Alexandros Koutsouris

Social learning and sustainable tourism development; local quality conventions in tourism: a Greek case study

This paper presents the trajectory of an innovative organisational scheme, the Local Quality Convention (LQC), concerning sustainable tourism development in the Lake Plastiras area, a less favoured area in Central Greece. It outlines the development issues of the area, the main actors, their views and practices and describes the creation, progress and emerging problems of the LQC scheme. Research reveals contradicting approaches to sustainable tourism development which, in turn, influenced the LQCs evolution. The findings are critically discussed in the light of the Social Learning (SL) approach to social change and sustainable development. According to SL it is only through interactive (participative), concerted action that stakeholders are able to co-construct an issue and its solutions. Given the dominance of “conventional” tourism in Greece as well as the top-down formation and implementation of policies, the importance of the long term facilitation of local stakeholders to achieve sustainable tourism development is demonstrated, along with other related lessons for planners and managers.

Teachers' Perceptions οn the Use of Botanic Gardens as a Means of Environmental Education in Schools and the Enhancement of School Student Benefits from Botanic Garden Visits

Abstract The potential of Botanic Gardens (BGs) to contribute to environmental education is well documented. To what degree this potential is met concerning school students’ environmental education is to be considered. In Greece, Environmental Education Centres (EECs) develop Environmental Education Programmes (EEPs) for schools to implement. A questionnaire survey addressing teachers employed at the EECs in Greece investigated the use of BGs as a means of environmental education and identified their most important features in supporting school EEPs. Findings indicated that the majority of EEC teachers (90.6%) have not developed EEPs involving the use of BGs, although BGs were ranked as most suitable amongst other green spaces for conducting such programmes, particularly for primary school students. Teachers identified the need for BGs to be designed accordingly and provide the necessary infrastructure to be educationally effective that included facilitating teaching (e.g. open spaces, areas to congregate, easy access paths and indoor facilities) and plant-orientated elements as well as plant management displays. A strategy by BGs to promote their role in environmental education and a multidisciplinary design approach would maximise student benefit.