RESOURCES AVAILABLE

BEST EN has created a range of resources, some of which have been published as book and journal contributions, others have been published with a Creative Commons License and are available free of charge on this website.

Books

BEST EN members have edited and contributed to a number of books on sustainable tourism. The book Understanding the Sustainable Development of Tourism is an immediate result of numerous Think Tanks aiming to jointly develop teaching materials. Case study books like International Cases in Sustainable Travel and Tourism stems from the network's continuing cooperation with the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards and Networks for Innovation in Sustainable Tourism reflects follow up work on Think Tank VII: Innovations for Sustainable Tourism. 

Journals

Each annual Think Tank explores a leading edge topic in sustainable tourism that is selected for critical review. Think Tank participants are given the opportunity to present a research paper on a topic relevant to the nominated theme. The best of these papers are published in special editions of journals such as the Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Tourism and Hospitality Research and Tourism Review International.  Participants can also develop and publish papers bassed on the various activities and outcome sfrom the Thin Tanks.  A recent example can be found here.

Teaching Materials

Acknowledging the developments in information and communication technologies, and the resultant changes in teaching and learning, BEST EN has moved from developing written teaching modules on sustainable tourism topics to offering a range of online multimedia resources. The BEST EN Lecture Series features scholars associated with BEST EN. Each of the individual tutorials is comprised of a video, slides, literature and case study suggestions as well as student assignments aimed at the bachelor level. A blogging function is provided for feedback and commentary. The BEST EN Lecture Series is housed on the Innotour platform. The BESTEN Videos are an additional resource featuring experts on the topics focussed on during the respective tThink Tank. They provide a short introduction to the topic, its challenges and current research issues.

Research Agendas

The annual Think Tanks aim to develop both teaching and research materials. To develop the latter, Think Tank participants assess the current state of knowledge on the Think Tank topic, both conceptual and applied, identify gaps in this knowledge, and formulate an agenda for research which meets stakeholder needs. The research agendas developed at the Think Tanks are openly available from the BEST Education Network website.

Think Tank Papers & Presentations

Attendees of the annual Think Tank present their own research on the respective Think Tank topic. Authors can either submit a full paper or an abstract. Papers that are accepted following a double-blind peer review process and that have been presented at the Think Tank are available free of charge. Recent Think Tank materials include both papers and presentations while earlier materials may only include one of the two.

Case Studies

In the first few years of BEST a number of best practice caste studies were developed. This practice was revived in 2007 with case studies being developed as an integral part of the Think Tank. Many case studies are based on site visits during the Think Tank and follow up work by individual Think Tank participants, who work together with the respective sites to provide further depth and be able to write up the case study. Further case studies have been developed as part of book publications and in collaboration with the WTTC Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.

External Resources

While BEST EN has developed a number of resources for teaching and researching sustainable tourism many other organizations have also developed very valuable resources. In this section, you can find links to some of those resources. With your help, we can extend this list. If you know of further resources on sustainable tourism that are not yet included in the list, please write an Email to Anja Hergesell

Referencing materials

Most of the materials in this section are available to you free of charge. This does, however, not mean that they do not have an author or several authors that should be given credit when you use any of the resources. To make it easier for you, we have provided an overview on how to reference different resources.