Course: Sustainable Tourism in Coastal Areas
The course aimed at developing and strengthening students’ cross cultural and interlinguistic competences to manage tourism in a sustainable perspective within the framework of an international, multicultural and multidisciplinary virtual teaching and learning environment. A central focus was placed on Sustainable Tourism and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) – mainly SDG6: Clean Water and Sanitation. The course was delivered through an International Virtual Classroom with 32 working hours spanning over six weeks. The course was divided into two parts: focusing on the one hand on agroforestry systems and on the other hand on aspects related to the structure and management of protected areas (conservation units) for ecotourism.
Assessment of learning:
To propose the development of a global solution for the wicked problems in tourism activities in coastal areas based on the comprehension of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. During the course, each team chooses to develop a project that answers one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The results of this work are presented to all participants by each team during the final session through a Pitch. Following the course, students reported that they experienced great benefits in learning more about VE in terms of knowledge gained and as an enriching cultural exchange.
The course developed as part of the VAMOS Project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Key words: SDGs, Tourism, Sustainability
Specific learning goals
- Be able to understand global & local tourism trades, networks and communities and to identify the main stakeholders and their roles in the pursuit of a sustainable tourism;
- Recognize how to assess the impact of ongoing or projected tourism projects from an environmental, social, and economic perspective within a cross cultural point of view;
- Be able to suggest tourism initiatives that will have positive environmental, social and economic effects on the community in which it takes place
Course schedule
In total 6 week course:
All Wednesdays, from may 11th to June 15th
Expected number of hours per week:
4 hours per week
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