On 31^st May 2023, the first of five appointments with key actors of the territory took place in presence at the headquarters of the Pro-Loco of San Felice Circeo (LT) Italy.
The workshop had the purpose of setting the basis for a participatory approach leading to the definition of an Action Plan for tourism promotion of the UNESCO Circeo Biosphere Reserve.
The meeting was organized by the Tourism Department of Lazio Region in collaboration with the Circeo National Park and under the patronage of the municipality of San Felice Circeo and saw the participation of more than 30 people among which the representatives of the municipalities of San Felice Circeo, Terracina, Sabaudia and Latina, the president of the Circeo National Park,  the representatives of several NGOs such as PANGEA, Associazione Exotique, WWF and SLOW FOOD, DMOs, the Chamber of Commerce of Frosinone and Latina, the president of San Felice Circeo Pro Loco, representatives of environmental associations, professionals and citizens.  

The workshop was divided into two parts: the first devoted to the presentation of the project’s activities, and the second to a round table among the participants. The meeting opened with the institutional welcome by Giuseppe Schiboni, Minister for Employment, University, School and Training, Research, Merit of Lazio Region, then Giuliano Tallone (Tourism Department of Lazio Region) introduced the theme of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve as an opportunity for tourism promotion of the territory and Erica Peroni (Tourism Department of Lazio Region) presented the activities of Co-Evolve4BG project aiming at the development of sustainable tourism in coastal areas through the application of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) and Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) methodology.

The first part of the workshop ended with the intervention of the expert Stefano Magaudda (U-Space), presenting the ongoing initiatives on the territory and dealing with the collaborative governance and the participatory process for the drafting of the action plan on tourism promotion of UNESCO Circeo Biosphere Reserve.
The second part of the meeting was devoted to a round table among the local actors sharing, ideas, proposals and projects from the territory on the theme of sustainable tourism development.
In these first meetings, many experiences and contributions were shared and the key concepts emerged: protection of the territory and of the communities for a sustainable development model.
In order to protect a territory it is necessary to raise the awareness of the people who live in it and we will try to work in this direction.