The project
As part of the Compromís per a la Sostenibilitat Turística programme, Spora is developing a specialized training programme to help participating organizations and businesses communicate sustainability through their own brands and value propositions.
The programme combines knowledge of sustainability, brand strategy and communication, and takes shape as a series of regional sessions adapted to the different profiles in the tourism sector.
The sessions combine context and criteria, real cases, hands-on work, exchange of experiences and networking, so that participants not only take on knowledge but can apply it directly to their own activity.
The project is aimed at a diverse tourism ecosystem with a direct ability to influence the positioning of the destination: accommodation, restaurants, wineries and wine tourism, culture, experiences, mobility, public administration and other tourism-related services.
The challange
The Compromís programme was at a moment of strategic evolution, moving towards a brand of its own, Destinació Barcelona Sostenible, conceived to represent and project the sustainable tourism model of Barcelona and its surrounding counties. This change required the new narrative to be taken on and projected by the organizations that make up the destination as well.
The challenge, therefore, was not simply to train businesses in sustainability or teach them to communicate better. It was to make each of them able to identify the sustainable value they already generate, understand what sets them apart and turn it into a narrative of their own that is coherent and credible.
In addition, the participating organizations start from very different realities. A rural guesthouse, a winery, a restaurant, an experiences company or a cultural venue don’t share the same practices, audiences or channels. The training had to provide a common framework while letting each organization translate it into its own reality.
The challenge was to turn sustainability practices into a value proposition that can be communicated, sets an organization apart and is credible, able to strengthen the brand and build a shared destination narrative.
How it works
Each session is structured around different moments:
1. Context and criteria
2. Cases and inspiration
3. From what to how and why:
- El qué: qué hacemos.
- El cómo: cómo lo hacemos y qué nos diferencia.
- El porqué: qué aporta y qué propósito hay detrás.
4. Workshop “Eleva tu qué”
5. Intercambio y networking
Spora’s methodology connects sustainability, strategy and communication.
Training that starts from reality
One of the distinguishing features of the project is that it doesn’t train people to apply a predefined message. The methodology starts from what organizations already do.
En las sesiones realizadas se han identificado prácticas relacionadas con energía renovable, reutilización de materiales y agua, gestión del territorio, producto local, movilidad, accesibilidad, empleo local, conciliación o inclusión.
In the sessions held so far, practices have been identified relating to renewable energy, reuse of materials and water, land management, local products, mobility, accessibility, local employment, work-life balance and inclusion.
This makes the training applicable, concrete and tied to each organization’s real decisions and projects.
Communicating sustainability goes beyond social media
The programme also works on an especially relevant idea: communicating sustainability is not publishing more green content.
Se analizan las diferentes palancas de comunicación —canales propios, comerciales, promocionales, de relación y de reputación— y el papel que cada una puede tener en la construcción de credibilidad.
This makes it possible to work on communication that is less about claiming “we are sustainable” and more about demonstrating it through experience, practices, relationships and the voices of other people. The methodology thus brings a critical eye to superficial sustainability communication and puts the focus on consistency between what is done, what is said and what others can validate.
Conclusions
The value of the project lies in having understood training as a tool to activate knowledge and not just to pass it on.
Las entidades participantes ya disponen de prácticas, proyectos y compromisos vinculados a la sostenibilidad. Lo que a menudo falta es la capacidad de identificar su valor comunicativo, construir su relato e integrarlo dentro de la propia marca.
Por eso Spora trabaja en la intersección entre conocimiento técnico de sostenibilidad y experiencia en comunicación y branding.
The training makes it possible to bring the destination narrative to organizations without making them all the same: one sustainability framework, many legitimate ways of telling it. This is especially relevant for a tourist destination, because its positioning isn’t built by the institution alone. It’s built through all the businesses, organizations and experiences that represent it.
The destination has a narrative. The training helps each organization turn it into a story of its own.
Lessons learned
Sustainability needs communication to generate value. Sustainable practices don’t guarantee they will be perceived, understood or valued. Communication is part of an organization’s ability to turn them into brand value.
La formación debe partir de lo que ya existe. Las prácticas reales de cada organización son la mejor materia prima para construir un relato creíble.
Comunicar no es enumerar. Las listas de acciones no construyen diferenciación. El relato aparece cuando explicamos cómo lo hacemos y por qué lo hacemos.
La sostenibilidad es más amplia que el impacto ambiental. Incorporar las dimensiones social, económica y de gobernanza permite descubrir mucho más valor comunicable y construir relatos más completos.
We don’t always have to be the ones who explain our credibility. Advocates, customers, employees, partner organizations and other stakeholders can validate what an organization does and provide a credibility that corporate communication alone cannot generate.
Training means leaving capacity behind. The ultimate goal is not for organizations to learn new concepts, but to be able to recognize their own sustainable value, build the narrative around it and communicate it with judgment.
What an organization does can transform it. What it is able to explain can turn that transformation into brand value.