Electric cycling at ‘Domaine de Briange’

Green Key awarded Holiday Park and camping ‘Domaine de Briange’ in the Ardèche region in France has invested in electric bicycles for their employees. 

The staff came up with the idea as the propriety that they have to maintain is quite large. They often have to cross large distances to prepare the cabins for new guests. The establishment had already invested in a golf cart but they wanted to do more.

‘Besides the obvious environmental impact, the other main reason to choose electric bikes is the comfort of our guests. We like to limit the circulation of vehicles at the camping as much as possible. ‘

The staff prefers this new way of transportation above going on foot or normal bicycle as the grounds are quite hilly. The bikes are used to guide guests who are arriving, to prepare the facilities and even to do grocery shopping in the village.

Domaine de Briange has invested in 2 bicycles but will buy to more by the end of the year due to the big success. 

Brobacka guest house working hard to receive their Green Key award

Brobacka guest house opened its doors last summer and tourists haven’t stopped coming since. With a bike path just outside and a beautiful view of a bay, the newly renovated guesthouse Brobacka guesthouse has found its place on the map of places that you just have to visit on Åland. The owners of the guesthouse, Ove and Katja, are very keen on getting Green Key awarded. 

Get support in everyday environmental work
Katja and Ove do not as see themselves as environmental people. ”But the interest has been there somewhere since the teens,” says Katja. And when it comes to Ove, he likes to create things and find smart solutions. Working with Green Key is something that they see as given.
”For us as a new accommodation it is very helpful to get clear criterias and suggestions on how to think and what to do. Working with Green Key provides support in what is right and wrong, and helps us to constantly evolve so that we dont get too stuck in everyday life that otherwise just goes on”, says Ove.

A lot to gain
Brobacka hopes to be Green Key-labeled by the fall. So far they have not encountered any problems or obstacles in the work. ”As long as the intention is there I think you should go for it”, says Katja as a recommendation to other accommodations.
”I think everyone has much to gain from an environmental label, that you just don´t say that something is environmentally friendly, but you also have a label that proves what you do. It also helps me when I inform our guests about our efforts,” Katja states.

A local way of thinking
To think about the environment is also to think locally. The café bakes bread with organic flour from local Överängs mill and when they changed windows the glass was made in the same village as Brobacka, Björsby. Many of the guests are also local.
”When we opened we thought that we would get mostly bicycle tourists here, but it has actually been mostly Ålanders who visited us. I think many were curious about the house, Katja says smiling”.

SGS - A sustainability leader

SGS, the biggest auditing company in world, not only offers businesses sustainable solutions and services, they also have a very impressive sustainability management system in place.

SGS offers a range of sustainability services to their clients. This goes from performance assessment to testing, certification and training. Since December 2014, SGS also performs Green Key audits and actively promotes the Green Key programme among their clients.

But besides delivering services that promote sustainable development, SGS manages their own sustainability performance through a global management system and they develop sustainability programmes which inspire a wide range of initiatives across their affiliates that are supported by their sustainability management system.

Some accomplishments of the past year were:  Industry Leader, Gold Class sustainability award 2016 for its excellent sustainability performance, ISO 26000 and ISO 14064-3 certification and Carbon disclosure project award.

And SGS has a lot of ambition to improve their performance even more. By 2020 SGS aims to

-          Reduce the annual CO2 emissions by 20%

-          Maintain a natural turnover rate of no more than 10%

-          30% of leadership positions will be held by women

-          Reduce TRIR (Total Recordable Incidence Rate) and LTIR (Lost Time Incident Rate) by                    50%

-          Increase investment in communities around the world by 30%

-          Link the management incentive plan to sustainability

-          Deliver measurable sustainable value to society

Green Key highly commends the sustainability efforts of SGS and hopes to continue the successful cooperation for many years to come. 

"Camping 45" organises a clean-up day engaging refugees

"Camping 45",  the first campsite in Sweden that received the Green Key award in 2008, organises an annual clean-up day, this year engaging refugees.

2015 cleaning group with their results cleaning up Vägåns hiking trail (1,5 km) for two hours

At the end of April 2016, the campsite will organise a clean-up day in association with the organisation 'Keep Sweden Tidy'.

Around 30 refugees living in the area will be asked to assist, and they will work in groups of 4-5 people, lead by a local citizen. The plan is to clean up around hiking trails and tourist attractions. In addition, the campsite will introduce the refugees to Swedish nature and working habits.

The campsite already has some experience in organising cleaning days from former years.

Waste in the forest before cleaning in 2015.

From a basement to the World - The story of Green Key

One of the founders of Green Key, HORESTA (Association for the hotel, restaurant and tourism industry in Denmark), has prepared an overview of the development of Green Key from a Danish initiative in 1994 to a successful international programme today.

The publication describes the development of Green Key in Denmark from an idea based on the philosophy of the Blue Flag programme for beaches and marinas to a programme for hotels and later also for other categories. Green Key was launched in Denmark in 1994 with criteria focusing on environmental management as well as training and awareness raising. In Denmark, the hosting of the international climate conference (COP15) meant a big growth in the programme.

Green Key became an international programme, when the concept was taken up in France in 1998 and exported by HORESTA to Greenland, Sweden and Estonia from 2000. In 2002, the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) became the international manager of the Green Key programme enabling FEE's national member organisations to implement/run Green Key. An International Steering Committee consisting of members of the founders/owners and of FEE was established to be in charge of the political development of the programme.

In 2009, establishments in 17 countries had joined the programme. From 2010, Green Key entered collaboration agreements with Radisson Hotel Group and later also Starwood Hotel Group meaning that establishments in countries without FEE member organisations could also join Green Key. From 2014, Green Key entered cooperation with SGS (the world’s largest auditing company) supporting Green Key with the onsite audits. These initiatives meant a fast growth in participating establishments, so that today more than 2,370 establishments in 52 countries have the Green Key award.

The criteria have been regularly revised/updated and new criteria take effect in 2016. The new criteria include CSR criteria, and the new criteria for hotels and hostels have been recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

Green Key International would like to thank HORESTA for developing this great document describing the history of the programme. The full document can be downloaded here: “From a basement to the World – The story of Green Key”.  

The Radisson Hotel Group publishes its 2015 Responsible Business Report

Radisson Hotel Group has released its 2015 responsible business report, highlighting the company’s progress to date and signposting their future priorities.

The highlights of the company’s achievements include Radisson’s recognition for the sixth year in a row as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, the hotel group donating €1.3m to charity, Radisson employees completing 5,000+ days of volunteering and Blu Planet, the innovative towel re-use programme at Radisson Blu, providing safe drinking water to 4,700 children.

In addition the group has achieved energy savings of 22%, a reduction of Radisson’s water consumption by 29% and the Meetings Minus Carbon programme has offset 32,000 tonnes of carbon and planted 32,000 trees.  77% hotels in the group are now eco-labelled, the majority with Green Key as a result of the cooperation between Green Key and Radisson.

But alongside their Think Together and Think Planet pillars, Radisson Hotels’ third responsible business aspect is Think People. Their work on this has seen 65 Radisson hotels certified by the Safehotels alliance, employee satisfaction scores at 87.5 and the launch of new courses to develop the company’s female talent.

In October, Radisson Blu hotels supported the worldwide breast cancer awareness month with the Pink Breakfast. On the Pink Breakfast buffet, food and drink items which can help reduce cancer were added to the Radisson Blu Super Breakfast. As part of the campaign, donations were collected for Europa Donna, the international breast cancer awareness organisation.

In 2014 Radisson launched its Women in Leadership initi­ative. Supported by the CEO Wolfgang M. Neumann and top management, the initiative aims to:

Challenge existing thinking and increase the rep­resentation of women in senior positions across the entire company

Breakdown the barriers that prevent women across Radisson from having open conversations about their careers and encourage them to consider flexible approaches towards their working conditions
Harness the individual strengths of their female leaders and actively encourage their collective participation at every level of the business
Develop and retain female leaders through sustainable and lasting changes which focus on long-term career planning for all.

In return, those women working in senior posi­tions are asked to lead by example and become positive role models for the future.

CEO Wolfgang M. Neumann presented Radisson’s commitment to talent, develop­ment, and Women in Leadership to students during the SEG talent day. Wolfgang explained that Radisson embraces diversity and inclusion, and that talent always come first, independent of gender, visible differences, beliefs, or sexuality.

In the report Neumann says, “Responsible business has a long tradition at Radisson. Our first environmental policy dates back to 1989, and we were one of the first international hotel companies to introduce a group-wide Responsible Business pro­gramme. We are proud that our continued efforts are acknowledged beyond the industry: since 2010, we were named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the think-tank “Ethisphere”.

“The COP21 agreement and the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 have confirmed the role that international businesses can and must play in curbing climate change and in contributing to sustaina­ble development around the globe. The tourism industry provides income through employment and job creation and fosters sustainable development by focusing on employability and education. Collaboration within our sector is essential in these important missions so I am driving alignment between all major global hotel groups in my role as Chairman of the International Tourism Partnership.”

The Full Responsible Business Report 2015 – The Radisson Hotel Group 

Green Key National Operator Meeting 2016

Green Key National Operators from 35 countries gathered on 11-13 April 2016 to discuss the status and future development of the Green Key programme.

The 2016 Green Key National Operator Meeting took place on 11-13 April 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Green Key National Operators from countries in Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, Africa, Middle East and Japan gathered to discuss the status and the future development of Green Key.

The main issues for discussion at the National Operator Meeting were the implementation of the new Green Key criteria, Green Key for the various categories, sharing of best practise examples from different countries, new Green Key developments as well as the monitoring, evaluation and promotion of the Green Key programme.

Green Key International would like to thank our corporate partners, SGS, Lucart Group and Semaphore as well as the Green Key National Operators for their support and active participation in the event.  

First Hotel Copenhagen prepares to host 40 Green Key experts

Exciting times at First Hotel Copenhagen as they will host 40 Green Key National Operators during the annual Green Key Meeting from 11-13 April 2016. A great opportunity for the hotel to show the amazing work they have been doing the last couple of years to become more sustainable. 

First Hotel Copenhagen was first awarded with Green Key 1 July 2013 when all the hotels of the First Hotel chain joined the Green Key programme. Since then they have been working very hard to make their ways of working and overall management more sustainable.

A few actions to highlight.

-          All rooms have a key card system that switches the electricity in the rooms on and off.

-          Water flow in showers has been reduced to only 6l/min and 4l/min in all taps.

-          All lights have been replaced by LED or alternative energy-saving light bulbs.

-          All toilets have a dual flush system to save water.

-          A water cleaning system has been installed in the parking area to drain and clean all the             rain water instead of leading it to the sewage system.

-          A new energy-saving dishwasher was purchased with special trays to let soap and water             run off.

-          Organic products are widely used in the restaurant of the hotel.

-          A waste plan has been put in place to optimize the waste separation and reuse

-          All taps in public toilets have sensors.

-          Electricity is put into the tap water to reduce the amount of calcium in the water.  This              way pipes and electric installations don’t have to be cleaned or replaced that often.

A great list of achievements which will most certainly impress the 40 Green Key experts who will be staying in the hotel.

Landal Marina Lipno is the first holiday park in Czech Republic with Green Key

 Located by the Lake Lipno in the forests of South Bohemia, Landal Marina Lipno is now the first holiday park ever in the Czech Republic to be awarded with the Green Key.

From Left: Robert Lorenz (German Green Key national operator), Václav Hobora (General Manager of Landal Marina Lipno), Alena Alova (Front Office Manager of Landal Marina Lipno), Anne Glas (Sustainability and CSR officer of Landal GreenParks) and Finn Bolding Thomsen (International Director of Green Key)

Václav Hobora, general manager of Landal Marina Lipno: "We have carefully prepared for the audit of Green Key. We already met most of the criteria by our current ways of working. We are communicating to our guests on how they can contribute without sacrificing the holiday experience. When it comes to waste, we see guests can make a major contribution to this by separating their waste. In addition to paper, glass and residual waste, we collect a lot of plastic. Recently, we have installed two charging stations where our guests can recharge the electric cars. It is a great step towards a more sustainable business."

Václav Hobora added: "It was an honor that the Director of Green Key International was present at the inspection. This indicates to us that the organisation gives great importance to the growth of Green Key and thus the growth of the number of establishments committed to a sustainable world. "

Landal Marina Lipno is part of the Dutch organisation Landal GreenParks, which has made it their mission that all 75 holiday parks in 7 countries hold the Green Key certificate by the end of 2016. Currently, more than 40 parks of Landal GreenParks are already awarded with the Green Key. The results of Landal GreenParks' achievements in the field of sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship is explained in their sustainability report . A German version is available on http://www.landal.de/Nachhaltigkeitsbericht.