Is there a basic philosophy all spas could accept regards water?

Spotlight on Water: 3rd Global Spa Summit,
17-19 May 2009




Last month, the 2009 Global Spa Summit focused on 'The Power of Collaboration' was held at Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, Switzerland.  

The Global Spa Summit (GSS) is 'an international organization that aims to bring together leaders and visionaries to positively impact and shape the future of the global spa and wellness industry'.

One of its objectives is to identify and assist in resolving issues affecting the spa and wellness industry.  Right now, these might well emphasize the effects of the global recession and urgent awareness of the troubling impact human activity is having on the planet.

What really matters from Vision Spa Retreat's point of view is the response such considerations generate from the top-level spa business audience that attends.  Will they, for example, be prepared to subjugate profits to meet the pressing needs of the planet?

Among the issues discussed at this year's Summit was Water - also a central focus for Vision Spa Retreat.  See also Putting the water back into spa on this blog.

Spas use water for the ubiquitous human requirements of drinking, cleaning, landscaping, and bathing.  The last area  (including various forms of hydrotherapy and mineral/thermal waters) is, for many of us, a distinguishing feature of 'spa'.  Water issues are spa issues.

On Tuesday May 19, a group of panelists, including one of Vision Spa Retreat's friends Marion Schneider, spent one precious hour looking at 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry'.

Vision Spa Retreat was not at the summit and cannot report directly: the summary below may be of interest to others who likewise could not attend but are concerned about the environmental impact of spa.

If you were are participant, we welcome your comments and input.

Before the meeting Marion suggested that this title 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry' helped to express (quote):

• the possibility for our industry/ for a spa to focus on water

• the possibility that the use of water as an agent can energize our work/ business/ company

• that our industry needs energy

• that we have influence to create this energy.

She also pointed out the following challenges (quote):

• water plays very different roles in the different nations/ cultures/ philosophies of spa or spa experience

• water is expensive if we use it in general for therapy

• water will become even more expensive in the future

• the relationship to water is still very practical and non-spiritual in most cultures – it is not seen as precious, valuable, admirable.

Taking into account the many different approaches to, and views of water, she felt that 'there will be no general solution for all spas concerning water – but there might be a basic philosophy all spas could accept'.

She also noted that the spa industry would be interested to learn more about the 'profitability of water treatments or water based investments'.

This last aspect was affirmed by Susie Ellis, President of SpaFinder Inc., and one of the Summit organizers whose focus is strongly on the business perspective and who also asked the panel to consider: 'How can you collaborate to increase understanding and demand for what you do?'  For example by (quote):
   

• igniting enthusiasm in  consumers regarding the health benefits of hydro/thermal experiences so that they demand them in spas

• educating the spa industry so that they can properly instruct usage so that people really see results in their health, etc.  

• or maybe the concerns are safety? standards? pricing? 

The Summit also included:

A presentation on 'Medical Hydrology, Balneotherapy, Thalassotherapy and Spa Therapy:  Understanding How Research which Validates Spa Therapies can Greatly Increase your Bottom Line'

A breakout session on 'Galvanizing Interest in & Understanding of Hydro/Thermal Spa Experiences to Increase Profits'

But much of this focus on profiting from water may be diluted in importance when and if we accept that 'The world is running out of clean water' (Maude Barlow, April 2009).

Iain Trousdell of the Healing Water Institute in New Zealand whose work has appeared on this blog was also a panelist for 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry' and had the opportunity to present the trailer for his forthcoming film on the value of water and the perils of our neglect of this element.

Here is what Iain had to say beforehand about the important part he felt spa could play in the current water crisis:

'...if the SPA industry became known worldwide for helping water, it would not only help water but also raise the SPA market profile. In this way the SPA Industry can be (more) energized...water is the perfect medium for it....healing people and people healing water.'

Iain suggested that we can help water support life better by understanding how nature has looked after its water so well for so long. He noted that in capturing water, removing it from its context in nature, and not returning it to the world's fresh water sources, we have seriously interfered with water's natural capacity to support all life.

The Water panel Moderator was Marc Cohen, Professor, RMIT University, Australia, an authority in holistic health and wellness,  who also sits on the advisory boards of many national and international associations.  He hoped the panel would provide education on the main issues,  explore the possibility for collaboration, and identify and direct people to resources / expertise.

He summarized the following water topics as being relevant to the spa industry:

• biological, social and cultural importance of water

• the current water crisis

• hot springs tourism and geothermal water  

Cohen highlighted a few of the technological and environmental solutions for water use in spas: flow forms,  natural pools, biocycle systems, billabongs, quench reticulating showers, and steam power.

He also brought to the panel's attention the Opening Keynote speech at the very recent Australian Water Summit, April 2009 presented by Maude Barlow, Senior Adviser on Water to the President of the United Nations Assembly and author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water.  See below for more on her concerns.



After the Summit, Marion wrote me that there were about 180 attendees, including many owners and CEOs  from hydro/thermal spa experience companies.  She felt that there was a positive spirit enabling the sharing of experience and knowledge. 

Apart from Iain Trousdell's film presentation which she found both very moving and practical – 'he shows what we can do to care for the water in pictures and with words', she referenced another panelist, Ian Lyons who 'is able to show the power of water in on stage demonstrations and has visited many waters of the world'.

After the event, Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider, wrote in a post on her blog (Susie's Spa Blog, 4 June 2009) 'Words from Adolf Ogi, Keynote at Global Spa Summit 2009':

[Mr Ogi] had just finished attending the Swiss Economic Forum where the topic, of course, was the global economic crisis which was beginning to hit Switzerland extremely hard....He went on to talk about how important character is for both individuals and countries, and how that has become even more significant in an increasingly troubled world.

He also spoke about how important nature is, specifically water, to the quality of life in Switzerland .... He recognizes the importance of the spa and wellness industry and is proud that Switzerland as a country has taken a lead in promoting its value. It was my impression, however, that at the core of his remarks he was challenging us to look beyond our industry and our immediate issues to the greater needs of the world.

With respect to that last call, here are some pressing points extracted from Maude Barlow's recent speech as referenced by the Water panel's moderator Marc Cohen.  If you are a spa owner or operator (or anyone alive on this planet), you might ask yourself how this affects and is affected by your life and your business (or soon will be):

The world is running out of clean water.

How is this possible?

• We are polluting massive amounts of surface and even ground water, rendering it inaccessible to us.

• As a result we are over extracting our rivers to death, mostly for flood irrigation and to grow crops in deserts, creating more desert.

• We move water from where it supports a healthy hydrologic cycle and ship it away from watersheds embedded in commodity exports.

• We mine groundwater far faster than nature can replace it and ship it to mega-cities, which dump it into the ocean instead of returning it to the watershed.

• We pave over water-retentive landscape, negatively affecting the hydrologic cycle and reducing rainfall on land.

By these actions, humans are emptying aquifers and watersheds, perhaps permanently. This means that whole areas of the world may be drying out, not experiencing what many incorrectly describe as 'cyclical drought.'

We are just beginning to understand the devastation of this drying to the ecosystem and other species as we humans continue to rob the earth of the water it needs for survival. The human water footprint surpasses all others and endangers life on earth itself.

Close to two billion people now live in water-stressed parts of the planet and almost three billion have no running water within a kilometer of their homes. The global population tripled in the twentieth century, but water consumption jumped sevenfold.

By 2025, unless we dramatically change our ways, two thirds of the population will face water scarcity and by 2050, we will need an 80 % increase in water supplies just to feed ourselves. No one knows where this water is going to come from.

....

Tragically the world community has been inexplicably slow in confronting this crisis and has only introduced stopgap measures at best. And most countries have yet to properly confront their own water crisis in a systematic way in order to prepare their citizens for the changes to come.

Let me say here today: we will have to deal with this crisis by design or default. We will either see it coming and plan accordingly or we will be forced to deal with it once it has hit us and then our actions will just be reactionary.

...

The Way Forward (in Australia but likely elsewhere also)

Public trust: declare water to be a public trust

Watershed restoration: revitalize wounded water systems and return and protect enough water in rivers, aquifers and watersheds for their survival and the survival of other life

Conservation: conservation alternative favors rainwater harvesting; recycling; strict codes for new buildings and funding for retrofitting old ones; energy reduction and the development of alternative energy sources; investment in municipal infrastructure to cut down on loss of water through leaks; and the collection of grey water and storm water which is captured and re-used, not dumped into the ocean.

Fair allocation: after ecosystem health and protection is guaranteed, water for peoples’ daily use, and water for local, sustainable food production must be paramount.

The right to water: finally, it must be commonly understood that water is not first and foremost a commercial good, although of course it has an economic dimension, but rather, a human right.
...


Vision Spa Retreat is convinced that we must:

• get down to details, speak the truth about what we see going on, and work together ('the power of collaboration') to face the very real problems that are affecting all parts of the world now.

• give more attention to the healing power inherent in nature, appreciating the fine balance that it depends on and how easily that is disrupted. 

• put the planet and our communities first, especially in business where the impacts both negative and positive can be huge.

How will we do this?  Did the panel discussion bring to light any immediately actionable solutions?  Who are the movers and shakers in the spa industry when it comes to standing up for water?

What do you think about the link between spa and water?

See also Putting the water back into spa on this blog.