ATLAS SIG Regenerative Tourism Webinar
Picture used in banner by Laura Leppälä
ATLAS SIG Regenerative Tourism Webinar
The current state of regenerative tourism in Europe
Wednesday November 11th, 2026
10.00 – 11.30 GMT
11.00 – 12.30 CET
12.00 – 13.30 EEST
How is regenerative tourism shaping tourism policy across Europe?
In this webinar, a panel of experts from three projects representing three different European regions will explore emerging policy trends, current challenges, and future opportunities for moving beyond sustainability toward regeneration. The discussion will provide valuable insights into how destinations, policymakers, and tourism stakeholders can foster positive impacts for people, places, and nature while supporting more resilient and regenerative tourism systems.
• The webinar is free to attend for ATLAS members and non-members
• The webinar will take place in ZOOM
• The webinar will be recorded in YouTube
• Registration is mandatory
• You can register to attend the webinar HERE
Webinar Program
11:00
Welcome and Introduction
Sanna-Mari Renfors – Lapland University of Applied Sciences
11:05
Debate: “The current state of regenerative tourism in Europe at policy level”
Moderated by Petra Paloniemi – Lapland University of Applied Sciences
Participants:
Blanca Cros i Moll, Head of European Projects at the Catalan Tourist Board, Project: Regenera4MED
James Simpson, Project leader, RegenT: Integrating Regenerative Practices in Nature and Cultural Tourism
Aisling Ward, Lead academic researcher, Circular Economy for Regenerative Tourism (CERT) Research Group at Munster Technological University, Project: ReStart
12:00
Results of the ATLAS SIG survey and next steps
Sanna-Mari Renfors – Lapland University of Applied Sciences
Participants in the debate
Blanca Cros i Moll
The Catalan Tourist Board
James Simpson
James Simpson is Project Manager of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region project RegenT and Team Leader for Regenerative Tourism RDI at the Faculty of Business, Novia University of Applied Sciences in Turku, Finland. He has extensive experience in sustainable culture and nature-based tourism development, working with destinations, public authorities, businesses, and communities across Finland and Europe. His work focuses on supporting destination resilience, tackling seasonality, strengthening community engagement, and developing practical tools for tourism transformation. James has led numerous international and regional cooperation projects and contributed to the development of tourism strategies, destination networks, visitor experiences, and capacity-building initiatives. Through RegenT, he coordinates a partnership spanning nine countries in the Baltic Sea Region. The project is developing a Regenerative Tourism Knowledge Hub, which synthesises and transfers knowledge from nine European projects into practical tools, training resources, and policy recommendations for DMOs, and public authorities.
Aisling Ward 
Dr. Aisling Ward is a senior lecturer in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality and lead academic researcher in the Circular Economy for Regenerative Tourism (CERT) Research Group at Munster Technological University. Her research interests and expertise are in regenerative tourism and the circular economy, consumer behaviour, and marketing in the field of Tourism. She has extensive experience in EU projects and funding proposal development within CERT and is involved in 5 EU funded projects which are grounded in advancing regenerative and sustainable tourism development including RETURN (Interreg NPA); ReStart (Interreg NWE); DiBest (Interreg AA); SMARTCoast (Interreg AA) and CANSTAR (Interreg AA). Experience in the development and teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate tourism programmes within the University, including the MA in Regenerative Tourism and the PG Diploma in Sustainability for the Service Industry. Research supervision experience at Master’s and PhD level (4 currently).
Moderators
Sanna-Mari Renfors
Sanna Mari Renfors (PhD) leads the Regenerative Business and Leadership Master’s Programme at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Tourism Research at the University of Lapland. For more than twenty years, she has been engaged in the teaching and development of higher education in Finland and within European networks. She has a strong track record in securing and directing related European research and development projects, guiding multidisciplinary teams and international networks. Her research focuses on how education and training can accelerate sustainability transformations, particularly through curricula and skills development, as well as on how living systems thinking can be integrated into business and tourism. She is a passionate advocate for shaping regenerative futures and embedding a regenerative mindset across both academia and business.
Petra Paloniemi
Petra Paloniemi, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at Lapland University of Applied Sciences. Her work focuses on regenerative and sustainable tourism, as well as the digitalisation of tourism. In addition to teaching, she is involved in applied research, industry collaboration projects, and the integration of research-based knowledge into higher education. She contributes to the Regenerative Business Research Programme (2026–) and the Research Programme of the Multidimensional Tourism Institute (2025–). Her current research interests include regenerative tourism and the ways emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, are shaping the future of tourism.
