This information is quoted from Green World. The Green World Campaign is adopting new programs from Kenya, Mexico, Ethiopia, India and Philippines read more on the here

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Looking back from a few decades in the future, 2011 may seem like a turning point in social history. This was the year when “people power” became a global phenomenon: from the Arab Spring to the reforms in Burma; from the Occupy movements in North America to the grassroots fight against female circumcision in Africa. In China, thousands of citizens tweeted their solidarity with activist artist Ai Weiwei, while bloggers from Havana to Moscow shared their belief in freedom of expression and social justice.

There are many ways to deliver a message and take a stand for human rights and the health of our planet. Social networks are critical—but travel is also a powerful communicating tool. Travel and tourism are among the planet’s driving economic forces, and every journey we take makes a statement about our priorities and commitment to change. (Even the choice to fly must be weighed carefully, as jet aircraft release an astonishing amount of carbon dioxide).

Ethical Traveler believes that mindful travel is a net positive for the planet. By choosing our destinations well and remembering our role as citizen diplomats, we can create international goodwill and help change the world for the better.

Every year, Ethical Traveler reviews the policies and practices of all the nations in the developing world. We then select the ten that are doing the best job of promoting human rights, preserving their environment, and creating a sustainable, community-based tourism industry. By visiting these destinations, we use our economic power—our travel dollars—to support these countries.

We urge you to explore these ethical destinations, and enjoy the wonderful sights, cultures and activities they offer.
Our best efforts go into creating this list, but remember: No country is perfect. All have their shortcomings. These ten, however, have made a determined effort to “do the right thing” in the many areas we take into consideration.

Please note that Ethical Traveler is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, and a project of the Earth Island Institute. No money or donations of any kind were solicited from any countries, governments or individuals in the creation of this list.

The Winners
Ethical Traveler congratulates the countries on our 2012 list of The Developing World’s 10 Best Ethical Destinations. The winners, in alphabetical order (not in order of merit), are:
• Argentina *
• The Bahamas
• Chile *
• Costa Rica *
• Dominica *
• Latvia *
• Mauritius
• Palau *
• Serbia
• Uruguay *
( * = also appeared on our 2011 list).

This article is quoted from Ethical Traveler , read more information in the original article here.
Follow this link to download the report Download the full 2012 Ethical Destinations Report (PDF) written by Jeff Greenwald, Christy Hoover & Natalie Lefevre / EthicalTraveler.org.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

The Views On Tourism Project celebrate 3 year anniversary, 300.000 blog visitors and 750 group members. Uniting the right people generates the resources, knowledge and visions to encourage a positive local tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia.

This project started in 2008 as a Danish expat volunteer initiative in Bangladesh to support the emerging sustainable awareness. The blog provides knowledge and inspiration to the Bangladeshi tourism sector, nearby South Asian countries, developing countries or destinations facing similar challenges. The network group makes an online communication platform for the sustainable tourism stakeholders related to Bangladesh and South Asia.

I welcome you to use the Views On Tourism Project to increase knowledge, share best practice, spread information, make comments, announce events, start discussions, network and cooperate.

Furthermore I encourage you to please support a fantastic project, which is fighting poverty through positive tourism development.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh is a community-powered collective that provides information, marketing and travel media services to ‘unusual’ destinations often overlooked by the world travel community.
Your donation will make a difference.

I wish you a happy and sustainable new year in 2012.

Yours faithfully Majbritt Thomsen, initiator the Views On Tourism Project

For further information please follow these links:
Views On Tourism – Knowledge and Inspiration Blog.
Views On Tourism – Network and Discussion Group.
Crowdsourced Travel Bangladesh – Campaign in Progress.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Nominations can be submitted until December 31, 2011. Follow this link to fill the form and suggest the city that should be one of the New7Wonders Cities.

The nominations will be announced on January 7, 2012 and these participants will then be put to popular vote to choose the New7Wonders Cities.

This article is quoted from New7Wonders , read the original article here posted on the 13th of November 2011.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Article by Eamonn Fitzgerald on November 11, 2011

The first count of the global vote to elect the New7Wonders of Nature has been announced. In alphabetical order, they are: Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, Puerto Princesa Underground River and Table Mountain.

Announcing the results at the headquarters of the New7Wonders Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, Bernard Weber, Founder-President of New7Wonders, said: “I would like to thank the many champions, citizens, voluntary organisations, public bodies and governments that have helped promote the New7Wonders of Nature campaign over the past four years, starting with over 440 locations from over 220 countries and all the way to the 28 Finalist candidates from whom the New7Wonders of Nature have been chosen.”

The results announced this evening are provisional and based on the first count of votes completed since voting ended at 11:11 GMT this morning. The results will now be checked, validated and independently verified. Once the voting validation process is completed, in early 2012, New7Wonders will then work with the confirmed winners to organise the Official Inauguration events.

Note: It may happen that one or more of the provisional winners announced today will not be confirmed during the validation process, New7Wonders will issue a media update should this happen.

“We congratulate each of these participants on achieving their provisional New7Wonders of Nature status, and look forward to completing the confirmation process to celebrate each one in their own Official Inauguration ceremony early in 2012,” said Bernard Weber, adding, “When the New7Wonders of Nature are confirmed they will join the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World in becoming part of Global Memory for humankind for ever.”

Read more about the New 7 wonders of nature ,

This article is quoted from New7Wonders , read the original article here posted on the 11th of November 2011.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

“Tourism has an enormous potential to create jobs and economic benefit for Bangladesh,” says Leung. “At Crowdsourced Travel, we believe that this potential could be used to attack Bangladesh’s most vexing issue – poverty.”

The campaign is using a new form of fundraising called “Crowdfunding” by which a series of donors/supporters pledge small amounts. The cumulative effect of their donations allows a creative project to meet a funding goal. If the funding target is not met, the pledges are not collected and the project does not proceed.

“Crowdfunding is a severe test of audience coherence and the strength of the project creators to bind their audience into a cause,” says Leung. “If we’re not successful making our lower funding target, then we know that there are not enough resources to pursue a tourism marketing project at this point in time.”

The campaign has six weeks left and $10,000 left to raise for its lower funding goal, but has managed $5,000 in pledges so far. For more information please view the above videos and visit the campaign website. Also, a beautiful resource of photographs is being created at the Positive Light website.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well where ever you may be and your work/personal projects are going well.

I wanted to let you know that I’m finally back in Bangladesh for the next six weeks. I’ve been in touch with all of you at various points regarding the update of the Bradt guide, but to be honest I haven’t managed to find enough personal time to keep everything and everyone coordinated. My sincere apologies for talking big and not following through.

The good news: I’m now back again giving Bangladesh my full and almost undivided attention. We’ve got a deadline to make (Jan 15), and a lot of work to do. And I cannot do it alone.

After many years of pondering the poverty problem, I’ve concluded that tourism is one of the best vehicles for developing new economic opportunities for Bangladesh. Tourism could provide massive economic opportunities for this country and I will no longer wait for the government or the tourism industry to reach the foreign audience. I’m taking matters into my own hands – and I am asking others to help me achieve this by volunteering (that’s you) or by seeding this business via the social business crowdfunding platform Start Some Good . Here is how to donate to Crowdsourced Travel .

Using social media and my video camera, I’m going to start shouting from the rice paddies that Bangladesh is now open to adventurous, socially-aware travellers. Bangladeshi people deserve to participate in tourism, a significant vehicle of economic empowerment, and I’ve now devoted several years of my life to sharing this important story with the world.

The purpose of my trip back is to achieve the following:
1. Consolidate a team of volunteers and tour operators who can help update the Bradt guide for a 15 Jan deadline and source new photographs for the guide.
2. Launch a crowdfunding campaign that will help start Crowdsourced Travel, a new social tourism venture. Begin creating its first products.
3. Tell the story of the country’s best social tourism operators and their products.

How can you help me?
1. Join Us: Stay informed by ‘liking’ our Facebook page or signing up on the newsletter .
2. Write: Publish your travel intelligence to the Wikitravel guide to Bangladesh or on Tripadvisor , sites that we plan to use as the info repositories for the travel community instead. If you have an iPhone or an Android phone you can publish directly to Wikitravel using the iTravelFree app. Those who take up larger roles in the project might get a free tour with an operator for research purposes!
3. Photograph: We need your best travel photography for the Bradt guide and for “Positive Light,” a new coffee table photography book I will publish if venture funding is successful. More news coming on this soon. Launch and exhibition event happening 27 October at the BAGHA club in Dhaka.
4. Spread the word: Forward this message!! Let your friends and contacts know that you are thinking of contributing to Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide and Crowdsourced Travel, and that we are raising money to start a social tourism business. They can join us at Facebook or sign up for the newsletter at the Crowdsourced Travel website. We will be launching the crowdfunding campaign next week.
5. Come to the launch event: On 27 October, I am holding a photo exhibition at the BAGHA Club in Dhaka to launch this event, and if you can join us in celebrating the best of Bangladesh I would love to meet you or see you again.

Thank you for expressing your interest in this project. I’d be honoured if you continue to support this work in any way you can. You can reach me in Bangladesh at 01721 720 530.

Best regards,
-Mikey Leung, Author
Bangladesh: The Bradt Travel Guide
mikey@crowdsourced.travel
Bangladesh Traveller
Crowdsourced Travel

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Peace is more than the absence of war. It lies in the dignity of every woman and man. It is the tie that binds societies together in harmony with our environment. It is the foundation of legitimate states and the basis for stable international relations.
This vision created the United Nations. It is the goal that leads all of UNESCO’s activities.

The 2011 International Peace Day is a chance to consider the stakes of peace in a world moving more quickly every day.
People are more connected today than ever before. Information and communication technologies are opening new worlds for expression and action. Social media are creating new platforms for participation and democracy. At the same time, women and men across the world struggle still against the terrors of violence and conflict. A global economic crisis is hitting hard, leaving millions to suffer the deprivations of poverty and marginalisation.

In turbulent times, we must remain true to the core values of peace. Peace starts with justice and dignity for every woman and man. It begins with the ability of each of us, across the world, to imagine a better world and work to create it. It is embodied in the humanist ambitions of the Millennium Development Goals.

UNESCO’s 1945 Constitution states “if wars start in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” Young minds are some of the most powerful defences of peace.

Young women and men are changing the world already every day. Their struggle for dignity, rights and justice has led them this year to take to the streets, to mobilize campaigns and to build movements for peaceful change. New horizons for human dignity are opening.

In this International Youth Year, we salute these peaceful aspirations and we must rise to the expectations that drive them. We must engage with the ideas of young women and men and ensure their rightful place in all societies. Their voices must be heard and, more importantly, listened to.

UNESCO works every day to support young people in bolstering democratic values and institutions, based on justice, equality, and respect for human rights. We act to strengthen a culture of peace and non-violence through intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and by fostering mutual understanding and promoting reconciliation. We seek to empower young people with new skills to speak out and opportunities to act for peaceful change.

These are the goals of the Youth Forum that UNESCO will hold in Paris on 17-20 October on the theme of “How Youth Drive Change.” With participants from across the world and moderated by the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Forest Whitaker, the Forum will provide a global platform for crafting new approaches to reconciliation and conflict resolution.

Young women and men are torch-bearers for a more peaceful world. We must support their aspirations, we must listen to their views and we must act on their dreams. This is our message for the 2011 International Peace Day.
21.09.2011

Source: UNESCOPRESS

This article is quoted from UNESCO . Read the original article .

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

WWF-Nepal reached its target of planting 108,000 trees within 2011 as part of a key project to plant a million trees in Lumbini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounding areas over a period of 10 years.

Organized by WWF-Nepal and partner organization Lumbini Development Trust, the event brought together over 300 people from different sectors of society.

Speaking at the event, Mr Santosh Nepal, Director for Policy & Support at WWF-Nepal, said that Lumbini was regarded as the soul of the Terai Arc given the striking congruence between Buddhist philosophy and WWF’s conservation principles in the Terai Arc Landscape – interdependence and interconnectedness.

“The key objective of the Terai Arc Landscape program is to build connectivity across the landscape to facilitate wildlife movement while promoting harmony between humans, wildlife and nature”, said Mr Nepal.

A legacy for future generations
Acharya Karma Sangpo Sherpa, Vice Chairperson of Lumbini Development Trust, stated that Lumbini is an important carbon sink and the plan to plant a million trees in the sacred site is an attempt towards building greater adaptive capacity to the effects of climate change in Nepal. “I am happy to see a lot of children participating in this event; these trees are a legacy we leave for them and for future generations”, he said.

WWF-Nepal joined hands with Lumbini Development Trust in September 2010 as part of WWF’s global efforts to work with faith groups to further the cause of nature conservation. This partnership is aimed at promoting responsible tourism and environmental practices in the sacred site of Lumbini.

As part of the planting, trees which were considered to have existed in Lord Buddha’s era such as Ashoka, Sal, Pipal and Kadam will be planted in an effort to conserve the religious and ecological heritage of Lumbini.

Terai Arc Landscape
Covering 14 protected areas in India and Nepal, the Terai Arc Landscape is home to endangered tigers, elephants and vulnerable rhinos. It is one of the few places where these three large threatened animals coexist.

The plains of the Terai have seen an immense change during the past 50 years. Today, the area faces many challenges affecting people and wildlife alike including deforestation, poaching and pollution of rivers.
WWF-Nepal is part of the Terai Arc Landscape Project which has helped thousands of rural poor to improve their lives in sustainable ways and generated a tremendous support for conservation.
This article is quoted from WWF , read the original article here posted on the 13th of September 2011.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’. Please join the online Views On Tourism network and discussion group in order to achieve personal goals as well as encourage a sustainable tourism development in Bangladesh and South Asia. Read more about this group and how to become a member here.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Event status South Asia 2011-08-10
Bangladesh 5 events
India 41 events
Nepal 5 events
Bhutan 0 event
Pakistan 1 event
Myanmar 0 event

Organizers are 350.org , who are building a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

This article is quoted from Moving Planet , read the original article here.

The article is uploaded by Majbritt Thomsen, administrator on ‘Views On Tourism’.

Be Sociable, Share!

•