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Jackson Publishes Article On ‘Ecotourism’

Content focuses on the environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of ‘responsible travel’

Lale Biwa is an ecotourism operator and shareholder for Wild Expeditions Ethiopia. Source: Copyright 2019 by Wild Philanthropy.

A new article on “Ecotourism” by Giles Jackson, Ph.D., Baxa Professor of Stakeholder Capitalism and Director of Shenandoah University’s Institute for Business, Sustainability & Society, was published on Aug. 15, in the online Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. The article incorporates much of the original research conducted by Dr. Jackson during his 2019 sabbatical to Ecuador, funded by a university faculty development grant.

Ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that educates and inspires through interpretation – increasingly paired with practical action – that helps conserve the environment and sustain the well-being of local people.”

Giles Jackson, Ph.D., Baxa Professor of Stakeholder Capitalism and Director of Shenandoah University’s Institute for Business, Sustainability & Society

The article provides a fascinating perspective on the historic origins, economic foundations, and environmental and cultural impacts of ecotourism. It includes 10 videos filmed by Jackson that feature the real-world perspectives of entrepreneurs, guides, naturalists and resource managers currently working within the ecotourism industry.

Dr. Jackson captures an anti-mining street mural in Mindo, Ecuador, with the translated sentiment: “Without gold, you live. Without water, you die.” Source: Copyright 2019 by Giles Jackson.

Ecotourism is a highly interdisciplinary field of study that encompasses economics, business administration, social entrepreneurship, environmental science (including biology, ecology, and geography), environmental education, political science, anthropology, sociology, social psychology, ethics, and other disciplines. It’s also [a field of study] at a critical inflection point, as scholars reflect on the achievement and shortcomings of several decades of research and set out the research agenda for decades to come.”

Giles Jackson, Ph.D.

Read the full version of the article.

​​The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science is a substantive, peer-reviewed and regularly updated online publication that is part of the larger online Oxford Research Encyclopedia, a dynamic digital encyclopedia continuously updated by the world’s leading scholars and researchers.

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