ES 351 Sustainable Development

Programme: B.A. Environmental Studies

Credit value: 12

Level: Year 3, Semester 5

General objectives

This module will consist of two components: ecotourism and community-based tourism and education for sustainable development. The module will introduce students to the history, concepts, principles, marketing, planning and management of ecotourism activities and development which promote cultural and environmental awareness and local economic benefits. The module will also pay attention to education for sustainable development as one of the means to achieve a sustainable society.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students will be able to:

• define tourism and describe the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the environment, as well as on society;
• define ecotourism and identify in what ways ecotourism attempts to overcome the negative impacts of tourism;
• describe the current trends in ecotourism in a worldwide perspective as well as in the Bhutanese context;
• display awareness of the importance of conserving natural resources and maintaining the integrity of the indigenous culture and the role ecotourism plays here;
• apply this theoretical knowledge in designing and developing a hypothetical ecotourism proposal for the locality by identifying ecotourism markets, developing sites and planning ecotourism tours;
• describe the history of the development of the concept of sustainable development from roughly the 1970s till present;
• explain the various pillars of sustainable development, its objectives, and the options we have to make development more sustainable;
• discuss the importance of the local ecology, culture, history and economic development balanced with a social responsibility;
• discuss and emulate the different opinions that exist on sustainable development including the criticism that is often expressed;
• identify the various initiatives that have been taken globally to encourage sustainable development;
• describe the historical development of environmental education and education for sustainable development;
• define the various methods, techniques and tools for educating people on sustainable development;
• recognise the strengths and weaknesses of these various methods and choose the preferred method;
• implement methods for education for sustainable development in the local setting.

Approach to learning and teaching

The course will consist of 15 teaching weeks, one self-study week and two examination weeks. Each week will consist of:

• 2 hours of theory during which the theoretical background of ecotourism and education for sustainable development will be treated;
• 3 other hours which will be used for guest lectures as well as for group field work during which a fictive ecotourism site in the locality will be  developed and a one-day education campaign of the local community on selected issues of sustainable development will be organised and conducted;
• 3 hours self-study that will be used for self-study of the theory available, collecting information, and preparing the ecotourism site and the education campaign.

Assessment:

     ●   End of semester examination                 60%

     ●   Individual assignments                           20%

     ●   Group assignments                                 20%

Prerequisite: EVS111 Introduction to Environment

Course content

Ecotourism

·      ‘conventional’ tourism, the contributions from economical point of view, and the positive and negative impacts on environment and society in a global, regional and national perspective;

·      ecotourism, its definitions, various forms and the ways in which it tries to reduce the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and society whilst at the same time maintaining economical and financial profitability;

·      community-based ecotourism as a specific kind of ecotourism;

·      history of tourism in Bhutan;

·      development of ecotourism proposals.

Education for sustainable development

·      history of sustainable development;

·      basic pillars of sustainable development (economic growth, environmental conservation and social development);

·      initiatives taken at global, regional and national levels;

·      historical development and growth of environmental education and subsequent education for sustainable development;

·      sustainable development: approaches and indicators;

·      progress towards sustainable development;

·      sustainable cities and livelihoods;

·      current status of education for sustainable development at global level as well as in Bhutan;

·      methods of education for sustainable development. These will be presented mostly through case studies and examples drawn from analysis of the natural and man made systems especially with reference to life cycles and production systems.

Reading list

Texts

1.  Johnson, E. A & Mappin, M. J., 2005, Environmental Education and Advocacy Changing Perspectives of Ecology and Education.  Cambridge University Press.
2.  Rogers, J. J. W &   Feiss, P. G., 1998, People and the Earth Basic Issues in the Sustainability of Resources and Environment. Cambridge University Press.

References

1. Kasemir, B., Jäger, J., Jaeger, C. C & Gardner, M. T., 2003, Public Participation in Sustainability Science: A Handbook. Cambridge University Press.
2.  Schmandt, J & Ward, C. H., 2000, Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Transition. Cambridge University Press.
3. Bhutan’s eco-tourism strategy & NCD documents

Additional Readings:

1. Barrow, K. and London, L. 2002. Report on Education for a Sustainable Future- Workshop. Swinburne University of Technology.
2. Boo, E. 1990. Ecotourism: The Potentials and Pitfalls, Vol. 1.World Wildlife Fund.
3. Brundtland G. H., 1987. Our common future. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Buckley, R. (1994). "A Framework for Ecotourism" in Annals of Tourism Research (21:3).

5.      Centre for Environmental Education, 2005. Report on the International Conference on Education for a Sustainable Future, Ahmedabad, 18-20 January 2005. New Delhi: CEE.

6.      Cater, E. (1994). "Ecotourism in the Third World: Problems for sustainable development" in Tourism Management, April (14:2).

7.      Chapman, D. M. and G. J. Armstrong. (1994). "Ecotourism--Defining the Eco-tourists. National Parks Journal, February (38:1).

8.      Haenn, N. (1994). "A New Tourist, A New Environment: Can Ecotourism Deliver?" in Trends. (31:2).

9.      Hvenegaard, G. T. (1994). "Ecotourism: A status report and conceptual framework" in The Journal of Tourism Studies (5:2).

10. International Council for Science, 2002. ICSU Series on Science for Sustainable Development No. 5: Science Education and Capacity Building for Sustainable Development. Paris: ICSU.
11. Lindberg, K. & Hawkins, D. (1993). Ecotourism: A Guide for Planners and Managers. North Bennington, VT: The Ecotourism Society. ISBN: 0-9636331-04
12. North American Association for Environmental Education, 1996 (2004 rev. ed.). Environmental Education Materials: Guidelines for Excellence. Washington DC: North American Association for Environmental Education.
13. Orams, M. B. (1995). "Towards a more desirable form of ecotourism" in Tourism Management, February (6:1).
14. Rao, C. H., 2005, Agriculture, Food Security, Poverty and Environment: Essay on Post-reform India. Oxford University Press. New Delhi
15. Sharma, P. 2000. Tourism as development: case studies from the Himalaya.
16. Shupe, S. J. (1995). "Community Ecotourism" in Transitions Abroad, May (18:6).
17. Suresh, K. T., Liyakhat, S. et al. 2002. Indigenous peoples, wildlife and ecotourism.
18. TERI, 2004. Shades of green: ecotourism for sustainability.
19. UNESCO, 1978. Final report on the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education. Organised by UNESCO in cooperation with UNEP, Tbilisi, USSR, 14-26 October 1977, Paris: UNESCO ED/MD/49.

20.  UNESCO, 1998. Environment and Society: Education and Public Awareness for Sustainability. Proceedings of the Thessaloniki International Conference. Paris: UNESCO.

21. UNESCO-UNEP, 1976. The Belgrade Chapter. In: Connect: UNESCO-UNEP Environmental Education Newsletter, Vol. 1 (1) pp. 1-2.
22. United Nations, 1972. Report of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972 New York: UN publication, Sales No. E.73.II.A.14 and corrigendum.

23.  United Nations, 2002. Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August- 4 September 2002. New York: United Nations.

24. Warburton, D., 2005. Learning and action for sustainable living- a summary of initial research findings. London: WWF-UK.