An electronic copy of your completed work (without an assignment coversheet) must be submitted via the Unit Moodle website. The site utilises URKUND (a plagiarism detecting tool) and so it is important you DO NOT include a cover page or this marking guide
Michelle_Michy
9470IETLectureWk6Sustainability.pptLecture week 6: Sustainability
Brian Weir and Jill Grant
*
What we will cover today
- Paradigms: Ways of seeing
- What sustainability is not
- What sustainability is
- Degrees of sustainability and measuring sustainability
- Why bother?
- Encouraging sustainable events and tourism
*
- Note: this presentation is a very simplified and brief overview of only some of the issues around sustainability
- There is much, much more to know!
*
*
Paradigms and how we see things
- Paradigm = beliefs, assumptions and values that underlie the way in which we interpret reality at a given point in time
- One example: Flat earth vs spherical earth
*
- Can you think of any ‘paradigms’ you use, or that you have read about?
*
With regard to development, there are two contrasting paradigms
Western environmental paradigm = anthropocentric (humans are dominant), technological focus, free market based, can lead to large-scale uncontrolled development
Green paradigm = an eco-centric world view = natural environment is the core concern. Quality of the environment more important than human ‘progress’
*
*
*
- Often when we speak about ‘sustainability’ we think only about environmental sustainability
*
If we thought about sustainability in this way, how would those believing the anthropocentric paradigm see
- sustainability, and
- those who thought of it that way?
*
*
“ Sustainability is more than the environment … sustainability is a concept and the basis for a business approach that will assist education, sport and recreation practitioners and organisations make their operations more
- financially / economically,
- socially and
- environmentally
successful and beneficial to their stakeholders, communities and staff”
Source: Weir & Dickson 2012
*
A simple model of sustainability
Source: Weir & Dickson 2012
*
Economic elements
Environmental
elements
Social
elements
Sustainability
Triple bottom line approach
- This focus on all three elements is often called the Triple Bottom Line approach
Rather than just a financial bottom line, social and environmental bottom lines are considered too
*
An alternate model of sustainability
Organisational sustainability
Social Environmental Economic
Sustainability Sustainability Sustainability
Source: Weir & Dickson 2012
*
- Sustainable development = "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs"
Source: World Commission on Environment & Development 1987 Our Common Future (The Brundtland Report)
*
How does this relate to events & tourism?
"Sustainable tourism is envisaged as
leading to management of all resources
in such a way that economic, social and
aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while
maintaining cultural integrity, essential
ecological processes, biological diversity
and life support systems"
Source: World Tourism Organisation
*
In a sustainable approach to tourism:
- Tourism businesses work to not exceed the environmental, social, cultural or economic carrying capacity
- So:
MINIMISE environmental, social, cultural and economic costs
MAXIMISE environmental, social, cultural and economic benefits
*
*
- Of course sustainability isn’t a black / white, yes/no, we have it / we don’t have it proposition
- There can be:
Degrees of sustainability, and
Development or evolution towards (or away!) from sustainability
*
*
Very strong
Minimization of resource use
Anti-economic growth
Sustainability position
Anthropocentrism
Eco-centrism
Very weak
Weak
Strong
Exploitation of resources
Economic growth
Technological innovation
Resource preservation
Zero economic growth
Zero population growth
Resource conservation
Managed growth
Common interpretation of sustainable development
Development of sustainability
- How can sustainability be developed or encouraged?
- First we need to have measures and practices or processes for measuring sustainability
*
What indicators can we use to measure sustainability?
- Indicators = measures that provide information about the status of some phenomenon
- Provide data so tourism and events activities and facilities can be managed accordingly
see Weaver and Lawton 201o: 300 for a table of UN World Tourism Organisation indictors for tourism destinations
*
Some examples of indicators in the tourism industry
*
Some of the challenges with indicators
- Fuzzy boundaries of complex tourism systems
- Incompatible timeframes of monitoring vs. political process
- Nonlinear relationships between cause & effect
- Lack of knowledge re. benchmarks & thresholds
- Potential incompatibility between environmental, economic & sociocultural outcomes
Source: Weaver & Lawton 2010
*
Is scale of operations a barrier to sustainability?
- Large scale: Mass tourism / events
- Small scale: Alternative tourism / events
*
*
- Mass tourism / events = tourism or events involving large numbers of visitors = less sustainable?
- Alternative tourism = tourism involving smaller numbers of visitors (small-scale tourism) = more sustainable ?
*
Some ‘ideal’ types of mass tourism
- Unsustainable Mass Tourism= destinations don’t have regulatory controls, exceed existing environmental and socio-cultural carrying capacities or limits of acceptable change
Examples?
- Sustainable Mass Tourism = destinations, in theory, have high intensity, large-scale tourism sectors which are maintained within those carrying capacities or limits
Examples?
*
Some ‘ideal’ types of alternative tourism
- Circumstantial alternative tourism = destinations have a non-regulated, small-scale tourism sector that superficially resembles Alternative Tourism
That is, alternative-type tourism activities / practices happen without planning
- Deliberate alternative tourism = regulatory regime in place that maintains sustainability
That is, Government or other regulation enforces this
Which do you think is the most effective?
*
Some differences between mass and alternative tourism (Source: Weaver & Lawton 2010)
*
Some examples of small scale tourism
- Homestays
- Indigenous tourism (e.g., Camp Coorong)
- Vacation farms
- Educational tourism
- Volunteer activity
*
Criticism of alternative tourism
*
Some forces encouraging sustainable tourism:
- Traveler (and business?) ethical considerations
- Growth of the ‘green traveler’ market
- Financial profitability of sustainability
- Changes in business practice - adopting sustainable practices
Either by own initiative, industry pressures or regulation
*
*
Let’s look at one element...
The growth of the ‘green traveler’ market
- Environmental and social considerations exert a major influence on this kind of tourists’ purchasing behavior
- That is, on what type of product, what supplier etc., the traveler will spend their money on
*
Characteristics of the ‘green traveler’
- More independent-minded
- Prefers flexible and spontaneous itineraries
- Carefully assesses tourism products in advance
- Sensitive to local cultures
- Conscious of social justice concerns
- Motivated by a desire for self-fulfillment and learning
- Searches for authentic and meaningful experiences
- Searches for physically and mentally challenging experiences
- Knowledgeable about environmental issues
- Wishes to have a positive impact on the destination
See Weaver & Lawton 2010: 304 for more detail
*
But how committed are we to be ‘green’?
*
*
Why bother with sustainability?
- ‘Doing the right thing’
- Greater awareness
- Cultural change = community, governments expect more
- Tourists’ (i.e. those who buy the product) expectations changing
- Impacts greater as more and more people travel
- Impacts more visible
- Environmental movement more mainstream
- Reduce costs, increase profits
*
An example: An ACT hotel has adopted stronger sustainability practices to reduce costs, increase profits
This involved:
- Reducing energy consumption
- Reducing other resource use (e.g. water)
- Reducing waste generated
The payoffs:
- Save $
- Benefit ACT environment
- Won ACT QANTAS Sustainable Tourism Awards 2012, 2013
*
*
How can we encourage tourism and events to become more sustainable?
Leadership:
- Tourism sectors often led by a small number of high-profile innovative leaders ( e.g. Marriott Hotels, British Airways)
How-to-do-it guides
- Government / industry guidelines / legislation
- e.g. SA Tourism Commission Ecotourism Design Guide (extract on Unit Moodle site)
Self regulation
- Industry associations set and enforce codes of practice or accreditation e.g. Ecotourism Australia Ecotourism accreditation
*
*
Tools for sustainability
Certification, e.g. Green Globe:
Global, and encompasses all tourism sectors
Benchmarked - Certified
But consumer awareness lacking
Environmental branding, e.g. ‘eco-friendly’
Awards schemes – win awards for best practice, special achievements, etc.
Supply chain audit for environmental and social performance, maybe start with profitable, inexpensive and high exposure practices
Environmental management systems; large corporations may find it easier to be early adopters of sustainable practices - benefit from economies of scale
‘Green’ funding and investment
- Regulation
Government legislation, mandated standards, practices etc.
*
What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of these?
*
Further reading
- Weaver & Lawton (2010) Chapter 11
- Bladen et al. (2012 )
- Black and Crabtree (2007) Quality Assurance and Certification in Ecotourism CABI: Cambridge, Mass. USA
- Weir & Dickson (2012) Organisational sustainability and risk management. In: Dickson and Gray (eds.) Risk Management in the Outdoors. Cambridge Univ Press: Cambridge, UK
*
*
