RESOURCES
RESOURCES: RESEARCH AGENDAS
| Author : | BEST Education Network |
|---|---|
| Year : | 2010 | Think Tank X |
Introduction
The research agenda workshop at the 2010 BEST EN Think Tank "Networking for Sustainable Tourism" provided delegates with an opportunity to consider the conference topic with a view of exploring future research opportunities and needs in that area. True to the overall aims of BEST EN and the annual research agenda workshops in particular, participants set out to identify themes as well as approaches to future research in the area of sustainable tourism networks. The underlying assumption was that increasing knowledge on networking for sustainable tourism will hopefully contribute to the identification of paths towards sustainable tourism futures. About 30 conference delegates engaged in a brainstorming exercise to suggest possible areas of significance and research need. These were then collaboratively organised and narrowed down to six major research themes for future research into sustainable tourism networks, each containing sub-topics and research questions.
Research Themes
- Knowledge transfer
- Theory, methodology and conceptual issues
- Actors, performativity, culture and power
- Lifecycle evolution and dynamics of networks
- Macro perspective bridging/overlapping between networks/ holism
- Strategic action, vision, innovation, management
1. Knowledge transfer
- How can networks facilitate knowledge on ST?
- How does knowledge move and what moves knowledge?
- What is the role of technology in moving and expanding knowledge?
- How is knowledge translated, interpreted and (re-)used across in different contexts?
- How do we come to know networks?
- What are the competences of a ST network?
- How can networks advance skills and capabilities for ST?
- How can linking of networks help disseminate knowledge on ST?
- How can the linking of network shift innovations in ST?
- How do local knowledge and local wisdom work in ST (tacit, indigenous, intimate knowledge)?
2. Theory, methodology and conceptual issues
- Definitions of networks for ST: What constitutes a ST network?
- Types and distinguishing features of ST networks
- New approaches to qualitative and quantitative methodologies (multi-sited research, auto-ethnography, case studies on durability of ST networks)
- Networking for sustainability versus networks of ST
- How can network theory be applied to ST?
3. Actors, performativity, culture and power
- Applications of ANT to identify actors in ST networks
- Application of ANT to identify power relations in ST networks
- How is power enacted and performed within networks of ST
- How do you cut the network?
- The performance of people and things (human, non-human actors) in the materialities of ST networks
- How are cultures enacted with ST networks?
- What are the motivations for actors to join, stay and leave ST networks?
- What are the cultures of networks and how does that inform practice?
- How does the formality of relationships influence the performance and success of a network?
- How can issues of coordination between international agencies be addressed by ST networks?
- How can local knowledge become an actor and perform in ST networks?
4. Lifecycle evolution and dynamics of networks
- What are the factors that effect change in networks for ST?
- What are the factors that affect their operation and activity?
- What is the role of “champions”?
- How are networks formed/ initiated?
- What determines a network’s position in a/ the lifecycle?
- What is the impact of serendipitous events?
- How does strategic action change/ evolve depending on the network’s position in a/ the lifecycle?
- What are the stages of a network’s lifecycle?
- What are characteristics/ attributes of a network driver?
- How do changes in the network composition affect its performance and its position in a/ the life cycle?
5. Macro perspective bridging/overlapping between networks/ holism
- What are bridging mechanisms that link networks across scales and space?
- How do networks “flow” across levels and cultures?
- How does the power of actors manifest itself in the action and evolution of networks for ST?
- Multiple networks for ST – Coordination or competition
- Which factors determine the inclusiveness and exclusiveness of networks for ST?
- What are the effects of insider and outsider communities around networks for ST?
6. Strategic action, vision, innovation, management
- How do networks for ST from other tourism-related networks?
- What are their characteristics?
- What are organisational forms in networks for ST?
- How do networks for ST behave/ act innovatively?
- How does the availability of resources affect the performance of networks for ST?
