Projects & Publications

CITY LETTERS – Responsible Perspectives   // Open Call: LET’S RE-COLLECT

BoD x Travel Kollekt – City Letters

15 writers from 5 countries. The essays in this book were all written during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic shut down our societies, these local writers took the time to share stories from their hometowns and regions with the rest of us. Together, their stories are an important testament bringing us closer to their home and making it personal, more local and with a deeper meaning.

In partnership with our International print partner BoD (Books on Demand) and a team of local expert writers/jury, we have been seaching for stories for a conscious visit to main cities in Northern Europe.

The result? 170+ pages of pesponsible perspectives & urban escapes from Helsinki, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Yangtorp, Aarhus, Odense, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Vienna & Zürich

In this anthology the 15 local winners of the competition have contributed with travel essays in which they share their best tips on environmentally friendly means of transport, local public transport, recycling, architecture, innovations in the field of sustainability, regional, seasonal and environmentally friendly cuisine, art and culture, environmentally conscious experiences and leisure activities as well as quality of life or the creative scene.

The essays include recipes for salmon pie to eat on the beaches of Helsinki, poetry, a tale about the people you might meet on a tram, a rollerblade ride through the streets of Copenhagen, a story about the natural baths in Munich and so much more… all published in the writers’ native languages as well as English, making this a book in 5 languages; Finnish, Swedish, Danish, German and English.

The book is NOW available to order and ship globally, print in demand from Books On Demand and all articles also available as single stories for purchase, exclusively for travelers that sign up for travelkollekt.com (Dec 2020 / Jan 2021)


COVID-19 Response, Open call for submissions:

LET’S RE-COLLECT

My name is Louise Zastrow. I’m inviting YOU to take part in the co-creation of an important book.

From the news and other media, we know that the destructive and horrible Covid-19 pandemic has brought along a great amount of change. And – just as devastating as some of that change has been and still is – we’re also hearing about small and large positive changes caused by the lockdown of societies everywhere. Changes in how society works, positive climate effects, differences in how people interact.

Some of the news has already made headlines: the stories of drinkable water in Ganges, a once again visible Himalayas, dolphins playing again in the Bosphorus Strait. As a citizen of Copenhagen I have enjoyed resident bicyclists reclaiming the bike paths of Copenhagen… But I am certain that there are many more positive stories about how, despite a global, destructive event, quality of life can also improve. The United Nations World Travel Organization has also released their recommendations for recovery that calls for citizens’ platforms for local feedback, to ensure all voices are heard.

We want to create and publish a book of local STORIES together with you.
A book that tells about all those positive side-effects of the lockdowns.
A book of things, we think should stay and become the new normal.

I want to create it for every one of the contributors, but even more importantly I want decision makers to remember these stories when societies begin to re-open and restrictions are lifted. That’s why I am writing this open letter. I am inviting anyone who has experienced small or large, positive changes in society, the climate and their city, region or country related to the lockdown of our societies around the world, caused by the COVID pandemic to take part.

We will gather stories to finally turn into a book titled “RE-COLLECT”. Our normal focus is to run Travel Kollekt – a platform that empowers people who desire to travel responsibly to organize their own travel research and print their completely own travel books. But we want to do this project together with you all, right now!

No event is too small or big – we want to hear about clear skies, more space for bikes, more local fresh, farm produce available, supportive local communities, positive changes for wildlife and much more. Any kind of improvements to the quality of life… be it urban, natural and/or human. Once the book is complete we will share it with Destination Management Organizations (local, regional and national), Strategy Makers and Policy Makers to remind them what to include in their future work for years ahead.

I hope you will share this letter with friends, co-workers and family so we can go far and beyond in gathering these facts and stories.

How do I join?

  • Share with us your best findings and reactions in a mail to hello@travelkollekt.com.
  • All we need is a link to the story if already published in a media, your thoughts on why this is important to remember (2-3 lines), your full name and country of residence.
  • We also welcome creative submissions, illustrations and photography! Just remember to clearly describe to us which event and destination it is related to.
  • You as a contributor will receive the book (digital format) as soon as it is published.

NB! If you also have an idea for a person who should receive this book, please send us the name, why they should receive and their contact. We will send them a copy too.

 

Let’s re-collect together

Louise Zastrow,
Founder of Travel Kollekt

Terms – Creative Commons:
“Let’s re-collect” by Travel Kollekt will be licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0 . To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 – This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, for noncommercial purposes only.

On original photos/artwork and text:
When contributing parties provide original materials, besides links to pre-published copy, including text, portraits and images, to the “Let’s Re-collect” project of Travel Kollekt, you declare yourself/yourselves to be the original creator(s), legal owner(s) or authorised copyright owner(s) of these text, portraits, images and the context depicted by these materials. If this is not the case please state clearly how/where the content and information is sourced from.

In case of collaborative works, you should hold the responsibility to inform all concerned copyright owners of your intention to participate in our projects with these materials, the purpose(s) of submitting these materials and acquire their consent to the publishing of these materials in our publications and relevant online/offline promotion campaigns and notify us with all necessary credits and restrictions of usage if applicable.

In case of copyright entanglement regarding these materials submitted by you, you will automatically be answerable to all resulting legal consequences under all circumstances, regardless of Travel Kollekt’s awareness on the issue. Travel Kollekt will not be obliged to indemnify for any loss in any sense to any extent in such case.

By submitting these materials, you grant us full and unrestricted right to edit these materials, including the act of resizing, cropping and/or enhancing image files by means of sharpness and/or colour saturation whenever necessary for the publication, including reprints and any language edition.

By receiving these materials, we are also permitted to use and edit these materials on the respective publication’s jacket and/or cover and in any Travel Kollekt medium, including print and electronic media, internally and externally, in connection with the promotion of the publication.