Sustainability News - December 2008

Dear all,
Welcome to the new issue of our newsletter. This issue covers a variety of areas from tourism research platforms for non English speakers to the alarming Living Planet Report from the WWF, the Global Footprint Network and the Zoological Society of London. The editor would like to thank Anja Hergesell and Sabine Sedlacek for their valuable inputs to this issue. Any comments or suggestions can be e-mailed to Xavier Matteucci (newsletter.contact@modul.ac.at). Thanks !

I. Living Planet Report

At the current rate humanity is using natural resources and producing waste, by the mid-2030s we will require the resources of two planets to meet our demands, according to figures by Global Footprint Network. The data comes at a critical time, as the economic crisis felt around the globe has made it painstakingly clear: Debt and overspending can continue for a while but ultimately have dire consequences.

www.footprinitnetwork.org | Website
www.footprintnetwork.org | Living Planet Report 2008

II. Study and Research tourism

Students and researchers from Chinese (or Mandarin) and Portuguese speaking regions now benefit from tourism research platforms in their respective languages.

For the Portuguese speakers, the Brazilian National Association on Tourism Research (ANPTUR) has launched the following platform :   ANPTUR - Discussão acadêmica em Turismo, Lazer e Hospitalidade

The Chinese Online Tourism Studies Association (COTSA) has initiated a similar platform : C-TRINET

III. Events and Conferences

• On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, MU Vienna hosted a panel discussion on "Climate neutral" travel offers organized in cooperation with the NGOs respect (Institute for Integrative Tourism and Development), Naturfreunde Internationale and Klimabündnis Österreich. The event aimed to inform tourism actors about the links between tourism and climate change, and identify possible strategies to adapt to the adherent challenges.

  Further details can be found here.

• 1st International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management, March 27-29, 2009, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The main theme of this conference, organized by Maejo University, is “Management of Sustainable Tourism in the Next Decade:  Prospects and Challenges”.   
  
  For further details visit http://www.tourism.mju.ac.th

IV. Tips about what you can do to help save the environment:

LESS is MORE! Look for quality when buying clothing and electrical appliances. Good quality lasts longer and buying it protects natural resources and reduces goods traffic … for more on LESS is MORE,
see : How to Save the Climate