00:00:18: A warm welcome to a new episode of ITB's Travel Hero podcast.

00:00:23: Today, three hundred seconds with Anna Pollock founder of Conscious Travel.

00:00:29: With over fifty years experience in tourism as the speaker consultant and innovative researcher Anna has pioneered regenerative approaches to Tourism.

00:00:39: Welcome Anna To This Podcast!

00:00:41: And the twenty-twenty six responsible tourism track at DITB Berlin Convention will focus on regenerative approaches in tourism.

00:00:50: and Anna, you will also be under stage for a special session discussing.

00:00:56: The battles of systems.

00:00:59: so then this would be my first question.

00:01:01: we spent decades on sustainability in tourism.

00:01:06: You have been promoting Regenerative Tourism four decade.

00:01:10: Why is the interest in regeneration growing now?

00:01:14: First, let's face it.

00:01:15: The challenges facing humanity continue to increase and become impossible to deny or ignore.

00:01:22: up until recently very few don't use the word collapse for fear of being dismissed as either hysterical or negative.

00:01:30: but even our governments particularly UK governments are acknowledging these security issues associated with climate change and biodiversity loss.

00:01:40: So we're not just talking poly-crisis and metacrisis, that's an intermingling of many and diverse crises happening all at the same time.

00:01:49: We are having to recognize they all stem from the same root cause.

00:02:04: Let's face it, political instability is getting quite worrisome.

00:02:08: Resource depletion and we've been treating these as separate problems all being fixed separately.

00:02:15: So the second reason is sustainability is simply not working Despite all of legislation All efforts, education and spending.

00:02:23: Now I'm not saying that sustainability should stop And that the effort made so far aren't worthwhile.

00:02:30: Let's face it, if we hadn't started down the sustainability route our situation would be even worse.

00:02:36: We've been trying to sustain an economic system by doing less harm and more recently try to create positive outcomes.

00:02:44: so as far as tourism is concerned Doing More Good And Leaving Places Better Is A Step In The Right Direction but in my opinion its not necessarily regenerative.

00:02:58: What is the root cause, what do problems of food systems or education system have in common with tourism?

00:03:12: I like your choice of language there Willie.

00:03:15: Other questions might've said you know... Tourism industries have in common.

00:03:22: They'd use the word industry because we've liked to define ourselves as an industry when I believe We're not,we are a living system and we need to learn how living systems work.

00:03:33: So The root cause then is How?

00:03:35: We see the world And how we understand it.

00:03:37: to work at that current perception Is actually or our perspective is flawed.

00:03:43: growing up in the fifties and sixties I was trained, and probably you were too to perceive name and describe things.

00:03:51: And see them all as separate—things that could be managed and

00:03:55: controlled.".

00:03:56: So if something goes wrong we're expected to analyze it reduce its parts find the pieces that are broken fix and replace.

00:04:06: Let me give you an example, we've had a lot of rain here recently in the UK and I was driving to the grocery store.

00:04:12: And i hit a pothole!

00:04:14: In fact that would be the third time I have lost a tyre thanks to potholes this year.

00:04:19: So what do I do?

00:04:20: I have to find a mechanic who can fix the problem.

00:04:25: He sells me new tyres Quite happy in the knowledge.

00:04:28: I'll be back, In a few weeks time with this same problem.

00:04:31: Because what caused that problem?

00:04:33: It wasn't just the pothole.

00:04:35: it was excessive amounts of rain flooding poorly managed road surfaces That reflected the cutback in budgets A failing economy and climate change.

00:04:47: In short my lack mobility And impact on bank balance Was cause by much bigger factors than the Pothole.

00:04:55: So what we're having to learn now is see things as systems, as holes have connected with many different elements if you like.

00:05:04: And that's something we've not been trained to do.

00:05:07: I just mentioned because in fact We are living beings co-inhabiting a living planet With millions of other species.

00:05:16: all life forms are interconnected and each of us matter In this miracle called the web of Life.

00:05:21: Let's face it It's been doing this very well without us for billions of years.

00:05:26: So coming back to tourism again, you know it is not an industry –it IS a set complex interdependent dynamic network systems with their own feedback clips both positive and negative that each afford enormous potential for novelty and the unexpected.

00:05:44: so to survive let alone thrive we need to understand where we fit and figure out life's rules of engagement, participation.

00:05:52: Not our rules!

00:05:53: Life's rules!

00:05:54: Nature's rules.

00:05:56: We need to learn how nature works And live in harmony with her... ...and we need do that very quickly.

00:06:01: Furthermore, we can't do it individually alone.

00:06:06: There is no competitive advantage anymore from trying to be quicker or better than your neighbouring destination.

00:06:13: In living systems every entity succeeds only when the whole flourishes.

00:06:19: So to repeat, regeneration is not simply making an existing system better.

00:06:25: the old system is already collapsing thanks to humans misbehavior on a planetary scale.

00:06:31: doing more of the same no matter how well meaning will just worsen this situation.

00:06:36: it's a whole new way of seeing being and doing and rushing into action without understanding how nature really works are only going make things worse.

00:06:45: This sets the stage for ITV so well.

00:06:48: The fact that we actually take the word industry away from tourism, this will be great discussion onstage!

00:06:56: We have very little time left but perhaps with that time-left can you show how a regenerative approach is different?

00:07:04: Maybe I'm repeating myself... But it's about seeing a whole.

00:07:08: It isn't just focusing on tourism.

00:07:13: tends to look inward.

00:07:14: if you look at the agenda here, it's all about tourism-y things.

00:07:19: What is happening in the rest of world gets a couple sessions maybe and yet we are so affected by that context.

00:07:26: Tourism cannot be healthy If the rest systems are unhealthy.

00:07:30: It also about using ALL of ourselves.

00:07:34: Yong caught four ways knowing Yet only tend use our brains mentally looking for problems.

00:07:41: People like Ian McGrew plus are showing that we're only using half the brain anyway.

00:07:46: We're using that part of the brain, which likes to put things in boxes.

00:07:50: To what extent?

00:07:51: Are we using our bodies to sense whats going on in a place?

00:07:55: That's why getting in touch with nature is gonna be so important because we can learn... ...to do all the animals around us and sense whats happening in the environment.

00:08:04: We need to use our hearts, do a greater extent because we need to feel.

00:08:08: We need inspire people and be in touch with them so that most of us are able listen what they're saying.

00:08:15: And also we have to use intuition Because you know...we aren't actually all connected In one system So it's about going about life in very different ways.

00:08:27: That is why I think we've got move out the tourism box A little bit and learn from other disciplines.

00:08:32: So, for everyone that is now more curious than before to find out how this industry rather the system moves forwards and with a more equitable and regenerative practices.

00:08:44: Join us at twenty-twenty six ITB responsible tourism track.

00:08:48: Thursday March fifth.

00:08:49: Anna once again thank you!

00:08:51: And see you soon in Berlin.