Sustainability
The Reason Why | Purpose
- We believe that European cities have the potential and responsibility to play a key role for an inclusive and positive transformation towards an economy and society that respects the planetary boundaries, recognizes the immense global challenges we meet and works towards a more resilient, sustainable future.
- We can only succeed if we work together and learn from each other.
Goals & Guiding Principles
- We want to support and positively contribute to the development of the DMOs of tomorrow and of sustainable urban tourism destinations, within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Our role is to accelerate the necessary transformation.
- We encourage all the DMOs/City Destination Alliance members to challenge their previous growth strategies, and to embed sustainability into all their operations when developing, managing and promoting a destination.
- By building a strong network among sustainability leaders within Europe, we contribute to the empowerment and professionalization of this increasingly important role within DMOs of the future.
What we do | Action Plan
We inspire and support European DMOs in accelerating the development and management of sustainable urban tourism destinations and sustainability strategies by:
- Providing a learning platform: we transparently create, gather and share insights, knowledge and best practices.
- Finding consensus about key definitions, concepts, labels, rankings, tools and roles.
- Proposing new common KPIs for tourism destinations beyond the number of overnight stays.
- Inspiring action by showcasing how to make sustainability concrete.
- Activating European funds for sustainable tourism (e.g., European Union funding).
- Collaborating, engaging and involving with other CityDNA KGs to use synergies and increase the impact.
- Creating access and translating information into the local context and to relevant stakeholders.

Katarina Thorstensson, Gothenburg
Chairperson

Birgit Liukkonen, Helsinki
Vice-Chairperson
Sustainability Group Members
- Maya Janssen, Amsterdam
- Luisa Mentz, Berlin
- Maria del Mar Gil Cruz, Catalonia
- Catharina Cecilie Aas, Copenhagen
- Antje Ocampo, Hamburg
- Theresa Geissel, Innsbruck
- Olivier Mathieu, Lausanne
- Alenka Soršak, Ljubljana