Toward sustainable educational travel

Abstract

In the past decade, sustainability and global citizenship have emerged as two of the most prominent themes in contemporary higher education. Literature that specifically merges the two themes has, however, lagged behind. This paper integrates the literature from the fields of sustainable tourism and educational travel in order to articulate relevant concepts and to summarize theoretical and empirical approaches for improving the sustainability of educational travel programs. While most of the literature focuses upon carbon-related issues, a more comprehensive assessment and implementation would focus on the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, environmental, and socio-cultural. This paper advocates several practical measures, such as the incorporation of sustainability into program mission statements, the training of travel leaders in all three dimensions of sustainability, and the implementation of sustainability-related assessment measures for educational travel programs. Further, we argue that maintaining critical scholarly engagement with broader theoretical frameworks is necessary to contextualize these practical and empirical approaches, and to reassess the potential benefits and negative impacts associated with educational travel.

向着可持续性教育旅行

在过去十年中，可持续性和全球公民权在当代高等教育中作为两个重要的主题而出现。但这两个主题的文献却比较落后。该文章将可持续性旅游和教育旅行的文献联系起来为乐阐明相关概念和总结理论的和实践的手段为乐改善教育旅行项目的可持续性。当大部分的文献集中在碳相关问题，更全面的评估和实施需要侧重于三个方面的可持续性：经济，环境和社会文化。该文章宣传一些实际的衡量，例如将可持续性发展纳入到计划任务报表，对旅行领导在可持续性所有三大方面的训练，和对教育旅行项目的可持续性相关评估方法的实施。另外，我们认为用更广的理论框架维持重要的学术关系是必需的，能将这些实践的和实际的方法概念化，并且重新评估教育旅行潜在的优势和负面影响。

Keywords:

• educational travel
• study abroad
• sustainability
• global citizenship
• eco-citizenship
• higher education

关键词a:

• 教育旅行
• 可持续性
• 出国留学
• 全球公民
• 国际化
• 高等教育

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the editors and reviewers of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism for their helpful recommendations.

Notes

¹For an introduction, we recommend Hardy et al. 2002; Lu & Nepal 2009; Harris et al. 2002; Weaver 2006; Hall & Page 2006.

²Other resources include: Greenpassport.org, a pledge service and online community; the Rising Green blog, a web community for young environmentalists with a section about study abroad; 350.org, an online resource facilitating campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and GoAbroad's Innovation in Sustainability award.

³For example, Hunter and Shaw (2007) provide a broader conceptualization of “net ecological footprint” that may prove applicable to educational travel, but this connection has not been addressed in the literature.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua Long

Joshua Long has a PhD in human geography from the University of Kansas. He is an assistant professor of Environmental Studies at Southwestern University where he serves as co-adviser of the Southwestern Community Garden and also sits on the University Talloires Committee. His research interests include sustainable tourism, sustainable food and agriculture, and urban political ecology. He has coordinated/led student travel to destinations in Italy, Switzerland, and England.

Alison Vogelaar

Alison E. Vogelaar has a PhD in communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Franklin College Switzerland where she also co-directs the Center for Sustainability Initiatives. Her research interests include environmental discourses, the rhetoric of social movements, and sustainable educational travel. She also leads a yearly academic travel program to Scotland that focuses upon the themes of folk culture, tourism, representation, and sustainability.

Brack W. Hale

Brack W. Hale has a PhD in land resources from the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently an associate professor of biology and environmental science at Franklin College Switzerland and co-director of the Center for Sustainability Initiatives at Franklin. His research interests include sustainability issues in higher education, particularly in regard to the environmental impacts of educational travel programs. He also regularly leads educational travels through Franklin's Academic Travel program, having taken students to destinations in Europe and Latin America.