It feels strange to write this final farewell blog for Nurture Lakeland! I set up this blog two years ago as a way of celebrating the achievements of Nurture members, projects and responsible tourism more broadly. It's quite sad to think I'll no longer be able to encourage, edit and promote the blog however I'm sure I'll be allowed to return as a guest blogger to talk about my new ventures in Ulverston and with the Chinese Outbound Market.

I think it is a privilege to live in Cumbria; I am passionate about the county, the landscape, the fantastic local produce that we have; about the innovative ways people find to start and build their businesses. I know how hard it is and yet how important it is to be able to run a business that allows you to have a life and a lifestyle and yet still generates enough money to keep the wolf from the door!

I originally wrote this as a 'Dear Editors' letter for the Westmorland Gazette in response to the article 'The opportunity Is There For The Taking' printed on the 28th of November. The article was essentially about sustainable tourism so naturally we had a nurturing viewpoint to reply with.....

Bristol, arguably the UK’s ‘green capital’ played host to the inaugural Green Tourism Conference last week, organised by the founders of Green Tourism Business Scheme, Andrea Nicholas and Jon Procter. At Bristol (that’s the venue) was bustling with people from all four corners of the UK, converging to celebrate our successes and learn from each other. A host of inspiring presentations and case studies really brought home the fantastic results in cost savings, carbon reduction and water conservation that can be achieved through joining GTBS and partnering up with sustainable suppliers.

West Lakes Adventure is lucky enough to be based in one of the most naturally beautiful parts of the Lake District National Park, it is one of the finest locations to deliver all of our activities including climbing, canyoning & ghyll scrambling, canoeing, mountain biking & mountaineering. Eskdale is unspoilt still maintaining a natural feel and way of life allowing holiday makers to experience this authentic way of living when they visit and learn more about rescuing sheep.....

I wrote this blog from the balcony of the award winning INOUT hostel in the mountains of Barcelona, listening to the chimes of nearby church bells and the buzz of the city below.

INOUT hostel employs people with a range of disabilities, it's a brilliant place bursting with energy and pride for its achievements. I found this gem thanks to the 7th Responsible Tourism in Destinations Conference (RTD7) which not only provided a fantastic conference but also the opportunity to enjoy the Mendes Islands, discover a city based nature walk and the unforgettable experience of participating in the Catalan tradition of 'human towers' shown in this picture. I'm in the red, nervously looking up at the talented child gymnasts above....

When the Low Carbon Cottages project first started I was having myriad of conversations with various stakeholders and interested people and every time I mentioned planning there was always a noisy intake of breathe and that look you usually get from a mechanic when its bad news. Many people quoted examples of issues they have had trying to implement X & Y in properties because of the planning laws within Cumbria and the National Park 

Guest Blog : Bob Cartwright Deputy Chair of Nurture Lakeland and former LDNPA Director

I left for Beijing with sheaves of 'Welcome to the Lake District' pamphlets –translated into Mandarin – and returned with a whole new take on China and its attitudes on tourism...

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to sneak in on one of the University of Cumbria’s Knowledge Action Network (KAN) events. I was interested in the theme of Innovation and Collaboration but even more interested to hear what the keynote speaker, Wayne Hemingway, had to say. After starting by declaring “I’m not going to talk a lot, this is going to be an interactive session” Wayne proceeded to pour out his life story for over an hour. It didn’t matter as I could have listened for another hour.

Well it's a Monday afternoon on week 10 of my 15 months Low Carbon Cottages project and it's been a whistle stop tour of traditional building knowledge, retrofit, carbon footprinting, frameworks and conferences. I am still standing and keen as a bean! However one thing has struck me (well two things but that's for another blog another time) and that's the fact people keep trying to treat traditional buildings the same as modern ones when it comes to insulation, this is a recipe for disaster and I am going to tell you why;

Why are traditional buildings different to modern ones when it comes to insulation?