What is QualityCoast?
What is the QualityCoast Award?
What are the QualityCoast criteria?
How to join QualityCoast
How to apply for a QualityCoast Award
Benefits for the QualityCoast Destinations
Deadlines for Application

 

 
QualityCoast Programme
 

What is QualityCoast?

 

QualityCoast aims to establish a world wide network of coastal communities that share the same values and practices on sustainable development holistically integrating their natural, cultural and social values and that at the same time maintain high standards in the quality of their tourism. It has been developed in a European Union project by 21 partners from 11 countries under the lead of the Coastal & Marine Union (EUCC) - one of the largest coastal expert networks in the world.

QualityCoast provides new ways of cooperation between coastal communities. The communities will join a network of like-minded communities and be able to share their experiences and exchange best practices in order to improve sustainability in the fields of nature, environment and socio-economics. Furthermore, their performance in these fields can be connected to international tourism marketing through the QualityCoast Award.

QualityCoast has been developed by and for coastal communities: cities, towns and islands, at the level of municipalities, provinces and regions. Small adjacent communities can participate together in order to work more cost effectively; they can also apply for the QualityCoast Award together (e.g. islands with more than one municipality or a coherent group of municipalities considering and promoting themselves as a single unit). In such case the applicants need to show their common policies toward sustainable development of the territory.

QualityCoast supports both the Blue Flag and the Green Key Programme: the Blue Flag programme specifically applies to beaches and marinas whilst the Green Key applies to accommodation. QualityCoast is, therefore, complementary to these but it aims at recognising efforts toward sustainability in the whole territory of the coastal destination: towns, small regions and islands. Non-compliance to the Blue Flag and Green Key criteria does not rule out eligibility for QualityCoast.