MU at BEST EN Think Tank XI in Philadelphia

From the 21st to the 24th of May, the BEST Education Network held its eleventh annual Think Tank entitled ‘Learning for Sustainable Tourism’ at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA. Dr. Dagmar Lund-Durlacher, chair of the BEST EN network, and Tina Rønhovde Tiller, BEST EN secretary and researcher and lecturer at MU, have been busy planning the conference the past six months, since BEST EN officially moved house to MU at last year’s Think Tank in Vienna.

The theme of this year’s Think Tank was ‘learning for sustainable tourism,’ which put emphasis on the different ways of disseminating this knowledge and the various educational institutions involved in such education. The Think Tank was attended by professors and students within the field of tourism, as well as industry representatives from all corners of the globe.

At the Think Tank, the participants worked on a teaching module and a research agenda which dealt with the theme. Through workshops lead by Dr. Caroline Scarles of the University of Surrey and Dr. Pierre Benckendorff of Queensland University, the participants were guided through brainstorming activities, where they managed to produce the frameworks for the educational module and the research agenda. These will be further developed by selected participants.

Other highlights of the conference included a dinner and tour of the Union League, as well as a mural arts walk around Philadelphia. Philadelphia has a rich amount of murals (over 3500), which reflect the communities and issues which have been of importance to the city. From this art tour, a case study will be developed by Think Tank participants.

Additionally, an industry forum was held where Mr. Chris Hager from Langan Engineering, and Mrs. Sandy LeBlanc from Marriott Airport Hotel Philadelphia presented the sustainable education practices in their companies. This forum brought together industry people and academics, and created a lively debate on learning practices and holistic learning for sustainable tourism. Both industry and academia left the forum with new ideas and perspectives on the issue.

Outstanding Presentation awards were presented to Dr. Caroline Scarles of University of Surrey for her presentation ‘Visualising Sustainability: Reflections on Applied Student Learning through Visual Based Assessment,’ and Dr. Christian Schott of Victoria University of Wellington for his presentation ‘Education as a Visitor Management Technique in Remote Protected Areas.’

On the ultimate day, the venue for the next Think Tank (TTXII) was revealed: It will be held in Gréoux les Bains, France, from June 24–27, 2012 in conjunction with SKEMA Business School and La Cité de la Culture et du Tourisme Durable. The theme for TTXII will be ‘Mobilities and Sustainable Tourism.’