GEOG 3490 Lecture Notes - Eco-Socialism, International Union For Conservation Of Nature, Agenda 21
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GEOG 3490 – Tourism and Environment
Chapter 6: Sustainability and Tourism Summary
The Origins of ‘sustainable development’
•The term sustainable development’ can be traced back to the conservation movements of the mid-
19th century
•Established as a policy consideration on the World Conservation Strategy published by the World
Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1980
•Term gains greater attention and popularity after the publication of the Brundtland Report (1987)
•The ‘Earth Summit’ 1992 held in Rio de Janeiro adopts ‘Agenda 21’, aimed at promoting
sustainable development through the world
•Tourism is recognized as an economic sector that needs to develop sustainably at ‘Earth Summit II’
in 1997 in New York
Sustainability of Tourism types
Compatible with sustainable tourism Incompatible with sustainable tourism
Ecotourism mass market tourism
Cultural tourism Activity holidays; e.g skiing
Urban attractions using derelict sites Sex tourism
Small-scale agri-tourism Hunting and finishing holidays
Conservation holidays where tourists do work Visiting fragile environments; e.g rainforests
The meaning of sustainable development
•in 1987 definition of ‘sustainable development’ from the Brundtland Report
osustainable development a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the
direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and
institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs
•important to realize:
osustainable development is not concerned with the preservation of the physical
environment but with its development based upon sustainable principles
Different perspectives on Sustainable Development
•Two broad ideological approaches to the environment are technocentrism and ecocentrism
oTechnocentrism – the belief that technical solutions can be found to environmental
problems through the application of science, placing its faith in quantifiable solutions