Toward sustainable educational travel

A Referential Methodology for Education on Sustainable Tourism Development

“…According to Long, Vogelaar and Hale, some of the ways of mitigating the negative effects can be through changes made to program logistics, curricular and co-curricular design and program mission and assessment. Accordingly, choice of transportation, destination selection and the choice of food and lodging at the destination are key elements of logistics [31]. In our field study program, the logistics were purposefully planned to give the minimum negative effect to the environment and the host communities.…”

“…However, there is a notable lacuna of literature that combines sustainability and global citizenship [31]. Global citizenship is "actions and beliefs that nurture environmentalism, justice and civic obligations" [32].…”

“…A study conducted in the U.S. has shown that the greatest benefits are achieved when students study abroad through the experiential/field study method and receive directed instruction in the objectives of the study [41]. Currently, there are only a few empirical studies on the impact of study-abroad programs on sustainability and global citizenship [42]; however, scholars strongly assert that these experiences will provide students "with a greater sense of intercultural understanding, social justice and equity, self-awareness, and environmental literacy" [31] and will guide them in becoming global citizens [5]. Furthermore, international collaboration for education for sustainability will enable parties to exchange information and find solutions to sustainability problems that may be transferable [6] across institutional and international boundaries.…”

“…In brief, study-abroad programs are structured educational experiences in which "participants travel to a location as a group with the primary purpose of engaging in a learning experience directly related to that location" [31]. The choice of location is significant for teaching sustainability.…”

“…Many instructional models are being tested by academic institutions around the globe for learning and teaching sustainable development. Some of the alternative models of education suggested for sustainability are action learning [38,39], outdoors and field study [31], project-based learning [40], community-based learning and study-abroad programs [5]. However, study-abroad programs alone may not be enough for teaching sustainable development or improving global citizenry.…”