Wicked Problems in Alpine Transport: A Sustainability Governance Approach

Abstract

Transport is the main enabler of tourism, but also one of its main sources of environmental impact. This paradoxical condition is even more controversial if considering the reluctancy of policymakers to introduce traffic management strategies, as they fear possible drops in tourism demand. This chapter addresses the ‘tourism-traffic paradox’ as a wicked problem and explores adequate and efficient policy interventions to foster sustainable mobility in Alpine destinations, minimising rebound effects in tourism demand. The chapter is focussed on the exemplary case of the Dolomites World Heritage Site (WHS), as this Italian area has experienced a long-lasting process of evidence-informed decision-making in transport, with two pilot actions for traffic calming in 2017 and 2018. The main goal of those actions was to shift the modal choices of tourists, to optimise the traffic network use and to minimise environmental impacts. The policy interventions were rooted in a sustainability governance approach, that is, they were creating a government-led network of stakeholders, including several academic experts, involved in the transport planning and monitoring phase. Advantages and disadvantages of this government-led network to solve the tourism-traffic paradox are discussed in the chapter.

Citation

Scuttari, A. (2024), "Wicked Problems in Alpine Transport: A Sustainability Governance Approach", Pforr, C., Pillmayer, M., Joppe, M., Scherle, N. and Pechlaner, H. (Ed.) Tourism Policy-Making in the Context of Contested Wicked Problems: Sustainability Paradox, Climate Emergency and COVID-19 (Advances in Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 17A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 101-118. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1871-31732024000017A007