Biosphere is the Sustainability Certification Scheme —a Conformity Assessment Scheme, hereinafter EEC-Biosphere, or simply the Biosphere Scheme— created by the Responsible Tourism Institute (RTI).
A conformity assessment scheme is not just a document containing the requirements and certification levels that can be obtained. It is the complete set of rules governing the whole process: what is assessed (the requirements and levels), how the audit must be carried out (the methodology, the independence required of the audit team, the evidence that must be provided), how conformity with the applicable requirements is determined, how certification decisions are adopted, and how monitoring is carried out once the certificate has been granted, including the conditions for its maintenance, suspension or withdrawal.
The RTI is the owner of the Biosphere Scheme and its visual identity, and is the body responsible for its development, maintenance and updating. The RTI does not take part in the evaluation, review or certification decision of entities, as these tasks are the sole responsibility of the certification bodies authorised to operate the Scheme.
Biosphere Responsible Tourism, S.L. is currently the only certification body authorised by the RTI to operate the Biosphere Scheme.
At Biosphere Responsible Tourism (BRT) we are the certification body authorised by the Responsible Tourism Institute to operate the Biosphere Scheme. At BRT we independently assess the conformity of entities with the applicable requirements of the scheme, and we are the body responsible for the audit and certification decision processes, including the granting, maintenance, suspension or withdrawal of certification. The RTI, as owner of the Scheme, does not take part in the evaluation, review or certification decision of entities, thus preserving the separation between the ownership and development of the Scheme and the certification functions. This independence is not a mere formality: it is what gives your certificate its weight, because it is signed by someone unconnected to you and also unconnected to those who designed the requirements you are assessed against, which is what is known as third-party certification.
To guide you through the entire process, we provide you with our digital platform, Biosphere Sustainable, where you will find all the information on the Biosphere Scheme that you need to manage and document, at your own pace, the requirements for this certification. In this way, with our remote assessment services, you complete the process 100% online, as permitted by the Biosphere Scheme. Using this platform and registering your user account and your entity's profile (business or territorial tourism manager) is completely free of charge.
When you decide to take the step of having your documentation assessed, you can contract our services for an annual fee of €359, which includes the online external audits required by the certification process, covering both the audit for the Committed level and the audit for the Certified level at no additional cost. In this way, you document your sustainability actions, submit them to an external audit and,having received a positive conformity assessment, we issue you with the Biosphere certificate and seal for the level and scope you have demonstrated, in accordance with the levels defined in the Biosphere Scheme.
As a result, the Biosphere seal becomes, in the eyes of your customers, partners and the rest of the world, a clear identity mark: a mark which certifies, within the assessed scope, that the information you publish is not a self-declaration, but the result of genuine assessment carried out by an independent third party.
With our platform Biosphere Sustainable, you can complete the certification process independently and 100% online.
• Register your user and create your entity's profile on our platform Biosphere Sustainable for free
• View the basic requirement of the Biosphere Scheme (Starters) without making any payment
• Find out what documentation is required for each basic requirement of the Biosphere Scheme
• Learn how to upload and manage the information on your actions on the Biosphere Sustainable platform
• Pay the annual fee (€359) for our certification services, through our platform's payment gateway
• The fee includes 1 online audit of basic (Starters) requirements - Committed level, and 1 corrective audit if necessary
• With the Committed level, access a more extensive catalog for the Certified level
• The fee includes an online audit of the Certified level requirements, and 1 corrective audit if necessary
• Document your sustainability actions (upload photos, invoices…)
• Manage your profile individually or as a team, with unlimited user access at no additional cost
• Meet the minimum requirements for each level to receive the applicable external online audit
• Pass these assessment processes and receive the certificate for your demonstrated level and scope, with your profile in our public repository Biosphere Sustainable