On November 22nd, 2017 the i20: Conectando Islas event took place in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Valparaíso, Chile. i20: Conectando Islas is a gathering to discuss island sustainability and the urgently needed acts to reduce the negative impacts of tourism. The event was co-hosted by GSTC Member, Regenera ONG, and Ecoturismo at DUOC Institute.
The central topic of the event was to raise awareness among students and tourism stakeholders regarding the compromise that all need to assume within the touristic development on islands with limited resources and low carrying capacity but are considered as reservoirs of a unique natural and/or cultural heritage.
Concluding the event, Jorge Moller, GSTC Country Representative of Chile, moderated a conversation with the event’s speakers and interaction with the audience.
Speakers at the event included Juan Fernánde of ValpoInterviene, a local NGO whose main concern is to generate awareness around caring for the environment by delivering tools that can be implemented in daily life; Juan Fernández of Archipiélago, which is an archipelago composed of 3 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The archipelago is part of the Chilean Marine Protected Areas and has an important number of endemic species above and under the sea. The presentation was focused on how the local community has been working on conservation and the challenges for the future. The last speaker was the Chiloé Island-based organization CECPAN, which is a NGO focused on bird conservation and on working closely with the communities.
The event ended with the announcement that the 2018 i20 event will be hosted on the sub-Antarctic island Navarino, near Cape Horn.
