About Us
OUR VISION
We share the Lisbon we love, independent cafés, small shops, creative studios and neighbourhood hangouts. With the Circular Pass, travellers explore the city more consciously, while supporting local communities and the environment.
THE NGO
We are a small Lisbon based team who knows the city inside out. After years of wandering its neighbourhoods, cafés, workshops and backstreets, we decided to share the places we genuinely love. Over the years, we’ve also seen how tourism can shape a city, for better and for worse. We’ve shared a recurring frustration: while travel brings energy and opportunities, too often the money spent doesn’t reach local people. One question kept coming back: how can travellers contribute to preserving the places they love, while ensuring their presence also benefits local communities? This question led to the creation of The Circular Shift. Founded in 2025, the organisation was born from the idea that tourism in Lisbon could better support its communities, culture and environment. Through the Circular Pass, visitors can discover independent local businesses while supporting social and environmental projects across Lisbon. It’s not just about exploring, it’s about ensuring that the value created through tourism helps protect the people, culture and places that make the city unique.
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Our Commitments
Environmental Responsibility
The reality is simple: we can no longer travel and consume as we always have if we want to preserve a liveable planet. Reducing our environmental footprint is a shared responsibility, from individuals to businesses and institutions. We founded The Circular Shift as citizens committed to doing our part, and to offering travellers a simple way to do theirs. By connecting visitors with plant-based restaurants, local producers, artisans and low-impact initiatives, we encourage more conscious choices while directing spending towards sustainable businesses.
Transparency
Trust is essential for any non profit. That’s why transparency sits at the core of everything we do, from our finances to the way we select the projects we support. We are committed to publishing clear annual reports and audited financial statements. The social and environmental initiatives funded through the Circular Pass are selected via open calls for applications, accessible to all, and are ultimately supported based on the votes of passholders themselves.
Conscious Travelling
We believe travel is a privilege and a powerful way to connect with places, cultures and people. Our goal is to make these experiences more meaningful, respectful and rooted in local reality. We encourage low emission modes of transport such as trains, buses, bicycles or sailboats whenever possible. While the Circular Pass helps travellers reduce their local impact and contribute to local initiatives, it cannot offset the footprint of high emission travel. Conscious choices matter at every step of the journey.
Social Justice
Too often, money spent by travellers never reaches local communities, flowing instead towards large international actors and distant investors. We want to help break this cycle by reconnecting tourism with the people who live and work in the city. By guiding visitors towards independent businesses and local initiatives, we aim to ensure that tourism genuinely benefits the Portuguese economy. Because protecting the environment without addressing inequality is not enough, we support both social and environmental organisations working towards a more balanced and inclusive future.
