Linking Culture and the Environment

R.N. Moisey and S.F. McCool 287
Not only are shared meanings and definitions critical in achieving sustainability,
but must become institutionalized within each of the participants.
Tourism operates within a complex and interwoven social, ecological and
economic system. It would be foolhardy to assume that unless shared meanings
were part of the underlying reward systems then the incentives to
achieve those meanings would exist. In other words, participants would be
maximizing their individual rather than shared goals resulting in potentially
non- sustainable solutions. The fragmented character of tourism – many small
businesses, a variety of government institutions, each with differing mandates
and procedures, and a diverse citizenry – means that those interested
in sustainable tourism face a daunting challenge to organize venues where
possibilities can be discussed.
Public participation: keywords for success?
A fundamental – but not sole – role of public participation is to inform decision
makers of the value systems under which various publics are operating.
Achieving sustainability requires a variety of individuals, agencies and programmes,
each operating under different value and reward systems and each
bringing different and sometimes competing goals into the planning process.
In a tourism context these players include tourism developers, local communities,
government agencies, tourist representatives (indirectly through tour
operators or local tourism business owners) and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs). The views of each must be represented, articulated and integrated
within the shared definition of sustainability and how sustainability will
be achieved. It is through the political process that this takes place. We note that
it is only out of this process, which is as iterative, difficult, complex and messy
as it is, that shared definitions of sustainability will develop and evolve.
From a western perspective, the majority of political systems are open
processes that include public input or involvement. But even within these
democratic systems, other influences operate to undermine participation. For
example, widespread corruption can exclude the public in the decision- making
process. In many countries, the political system is corrupted by money buying
power. Problems are often ill-defined, power is not equally distributed, there
may be structural distortions in access to information, and the sense of competing
priorities may vary. In such situations, those most affected by development
decisions are typically excluded from the process. In still others, the scientifically
based expert-driven progressive era models of planning tend to marginalize
experiential and local knowledge. Achieving sustainability in such
situations will require not only restructuring of political power, but the development
of trust among participants in tourism development decisions.
Several authors discussed the need for changes within local and national
political structures to enable participation in deciding tourism development
issues that affect community sustainability. Weak or non-existent political
structures and informal venues for political discourse not only diminish the
likelihood for citizen involvement but ensure that important values will be