazines. Esteemed speaker at mountain and travel festivals. D. in renewable energy sciences. Applies his knowledge and experience to the sustainable implementation of renewable energy. He has carried out such projects as an off-road vehicle expedition across the Sahara and Gobi deserts; 16.ooo km by train through Asia; expedition to Lenin Peak, Denali, Matterhorn, Aconcagua, Noszak, Manaslu. Climbed the last four independently and without agency support as part of the “8 Solo” project.

19 III 2022 (Saturday), at. 16.00 – ” What we learn about the global South by watching YouTube? A critical look at travel vlogs”. Moderated by Łukasz Bartosik

Do travel vlogs allow us to learn about the world or are they based on existing stereotypes? What traps do their creators and makers fall into? How to receive such content reflectively and critically? The pretext for the meeting is the premiere of the report “When the Stranger Feels at Home…”. Polish Humanitarian Action, in which Prof. Pawel Nowak analyzed the top 10 travel vlogs from the side of the narratives they create or sustain. During the festival meeting we will jointly reflect on the conclusions of this analysis for travelers and online content creators.

Łukasz Bartosik – head of the Polish Humanitarian Action’s education team, PAH trainer who conducts trainings for PAH trainers, volunteers, and activists as well as students, pupils and teachers. Co-host of the podcast “Tolerance is not enough”. Co-author of PAH educational publications (m.in. “Essentials of male and female activists”) email course “How I speak changes the world” and games (m.in. “Reporters and Reporters in the Global South”). More information: www.pah.org.en/educacjaglobal www.pah.org.en/podcast www.instagram.com/polandhumanitarianaction

• 19 III (Saturday), at. 19.00 – “Volunteerism. Harmful business built on good intentions”. Moderated by: Anna Mikulska

One of the most common volunteer projects is working with children. And since the demand for volunteering in the orphanages of the Global South countries is extremely high, the „demand” for orphans is constantly increasing.
Volunteer tourism is one of the most rapidly growing branches of tourism today. However, it turns out that trips to countries in the Global South to help the local community primarily serve the tourists themselves. At the expense of those we want to help.

We will talk about why going with the first better program encouraging „great adventure” and „helping in poor countries” is not a good idea at all – if we have the ambition to actually help, not harm.

I will talk about my own experience „helping” in Brazil, when I still believed that I was doing something good in this way. We will consider how we can use our privilege to provide real support to the people of the Global South. And is it even possible.

Anna Mikulska – journalist „OKO.press” and reporter, a cultural anthropologist by training. Writes about migration, human rights, forced labor and education. Winner of the „Writings competition. Opinion Magazine” – „Between the Lines” for the reportage „Immigration through a sea of plastic” and the Sensitive Festival competition in the category of especially sensitive artist for two reports and the project „Stories about Man”. Published m.In. In the pages of „Gazeta Wyborcza”, „Wysokie Obcasy”, „Onet”, „Krytyka Polityczna”, „Pisma. Opinion Magazine” or „Tygodnik Powszechny”.

• 20 III 2022 (Sunday) hrs. 16.00 – “Good practices in accessible tourism”. Chairing: Aneta Bilnicka

Meeting around the topic of accessibility in tourism. What limits the elderly and people with disabilities from traveling? How to respond when the rights of people with disabilities are violated? What amenities during travel can participants in accessible tourism count on? During the talk, answers to the above questions will be given and the results of research on accessible tourism in Poland will be presented. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) believes that accessibility for all tourism facilities, products and services should be at the heart of any responsible and sustainable tourism policy. Accessibility is another word for opportunity, so we’ll talk about our opportunities and positive travel experiences.

Aneta Bilnicka – researcher in the field of accessible tourism, certified tourist assistant for people with disabilities (specialization in mountain and canoeing), promoter of Nordic Walking for people with special needs. She is the originator of the online quarterly #ACCESSIBILITY , Which he publishes on the happinessmanager blog.online. Graduate of Management in Tourism, Jagiellonian University. In the past, Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Venus de Milo Zone Association working for women with disabilities, co-author of numerous studies on m.In. Advocacy, rights, support system for the elderly and people with disabilities.

• 20 III 2022 (Sunday) hrs. 19.00 – “Suffering that cannot be seen – conscious tourism and animal suffering”. Conducting: Anna Plaszczyk

Horses, working on the route to Morskie Oko are not skinny or injured. Their suffering is not visible at first glance. And yet every day they work beyond their strength, pulling tourists too comfortable to reach Poland’s most beautiful mountain lake on their own strength. More than 120,000 signatures on a petition to stop horse-drawn transport to Morskie Oko. 102 Polish animal protection organizations involved in the action. Hundreds of letters written on the issue and several years of fighting for compliance with the Law on Animal Protection. And yet the horses on the route to Morskie Oko work as they worked. But publicizing this outrageous issue is having an effect – every year fewer and fewer people are using this form of transportation. Furmans complain that they are earning less and less, not only has the queue for carts decreased, but also the „queue” for licenses to work on the route. This proves that making informed choices by female tourists changes reality faster than court rulings.

The case of the Morskie Oko horses is just one example of the suffering of animals in tourism. But it is in it like a lens that we can see that every holiday decision we make matters. And that we can return from vacation with a clear conscience, or with the proverbial blood on our hands.

Anna Plaszczyk – political scientist by education, journalist by profession, social activist by choice. Vegan, coordinator of the campaign to rescue horses from the Morskie Oko Lake by the Viva Foundation!

The organizer reserves the right to make changes to the program.

Co-financed by the Council of the District XVIII of Nowa Huta.
Details: