The Importance of Education for Sustainability in Tourism

Abstract

Growing public concern about environmental issues are contributing to the pressure on governments, businesses, groups and individuals to find solutions that move towards a more sustainable relationship with the planet. A key element in achieving the goals of sustainability is education. The decade 2005–2014 was declared the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDEFSD) in recognition of this close relationship between education and sustainability. Although this declaration focussed considerable attention on the concept of Education for Sustainability (EfS), discussions about the nature of the relationship between education and sustainability began before this declaration and are likely to continue long after 2014. Despite the close link between sustainability and tourism, there has been little systematic attention paid to education for sustainability in tourism. Two exceptions to this are the BEST Education Network and the Tourism Education Futures Initiative. This chapter introduces and provides an overview of EfS, links it to sustainability in tourism, reports on the outcomes of the BEST Education Network Think Tank in 2011, and provides a framework for understanding EfS in Tourism.