Culture Shifts
Sport Ecology Research and Practice: An Exciting and Fruitful Setting for Sustainability Research
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Madeleine Orr, Brian P. Mc Cullough, Timothy Kellison
Sport is a unique context in which to study sustainability, with broad reach (Spaaij, 2009). Culturally, sport is enrooted in society such that fans associate themselves with teams and players, and dedicate much time and money to sport consumption (Sartore-Baldwin & McCullough, 2018). Environmentally, sport’s impact is evident in the sizable ecological footprints of sport organizations and consumers. As Casper and Pfahl (2015) point out, the effects of the sport industry (e.g., vehicle emissions, waste, water and energy use) highlight the urgency of creating change in the industry, but also the opportunity to leverage sport as a platform for environmental education. Over the past two decades, sport and sport organizations have begun addressing their impact on the planet (McCullough, Pfahl, & Nguyen, 2016). Many sport organizations are now implementing environmental initiatives (Trendafilova, Babiak, & Heinze, 2013). Concomitantly, research has demonstrated the potential for sport to increase awareness of environmental issues (Brymer, Downey & Gray, 2009; Schmidt, 2006) and influence environmentally-friendly behaviors (Inoue & Kent, 2012; Kellison & Kim, 2014; McCullough & Cunningham, 2011). Many research topics within sport ecology lend themselves to advancing the broader sustainability literature, namely: athlete advocacy, using sport facilities as living labs for sustainability education, understanding climate vulnerability of sport organizations (Orr & Inoue, 2018), and developing green sponsorship models. This study includes a survey of the sport ecology literature along with a discussion of the opportunities that exist for research-practice partnerships, and interdisciplinary research in the sport ecology domain.
Natural Resources and Environmental Tourism protection for Sustainable Development in Iran
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Mir Mehrdad Mirsanjari
Natural resources and environmental tourism protection in Iran has been in place for many centuries. Responsible ecotourism is compatible with the concept of stability. Environmental culture has several positive impacts which counter destroying the environment. The aim of this research is explore the benefits of environmental tourism in Iran for the local community as well as to introduce the country's global heritage, which is a stabilizing factor. Institutions balance tourism pressures with sustainability of development. This pressure takes the form in particular of over exploitation of land resources and the excessive clearing and harvesting of land cover. Finally some suggestions to holistically develop natural attractions for sustainable tourism in Iran are explored.
