Categorizing Online Climate Change Interpretation Across the National Park System

Roberts, Ryan M.; Holly, Matt; Perez, Larry

doi:10.1177/10925872211042935

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Addressing sustainability requires balancing short-term benefits against long-term benefits; making individual sacrifices for a broad, and sometimes vague, communal good; and balancing individual and collective responsibility for action (Koger & Scott, 2016). Roberts et al’s (2021) review of how US National Parks interpret climate change highlights many of the issues connected to this growing pressure on PNA interpreters.…”

Section: Literature Review: Effective Interpretation For Sustainable ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years there has been increasing and widespread discussion about the multiple dimensions of sustainability and the need for widespread change and action. This has resulted in pressures on many public agencies across the globe to adopt more sustainable practices, and to offer more public education and persuasive communication about on-site and post-visit sustainability actions (Ballantyne, Packer, Hughes, & Gill, 2018; Roberts et al, 2021). Interpretation in PNAs has, until recently, rarely overtly considered sustainability education that extends beyond the interpreted site.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rethinking Interpretation to Support Sustainable Tourist Experiences in Protected Natural Areas

Moscardo

Hughes

2023

Journal of Interpretation Research

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Interpretation in protected natural areas can minimize visitors’ negative environmental impacts and encourage them to adopt sustainable practices at and beyond tourist sites. Despite this, interpretation has typically focussed on showcasing the specific features of natural areas rather than using these features as a resource for sustainability education more broadly. We argue that designing effective interpretation for complex issues such as sustainability is challenging and that new approaches may be needed. This paper reports on a front-end evaluation study that used online archival analysis and participant observation to assess the viability of an interpretive approach that requires no additional site hardening, is widely accessible, and focuses on fungi as a topic that can be easily connected to sustainability action beyond the site. Guidelines for developing effective interpretation in natural areas and practical implications of using this approach to link local places to global sustainability are also discussed.

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Section: Literature Review: Effective Interpretation For Sustainable ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Interpretation to Support Sustainable Tourist Experiences in Protected Natural Areas

Moscardo

Hughes

2023

Journal of Interpretation Research

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Opportunities for meaningful climate change engagement in vulnerable nature settings

Waters,

Losciale,

Wilson

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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Nature‐based tourism has a unique opportunity, and arguably responsibility, to promote widespread action on climate change. However, research suggests an aversion to providing information that might appear divisive or ‘ruin’ peoples day, particularly in places that are vulnerable to degradation. We explore how exposure to climate change information in vulnerable nature settings influences indicators of (i) the visitor experience and (ii) climate change engagement. Using a quasi‐experimental approach, we provided climate information on tourist boats operating on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia and compared visitor experiences with a control condition where climate information was not provided. Visitor surveys (n = 656) assessed perceptions and experiences. Overall, visitors on trips where climate information was provided were more likely to report that the reef experience exceeded their expectations and did not report any reduction in subjective trip satisfaction. However, we detected minimal effects of climate information on indicators of climate engagement (threat awareness, action awareness, or information seeking), suggesting room for improvement in interpretation approach and design. Indeed, visitors reported high levels of acceptability for incorporating more information about climate change, particularly about actions. Synthesis and applications: These results suggest that providing climate information does not undermine visitor experiences and while further research is required to determine the most effective approach for influencing climate change engagement, an appetite for more information exists. It is possible that what tourism operators are fearful of, may be an opportunity to improve outcomes aligned with both industry and environmental objectives. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Categorizing Online Climate Change Interpretation Across the National Park System

Cited by 2 publications

References 17 publications

Rethinking Interpretation to Support Sustainable Tourist Experiences in Protected Natural Areas

Rethinking Interpretation to Support Sustainable Tourist Experiences in Protected Natural Areas

Opportunities for meaningful climate change engagement in vulnerable nature settings

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