Activating Critical Thinking to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals in Tourism Systems

Activating Critical Thinking to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals in Tourism Systems focuses on the role of critical thinking and inquiry in the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in tourism systems. The impetus for the development of this book emerged from the declaration by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. This declaration purposely positions tourism as a tool to advance the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 SDGs, thus mutually serving as an opportunity and responsibility to appraise from a critical lens what the SDGs signify and how they can be understood from multiple perspectives.

The chapters in the book foster the next phase of sustainable tourism scholarship that actively considers the interconnections of the UN’s SDGs to tourism theory and praxis, and activates critical thinking to analyze and advance sustainability in tourism systems. It articulates the need for the academy to be more intrinsically involved in ongoing iterations of multilateral accords and decrees, to ensure they embody more critical and inclusive transitions toward sustainability, as opposed to market-driven, neoliberal directives. The contributions in this book encourage various worldviews challenging, shaping, and more critically reflecting the realities of global communities as related to, and impacted by, sustainable tourism development.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Karla A. Boluk, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Utilizing a critical lens, she investigates ways to sustainably engage and empower communities, positioning tourism as a mechanism for the creation of positive change.

Christina T. Cavaliere, Ph.D., is a conservation social scientist. Her research involves the human dimensions of socio-ecological systems including tourism impacts and biocultural conservation. She serves as an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University, USA, and has experience working with universities, communities, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral institutions on six continents.

Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management at the University of South Australia. Her work focuses on human rights and justice issues in tourism. She has worked with communities, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that seek to harness tourism for sustainable and equitable futures.