Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-sxzjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T06:46:34.627Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental Myopia: The Case For Bifocals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2012

Chris North  and
Garrett Hutson
Chris North*
Affiliation:
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Garrett Hutson
Affiliation:
Brock University, Canada
*
Address for Correspondence: Chris North, University of Canterbury College of Education, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand. Email: chris.north@canterbury.ac.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Domestic and international tourists have major impacts on Aotearoa/New Zealand, both positive and negative. In 2010, tourism was the biggest export earner and continues to grow. Environmental consequences of tourism are also growing. Ways of addressing the environmental impacts caused by a mobile society continue to be debated from a variety of practical and theoretical positions. Place-based approaches are a logical discussion focus in addressing these types of social and environmental problems but may be associated with environmental myopia. Tourism, mobility and the principles of environmental education programs such as Leave No Trace are all contested topics within the place-based discourse. This article discusses these tensions and proposes an expansion of place-based and cosmopolitan approaches, with the Leave No Trace Aotearoa/New Zealand campaign presented as an example. The article concludes with possible implications of a more bifocal approach for environmental educators.

Keywords

Leave No Tracetourismplace-based approachescosmopolitanismmobility
Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 229 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becken, S. (2011). What is responsible tourism? Tourism Business (December/January), p.25.Google Scholar
Brookes, A. (2004). Astride a long-dead horse: Mainstream outdoor education theory and the central curriculum problem. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 8, 22–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, M., & Fraser, D. (2009). Re-evaluating risk and exploring educational alternatives. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 9(1), 61–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, M. (2008). Outdoor Education: Opportunities provided by a place based approach. New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, 2(3), 7–25.Google Scholar
Buckley, R. (2008). Testing take-up of academic concepts in an influential commercial tourism publication. Tourism Management, 29(4), 721–729.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buell, L. 1995. The environmental imagination: Thoreau, nature writing, and the formation of American writing. London: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Casey, E. (2001). Body, self, and landscape. In Adams, P. S., Hoelscher, S., & Till, K. (Eds.), Textures of place: Exploring humanist geographies. (pp. 403–425). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Department of Conservation. (1996). Visitor Strategy. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.doc.govt.nz/publications/about-doc/role/policies-and-plans/visitor-management/visitor-strategy/Google Scholar
Eijck, M. (2010). Place-based (science) education: Something is happening here. In Tippins, D. J., Mueller, M. P., Eijck, M., & Adams, J. D. (Eds.), Cultural Studies and Environmentalism: The Confluence of Ecojustice, Place-based Science Education, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Vol. 3, pp. 187–191). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, J. (2009). Unsettling orthodoxies: Education for the environment/for sustainability. Environmental Education Research, 15(5), 60–620.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrard, G. (2010). Problems and prospects in ecocritical pedagogy. Environmental Education Research, 16(2), 233–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geertz, C. (1996). Afterword. In Feld, S. & Basso, K. (Eds.), Senses of place (pp. 259–262). Santa Fe, New Mexico: School of American Research Press.Google Scholar
Gough, A., & Whitehouse, H. (2003). The ‘Nature’ of environmental education research from a feminist poststructuralist viewpoint. Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 8, 31–43.Google Scholar
Greenpeace. (n. d.). About Greenpeace. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/Google Scholar
Gruenwald, D. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32(4), 3–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (2008). Introduction: Making room for the local. In Gruenewald, D. A. & Smith, G. A. (Eds.), Place-based education in the global age. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Gustafson, P. (2009). Mobility and Territorial Belonging. Environment and Behavior, 41(4), 490–508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hampton, B., & Cole, D. (2003). Soft Paths (3rd ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.Google Scholar
Heise, U. K. (2008). Sense of place and sense of planet: The environmental imagination of the global. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hungerford, H. R. (2010). Environmental education (EE) for the 21st century: Where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we headed? Journal of Environmental Education, 41(1), 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutson, G. (2010). Revisiting the meanings of place for New Zealand place-based outdoor education [Special issue]. New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, 2(4), 43–61.Google Scholar
Hutson, G. (in press). The seeds of Leave No Trace grow well beyond backcountry boundaries. In Wagstaff, M. & Martin, B. (Eds.), Controversial issues in adventure education.Google Scholar
Kelsey, J. (1999). Secondary sources. In Davidson, C. & Tolich, M. (Eds.), Social science research in New Zealand: Many paths to understanding (pp. 309–315). Auckland, N.Z.: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Kriegman, O. (2006). Dawn of the cosmopolitan: The hope of a global citizens movement. In Kriegman, O. & Raskin, P. (Eds.), GTI Paper: Frontiers of a great transition. Boston, MA: Tellus Institute.Google Scholar
Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics (2008). Sustainability. Retrieved from http://www.lnt.org/aboutUs/sustainability.phpGoogle Scholar
Leave No Trace New Zealand (2009). Training overview. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://www.leavenotrace.org.nz/Training+OverviewGoogle Scholar
Leiserowitz, A. (2007). International public opinion, perception, and understanding of global climate change. UNDP Human Development Report Office Occasional Paper, p. 40. UNDP.Google Scholar
Leung, Y.-F., & Marion, J. L. (2000). Recreation impacts and management in wilderness: A state-of-knowledge review. Paper presented at the Wilderness Science in a Time of Change: Wilderness Ecosystems, Threats, and Management, Ogden, UT.Google Scholar
Marion, J. L., & Reid, S. (2007). Minimising visitor impacts to protected areas: The efficacy of low impact education programs. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15(1), 5–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marion, J. L., & Reid, S. (2001). Development of the United States Leave No Trace program: A historical perspective. In Usher, M. B. (Ed.), Enjoyment and understanding of the natural heritage, pp. 81–92. Edinburgh, Scotland: The Stationery Office Ltd, Scottish Natural Heritage.Google Scholar
Ministry of Economic Development. (2011). International visitor commentary. Retrieved April 27, 2011, from http://www.tourismresearch.govt.nz/Data-Analysis/International-tourism/International-Visitor-Arrivals/IVA-Commentary/Google Scholar
Moffet, G. (2011). Freedom camping. Insight [radio documentary]. Retrieved April 28, 2011, from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programs/insight/20110213Google Scholar
Nakagawa, Y., & Payne, P. (2011). Experiencing beach in Australia: Study abroad students' perspectives. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 27(1), 94–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Park Service Alaska. (n.d.). Climbing registration. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/registrationinfo.htmGoogle Scholar
North, C. (2008). Watching where you go. The Climber, 64, 20–21.Google Scholar
North, C. (2011). The sidelining of environmental care education in outdoor education programs: Why it happens, why it shouldn't and what we can do about it. New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, 2(5), 35–50.Google Scholar
Oskamp, S. (2002). Environmentally responsible behavior: Teaching and promoting it effectively. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2(1), 173–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, G. (2006). Theatre country: Essays on landscape and whenua. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.Google Scholar
Payne, P. (2005). Lifeworld and textualism: reassembling the researcher/ed and ‘others’. [Article]. Environmental Education Research, 11(4), 413–431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plumwood, V. (2000). Belonging, naming, and decolonization, Ecopolitics, 1(1), 90–106.Google Scholar
Short, P. C. (2010). Responsible environmental action: Its role and status in environmental education and environmental quality. Journal of Environmental Education, 41(1), 7–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, G. L., & Alagona, P. S. (2009). Beyond Leave No Trace. Ethics, Place and Environment, 12(1), 17–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sobel, D. (2004). Place-based education: Connecting classrooms and communities. Great Barrington, MA: Orion Society.Google Scholar
Stewart, A. (2004). Decolonising encounters with the Murray river: Building place responsive outdoor education. Australian Journal of Outdoor Education, 8(2), 46–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Straker, J. (2010). Unearthing ‘the outdoors’ in outdoor education. New Zealand Journal of Outdoor Education, 2(4), 103–123.Google Scholar
Sutton, S. (2002, 27th – 29th August). Impact Assessment at Department of Conservation (New Zealand) Visitor Sites. Paper presented at the Ecotourism, Wilderness and Mountain Tourism: Issues, Strategies and Regional Development International Conference Department of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Te Ipukarea/ National M ori Language Institute (n.d.). Te Aka Māo ri-English, English-Māori Dictionary and Index. Retrieved from http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm.Google Scholar
Thomashow, M. 2002. Bringing the biosphere home: Learning to perceive global environmental change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Tuan, Y.-F. (1977). Space and place: The perspective of experience. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (1972). Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://whc.unesco.org/archive/conventionen.pdf.Google Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (1976). The Belgrade charter: A global framework for environmental education. Connect, 1(1), 1–9.Google Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2003). United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: International implementation scheme. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001306/130632e.pdfGoogle Scholar
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2010). UNESCO strategy for the second half of the United Nations decade of education for sustainable development. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001873/187305e.pdfGoogle Scholar
Vaske, J. J., & Kobrin, K. C. (2001). Place attachment and environmentally responsible behavior. Journal of Environmental Education, 32(4), 16–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wattchow, B. (2006). The experience of river places in outdoor education: A phenomenological study. Unpublished Doctorate, Monash University, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Watchow, B., & Brown, M. & (2011). A pedagogy of place: Outdoor education for a changing world. Melbourne: Monash University Press.Google Scholar
World Wildlife Fund, (n.d.). WWF's mission: Guiding principles and goals. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://wwf.panda.org/mission_principles_goals.cfmGoogle Scholar
Youth Hostel Association of New Zealand. (n. d.). YHA supports community projects. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from http://www.yha.co.nz/NR/exeres/8B9293E2-A2A9-422F-B7EC-ED159E727421.htmGoogle Scholar