Relais & Châteaux celebrated its 70th anniversary in Paris, unveiling new sustainability commitments and announcing a UNESCO partnership to promote biodiversity conservation.
PARIS – In Paris, at Relais & Châteaux annual Rendez-Vous – the major international conference gathering members from across the globe -, the Association not only celebrated its 70th anniversary, but unveiled its new Commitments, “In Harmony with All Life on Earth,” and announced a new partnership with UNESCO to develop and implement joint projects supporting the sustainable conservation and use of biological diversity through the world’s hospitality and culinary traditions and savoir-faire.
“The partnership with UNESCO is a natural step for our Association to take: Our objective is to support and encourage change, to continue to rethink our properties’ operational models so as
to dovetail travel – a source of personal enrichment – with environmental, social, and economic objectives,” explains Laurent Gardinier, President of Relais & Châteaux.
“Never in history has nature experienced such dramatic decline. One million species – of the eight million identified to date – are facing the threat of extinction. With one voice, UNESCO and the Relais & Châteaux Association are calling for us all to change our perspectives and practices with regard to food and reestablish a balance between humankind and the environment,” states Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO.
Benoît Juillet, Laurent Gardinier, and Mauro Colagreco.
In Harmony with All Life on Earth: Our 12 Commitments to Sustainability UNESCO supports the Association’s new commitments, In Harmony with All Life on Earth: Our 12 Commitments to Sustainability, designed to pursue three major missions:
- preserve the world’s hospitality and culinary traditions,
- contribute to the protection and development of biodiversity,
- take daily action for a more humane world.
These commitments are supported by organization’s Director General, Audrey Azoulay, who penned the foreword to the official document. They were also approved by a vote of the Association’s members at this annual congress.
In their day-to-day devotion to cuisine and hospitality, the 580 member properties of the Relais & Châteaux network, spread across 65 countries, are in constant contact with persons of every
origin, from all kinds of communities, as well as with nature in its infinite richness and variety. This is the context in which the partnership was established between UNESCO and the Relais &
Châteaux Association, whose commitments clearly illustrate the vital interconnectedness of food, health, and the environment.
Pilot projects will be conducted by Relais & Châteaux members and UNESCO Sites as part of the partnership agreement. The projects, to be led by Relais & Châteaux members, aim to promote UNESCO Sites and traditional savoir-faire by encouraging sustainable biodiversity conservation and use while respecting local cultures and preserving natural and cultural heritage. The first pilot projects will be implemented in 2025 by Relais & Châteaux members located near biosphere reserves of the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and World Heritage Sites.
The UNESCO MAB Programme is an intergovernmental scientific program that aims to establish a scientific basis for improving relations between human beings and the environment. It
combines conservation, local development, cultural heritage preservation and protection of the savoir-faire and traditions of local and indigenous populations. With 759 biosphere reserves
spread across 136 countries, UNESCO protects nearly eight million square kilometers of natural spaces – the equivalent of the surface area of Australia – and supports the communities that
benefit from them. Nearly half of Relais & Châteaux members are located within two hours of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The driving force behind the Relais & Châteaux-UNESCO collaboration is Mauro Colagreco, Vice President of Chefs for Relais & Châteaux and Chef-Owner of the three-Michelin-star Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France. Designated a Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity by UNESCO in November 2022 in light of his commitment and involvement in sharing savior-faire, Chef Colagreco has since been working to support the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and to generate broad public interest and active public involvement in environmental issues. The partnership that he promotes between these two institutions makes it possible for him to expand the initiative to reach the Association’s 580 members, spread across 65 countries.
“Over the past two years, I have worked with UNESCO to champion biodiversity and inform and involve as many people as possible regarding the need to protect our ecosystems. I see gastronomy as a powerful vector for change and we must fundamentally rethink the way we approach food systems. I quickly realized that we need to greatly increase the number of biodiversity guardians across the world if we want to protect our planet and the species living upon it. The Relais & Châteaux network has 580 properties with a total of 800 restaurants, so it seemed clear to me that involving them in this initiative was the logical next step,” declares Mauro Colagreco, Vice President of Chefs for Relais & Châteaux.
UNESCO supports Relais & Châteaux’s sustainability strategy
To carry out its intentions, Relais & Châteaux has a consolidated strategy with four key elements:
- The Association’s Commitments, approved by the Relais & Châteaux members at the annual congress, the foreword to which was written by UNESCO’s Director General Audrey Azoulay.
- A Commission devoted to sustainability, composed of seven exemplary members, whose role is to supervise all of Relais & Châteaux’s initiatives in this area, thereby better supporting members in their sustainable transitions. Malik Fernando, the Chairman of Relais & Châteaux Resplendent Ceylon, Sri Lanka is also a part of this committee.
- Expertise at headquarters in the newly formed Sustainability Department, responsible for implementing Relais & Châteaux’s comprehensive strategy worldwide.
- Quality criteria, as quality is central to all of Relais & Châteaux’s activities. Properties have long been inspected every two years based on technical and emotional criteria and, from now on, they will also be evaluated on quantitative criteria related to sustainability.
Sustainability as a central theme
While Relais & Châteaux’s members were gathered in Paris for the Association’s annual congress, they were made more profoundly aware of CSR concerns in the hospitality industry, such as carbon emissions, inclusion and diversity, new culinary techniques and transformations, and biodiversity protection and preservation. Renowned speakers also contributed their experience and inspiration: Mauro Colagreco from the Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France, Daniel Humm from Eleven Madison Park in New York City, Michael Caines from the Lympstone Manor in the United Kingdom, and Gari Yin from King’s Joy in China.
The congress ended with a lively gala dinner at the Palace of Versailles prepared by some of the world’s greatest culinary artists, a dazzling array of three-Michelin-star chefs from the Association: Pierre Gagnaire from the Pierre Gagnaire restaurant in Paris, Gérald Passedat from Le Petit Nice in Marseille, Anne-Sophie Pic from the Pic restaurant in Valence, and Stéphane Mack from Les Prés d’Eugénie, a Michel Guérard establishment in Eugénie-les-Bains.The soirée was also the time to award the Relais & Châteaux 2025 Trophies recognizing the expertise of the finest hotel and restaurant professionals in the Association’s worldwide network.
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She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
