Visitor Economy of the City and Circular Economy – 31 July 2019

Following the publication of the Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) Economic Strategy in December 2018, Circular Brighton & Hove worked with the council and the University of Brighton Responsible Futures team to deliver on its commitment to ‘Create a Circular Economy (CE) Framework, incorporating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for key themes for the Brighton & Hove Region’.

With the help of a  BHCC officer and external workshops, we have focused on two themes, the Built Environment and the Visitor Economy. For the former, we held an excellent event in June 2019, in conjunction with Design Brighton, where over 80 stakeholders explored how to construct a circular city.

In July 2019, the Visitor Economy of the City and Circular Economy event took place at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton; it was open to all, but focused on museums, hotels, restaurants and activity spaces and explored what circular economy and the visitor economy are and how we might be able to plan for the future.

The day was split into two parts.

Part 1: The Circular Economy and businesses 14.30 – 17.30

Keynote speakers, including Marina Novelli, Professor of Tourism and International Development and Academic Lead for the University of Brighton’s Responsible Futures, investigated how the circular economy and visitor economy can be natural bedfellows, followed by workshops:

Part 2: Can we ever have sustainable tourism? 18.00 – 20.30

Panel debate followed by speed networking

This event was attended by 50+ local government, businesses and practitioners and is the result of a working partnership between Brighton & Hove City Council, the University of Brighton Responsible Futures Team, Visit Brighton and Brilliant Brighton – the name given to the Brighton BID (Business Improvement District).