I believe that we'd be further on the road of climate and biodiversity actions if we were effectively using cooperation in our sectors. Initiatives of small and wider scales are growing though, which is necessary as trailblazing new ways of doing business and new ways of designing desirable travel experiences requires exploring as many new paths as possible.

With one foot in the industry and one in higher education, I'm among those who are trying to strengthen collaboration between these two worlds to mainstream the discussion and trigger action. There are many advantages to such collaborations, some are common to other students/professionals collaborations, some are more specific to the context of sustainability. One specific advantage is that they expose students to the relevance of sustainability knowledge and skills in the workplace while professionals can see how young graduates can help them solve emerging issues for which they are lacking the right competencies.

One of these collaborations I'm involved in since its launch in 2020 is the French think tank La Fabrique du Tourisme. The idea to create an opportunity for hospitality professionals to get together to better prepare the future of the industry emerged during the 2020 pandemic among 3 business leaders from different companies in the industry. Three years later, the annual meetings led to the publication of 2 reports on sustainable tourism and a compilation of 15 one-page practical guides for sustainable operations and investment management.

Each edition of the think tank unfolds as follows: 

1° Team members from the founding organizations brainstorm on the themes, guest speakers from other industries and a sponsor, generally a hospitality leader
2° Up to 8 students are selected to participate in the event and write the report aiming at sharing and disseminating the content of the event
3° During the event, around 60 professionals and the students gather to for a morning of inspiration, collaborative work and debrief
4° After the event, I oversee the group of students who are benefitting from an original learning experience and whose work is then shared widely in the industry. The structure of the reports is designed to serve hospitality professionals with a balance of big picture content and one-page practical guides. Each theme also has a section dedicated to call for support from hospitality stakeholders (the state, the wider transport and tourism industry, banks…) whose practices and policies have a direct impact on our capacity to change.

While the reports are widely shared and getting positive feedback on their content, the format of the event is also very much appreciated for bringing people around the table to have discussions that they usually don't have together. For instance, a real estate developer is usually not talking about green incentives with a hotel operator. Though difficult to measure, the impacts range from highlighting existing financing opportunities, discovering services providers and suppliers committed to sustainable practices and above all direct testimonies from fellow professionals which are reassuring and encouraging.