Welcome to my oneplanetblog site – a mixture of professional articles and personal blog posts on my journey to help make tourism more socially and environmentally sustainable, particularly in the mountainous and protected areas. That means not only minimising the negative and maximising the positive impacts of tourism on nature and local communities, but also ensuring they heal, thrive and flourish.
I am a communications, stakeholder engagement and sustainability specialist, researcher and educator with over 15 years of international experience working on sustainable development programmes in the Caucasus, Western Balkans and the European Union.
I am currently conducting research on the sustainability of the mountainous expeditions for the Mount Everest Foundation, and am facilitating the Regenerative Tourism by Design course at the fantastic the Tourism CoLab.
After over a decade working in communications, including five years at the UK Department for International Development, for the last six years I have worked as a Sustainable Tourism Expert and Trainer for national and local Tourism Boards (Georgia, Poland), the World Bank (Georgia), the German Development Agency GIZ (Georgia, Armenia, Serbia, Albania), the WWF Caucasus (Georgia), the UIAA (International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation) and the Mount Everest Foundation.
I hold a Master of Science (with Distinction) degree in Responsible Tourism Management as well as two other Masters (Master of Arts in Sociology and in Politics).
I am also:
- Mentor and Associate Staff member at Leeds Beckett University for the MSc in Responsible Tourism Management course. This is the only responsible tourism management MSc in the world certified by the UNWTO.
- Trainer in sustainable tourism:
– I have lead group work as a tutor for the global OECD-led online training on The Future of Tourism in Natural Areas post-Covid.
– I’ve delivered workshops on improving destination stewardship for regional DMOs in Poland.
– I have been selected by The EUROPARC Federation to train Protected Areas staff on sustainable tourism.
– I teach Regenerative Tourism at the Tourism CoLab. - Speaker and moderator at several international sustainable tourism conferences and events and regular contributor to portals and publications on responsible tourism
The first sustainable tourism expert working in the Caucasus region interviewed for the prestigious Sustainability Leaders Project
- Graduate of the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Programmerun by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council
For the more Caucasus-specific experience, please see the ‘Caucasus and me’ page.
I am always interested in new opportunities to work in sustainable tourism in emerging destinations. Please contact me for any consultancy/speaking opportunities: marta@oneplanetblog.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-mills-8ab06b89/
Twitter @oneplanetblog
Instagram: caucasus_fan