Wisdom for Traveling Far: Making Educational Travel Sustainable
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Wits are needful for someone who travels widely…Hávamál [1]
2. A Brief Review of the Benefits of Educational Travel
3. The Elephant on the Plane: The Other Side of Educational Travel
It is Not Just Climate Change
4. Leveraging Student Learning to Make Educational Travel Sustainable
The Footprints We Leave Behind
5. Concluding Thoughts
- First, the proper foundation for sustainable programs must be laid by the institutions (i.e. universities and third-party providers), which need to provide support and encouragement from the highest levels. The goal should strive for sustainability across the board—economic, environmental, and socio-cultural and the lowest possible impacts on host destinations and the global environment. Perhaps most importantly, the institutions need to embed sustainable goals in their missions and modes of operation. They should also revise budgeting procedures and policies to permit sustainable logistics and travel, even when they cost more. If this increases program costs, then scholarships or other forms of financial aid should be made available to participants so that educational travel remains open to individuals across the socioeconomic spectrum.
- Second, institutions need to ensure that program faculty and staff have the appropriate background, training, and professional development opportunities. Program staff need to possess an adequate level of sustainable literacy, know how to incorporate sustainable principles into program logistics and curricula, and be familiar with their destinations and the issues and challenges the destinations face. Program staff also need to develop good relationships with host communities that will support educational objectives for sustainability. As Lutterman-Aguilar and Gingerich [16] wrote: “[faculty] have a responsibility to work collaboratively with the local community to ensure that their relationships are built on mutuality and reciprocity and not on any kind of exploitation (70).”
- Third, institutions and program staff need to be deliberate in their design and development of new programs, as well as the redesign of existing ones. This includes choosing (or revising) destinations that offer a suitable setting for a sustainable program and designing the program to avoid regions and seasons that may not allow for the execution of a sustainable program. This also means developing a focus that lends itself to education about (aspects of) sustainability, regardless of the discipline.
- Fourth, programs need to adapt pedagogical approaches that are effective at teaching students not just about the topic at hand, but also the host destination (culture and environment) and what it means to be a sustainable global citizen. Multiple frameworks already exist that educators can draw upon: experiential education [16], Leave No Trace [44], transformative learning theory [21], and Value-Belief-Norm theory [18], to name a few. Incorporating active learning and high impact educational approaches, such as student research experiences, will further support the learning gains.
- Fifth, it goes almost without saying that programs need to be designed with logistics that strive for sustainability. In a world where the impacts of unmitigated climate change will likely be catastrophic, the inevitable greenhouse gas emissions from travel must be limited through the choices of climate-friendly modes of travel and behaviors. Further, food and lodging in the programs should also reflect sustainable principles that benefit local economies, societies, and environments. The same should apply to a program’s activities (e.g. field trips, cultural events, etc.)
- Lastly, programs will inevitably generate some negative impacts and programs should strive to offset those impacts as much as possible, ideally engaging the students in the process. With respect to greenhouse gas emissions, a program might buy carbon offsets, develops its own offsets, find other ways to make the educational experience worth the carbon cost, or combine all three approaches. Well-planned service projects, volunteer work, and applied research, when done in tandem with reputable organizations in the host community, can also provide important benefits for the community. Additionally, as García and Longo [41] describe, “[w]hen done well… service-learning can be a tool for higher education programs to educate the next generation of engaged citizens (119).”
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Region | Inbound | Outbound | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Departure | tonnes CO2 | Arrival | tonnes CO2 | |
Asia | Beijing | 4.1 | Beijing | 4.1 |
Europe | Berlin | 2.6 | Paris | 2.5 |
Latin America | Rio de Janeiro | 3.2 | San Jose | 1.4 |
Mid. East/N. Africa | Riyadh | 4.4 | Tel Aviv | 3.8 |
Oceania | Melbourne | 6.4 | Melbourne | 6.4 |
Sub-Saharan Africa | Lagos | 3.7 | Johannesburg | 5.7 |
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Student’s major | Student reflections |
---|---|
Communications | [B]eing conscious of differences in the personal energy and water consumption as well as waste generation behavior while at home and traveling can help us adjust to the surroundings so that to minimize our footprint. Such consciousness will help us choose most sustainable travel options and behaviors that would help us enjoy the new experiences without harming the environment. |
Economics | This is the first trip that I have given thought to monitoring my consumption of goods and energy away from my home. |
Environmental studies | [The audit] makes me realize that I am responsible both as a tourist and a university student to try to minimize my ecological effects. |
Management | [The audit] has led to numerous changes in my daily behavior, changes that aim to decrease my ecological footprint: I’m now vegetarian, I don’t flush every single time I use the toilet, I shower quicker, and I make sure to only turn on the lights when I need them. |
Student’s major | Student comments |
---|---|
Environmental studies | I think I will forever more be more mindful of where I am stepping, on or off trail. |
International Relations | I had never traveled with a focus on sustainability like we did on this particular [course] so the experience was very eye opening… I will definitely implement more sustainable travel into my future plans. |
Management | My experience of traveling sustainably has immensely shifted the way in which I would go about traveling in the future…The [course] certainly did change my perception of eco-tourism and is something I will enforce on my future travels too. |
Environmental studies | This [course] has helped me change my perception of what it means to be a sustainable traveler… I understand now that not only the physical environment needs to be looked at but also the economic and socio-cultural environment aspects. |
Economics | While I didn’t enjoy this time seeing the large crowds and their side-effects on the environment and culture, these visits complemented our discussions well and brought together the theme of our course and enriched my understanding of environmental issues. |
International Relations | Being in Iceland raised my awareness on environmental issues not only in Iceland, but especially in my own country. |
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Hale, B.W. Wisdom for Traveling Far: Making Educational Travel Sustainable. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3048. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113048
Hale BW. Wisdom for Traveling Far: Making Educational Travel Sustainable. Sustainability. 2019; 11(11):3048. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113048
Chicago/Turabian StyleHale, Brack W. 2019. "Wisdom for Traveling Far: Making Educational Travel Sustainable" Sustainability 11, no. 11: 3048. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113048