Govardhan Ecovillage wins prestigious UN Tourism Award

Govardhan Ecovillage is honoured to win the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Award for Innovation in Non-Governmental Organisations for our ecotourism initiatives as a catalyst for rural development.

Govardhan Ecovillage (GEV) was chosen from 139 international applications to receive the 2017 award at the 13th UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation ceremony in Madrid, Spain on January 19. The other finalists were from Belgium, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Mr Gauranga Das, Director of GEV, accepted the award on behalf of everyone who is helping GEV on its way to become a model community for sustainable living. Some of our holistic living initiatives include vedic farming, animal care and protection, green buildings, yoga, an ayurvedic wellness centre, water resource management, solid and liquid waste management, rural sustainable development, the promotion of local arts and handicrafts, and a plant nursery with indigenous varieties of flora.

The UNWTO Awards for Excellence and Innovation are held annually to highlight and promote the work of organisations and individuals around the world that have positively impacted and inspired the tourism sector through innovation and knowledge. Their achievements serve as an inspiration for competitive and sustainable tourism development at a local, national, regional and international level.

Mr Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General, said this year’s awards were even more significant as the UN was celebrating 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The contributions of the awardees are in line with the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the principles and standards of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Although the UNWTO award is the biggest international recognition for GEV’s ecotourism efforts to date, the village has previously won several other national and international awards. They include the 2015 international UK Green Apple Environment Award in the gold category for Greenest Community Project, the AQUA Excellence Award for Outstanding Contribution Towards the Cause of Sustainability and the Best Green Water Stewardship Award at the Golden Globe Tigers Summit in Kuala Lumpur in 2015.

For more information on our eco-friendly initiatives, visit us at http://www.ecovillage.org.in