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1 – 10 of over 45000Grant Samkin and Christa Wingard
This uses a framework of systemic change to understand the contextual factors including stakeholder, social, political, cultural and economic, which contribute to the social and…
Abstract
Purpose
This uses a framework of systemic change to understand the contextual factors including stakeholder, social, political, cultural and economic, which contribute to the social and environmental narratives of a conservation organisation that has and continues to undergo transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
The social and environmental disclosure annual report narratives for a 27-year period were coded to a framework of systemic change.
Findings
The end of apartheid in 1994 meant that South African society required transformation. This transformation impacts and drives the social and environmental accounting disclosures made by SANParks. The social and environmental disclosures coded against a framework of systemic change, fluctuated over the period of the study as the format of the annual reports changed. The systems view was the most frequently disclosed category. The political ecology subcategory which details the power relationships showed the most disclosures. However, 25 years after the end of apartheid, the transformation process remains incomplete. Although the evidence in the paper does not support Joseph and Reigelut (2010) contention that the framework of systemic change is an iterative process, it nevertheless provides a useful vehicle for analysing the rich annual report narratives of an organisation that has undergone and continues to undergo transformation.
Originality/value
This paper makes two primary contributions. First, to the limited developing country social and environmental accounting literature. Second, the development, refinement and application of a framework of systemic change to social and environmental disclosures.
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The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in Alaska; the battle over future oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; oil spills in the Gulf of…
Abstract
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in Alaska; the battle over future oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico near Galveston, Texas; medical waste pollution on the beaches of the northeast; and nuclear contamination from the Department of Energy and Department of Defense facilities have all demonstrated how endangered and fragile America's remaining natural places have become. These ecological controversies make our designated parklands even more precious and reinforce the important responsibility given to the National Park System for preserving America's natural areas.
Ramzi Al Rousan, Samiha Siddiqui, Naseem Bano and Sujood
This study aims to evaluate the key factors affecting the behavioural intention of urban tourists towards visiting national parks by integrating the theory of planned behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the key factors affecting the behavioural intention of urban tourists towards visiting national parks by integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and expectancy theory (ET).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from urban tourists using an online questionnaire developed through Google forms. A total of 489 valid online questionnaires were considered for this study. The proposed research model was empirically evaluated using the structural equation modelling method.
Findings
According to the results of this research, TPB constructs are significantly and positively associated with the behavioural intention of urban tourists towards visiting national parks in India and out of ET constructs, only expectancy and valence are significantly and positively associated with behavioural intention while instrumentality does not.
Research limitations/implications
This study manifests the behaviour of urban tourists towards national parks and contributes to academics by incorporating existing literature. The findings of this study also help policymakers in formulating innovative strategies for national parks. It presents an integrated framework that lays the platform for a new study domain on urban tourists' intentions to visit national parks, which will be useful to urban managers, officials and the tourism sector. Furthermore, as the scope of this study is confined to assessing the intentions of urban tourists toward visiting national parks, it is difficult to generalize the findings.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first research of its kind to provide an understanding of the behavioural intention of urban tourists towards visiting the national parks in India by optimizing the TPB and ET.
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A.J. Templeton, Kelly Goonan and Alan Fyall
National Park Service (NPS) units generate a significant economic impact for states and local gateway communities across the USA. Utah is home to 13 NPS units with visitation…
Abstract
Purpose
National Park Service (NPS) units generate a significant economic impact for states and local gateway communities across the USA. Utah is home to 13 NPS units with visitation accounting for 18% of the state's US$9.75bn tourism economy in 2018. Twelve NPS units, including five national parks, are located in Southern Utah, driving an economy that is heavily dependent on tourism. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for visits to national parks post-COVID-19, generally and in the specific context of Southern Utah. Although the assumption is that visits to national parks will recover quickly, this paper will critically examine how visitation may change and what adaptive measures and alternative forms of unit management may be necessary.
Design/methodology/approach
By adopting a holistic-inductive paradigm, this paper utilizes a descriptive case study approach. Data were collected across a variety of mediums focusing on interviews with key stakeholders in and around Southern Utah.
Findings
The results from this study highlight the various challenges faced in parks and gateway communities vis-à-vis changing patterns of visitation, adaptive measures and alternative forms of unit management necessary due to COVID-19 and their impact on the future management and marketing of national parks for touristic purposes.
Originality/value
This paper examines the impacts of COVID-19 on an often-neglected yet significant area within tourism, yielding implications for industry, visitors and destination communities.
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Lucia Pizzichini, Valerio Temperini and Gian Luca Gregori
This paper aims to identify what ethical attributes tourists associate with national parks’ brands shown on food souvenir labels and the influence of such attributes on purchase…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify what ethical attributes tourists associate with national parks’ brands shown on food souvenir labels and the influence of such attributes on purchase motivations.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory study was carried out involving a total of 102 Italian tourists, who were interviewed at two different souvenir shops in Italy. Respondents were first asked to describe what images and values they were associating with the visited Italian National Park. The second level of questions related to the association of food products with national parks and the purchase motivations of food products branded with the national park’s label. The ethical attributes associated with the national parks’ brands and their relevance in purchase motivations were detected and analyzed through content analysis.
Findings
The analysis of the national park brand allows highlighting the food souvenir role in communicating ethical values that influence the perceived quality of food as well as tourists’ purchase motivations. The analysis reveals interesting implications for the enhancement of local productions in tourist destinations, more specifically, how the place brand can act as a valuable communication tool. Particular attention is given to the crucial role that national parks’ brands play in strengthening the value proposition of small businesses located within parks. This vision must be implemented from the perspective of mutual promotion of local food and tourism in these parks.
Originality/value
The results of this paper contributed to the literature by filling the gap regarding the role of place brands in promoting food souvenirs.
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David Mitchell and Terrel Gallaway
This paper aims to examine the economic impact from dark-sky tourism in national parks in the USA on the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is a region encompassing parts of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the economic impact from dark-sky tourism in national parks in the USA on the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is a region encompassing parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah that is known for its dark, star-filled night skies. Tourists in national parks are increasingly interested in observing this natural recreational amenity – especially considering that it is an ecological amenity that is quickly disappearing from the planet. Using a 10-year forecast of visitors to the national parks and using standard input-output modeling, it is observed that, for the first time anywhere, the value of dark skies to tourism in this area. The authors find that non-local tourists who value dark skies will spend $5.8bn over the next 10 years in the Colorado Plateau. These tourist expenditures will generate $2.4bn in higher wages and create over 10,000 additional jobs each year for the region. Furthermore, as dark skies are even more intense natural amenity in the non-summer months, they have the ability to increase visitor counts to national parks year-round and lead to a more efficient use of local community and tourism-related resources throughout the year.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a 10-year forecast of visitors to the national parks and using standard input-output modeling, we find that non-local tourists who value dark skies will spend $5.8bn over the next 10 years in the Colorado Plateau.
Findings
These tourist expenditures will generate $2.4bn in higher wages and create over 10,000 additional jobs each year for the region. Furthermore, as dark skies are even more intense natural amenity in the non-summer months, they have the ability to increase visitor counts to national parks year-round and lead to a more efficient use of local community and tourism-related resources throughout the year.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study has attempted to value the environmental amenity of dark skies.
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The purpose of this paper (i.e. Mountain Chef: How One Man Lost His Groceries, Changed His Plans, and Helped Cook Up the National Park Service; Pimentel, 2016) is to detail a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper (i.e. Mountain Chef: How One Man Lost His Groceries, Changed His Plans, and Helped Cook Up the National Park Service; Pimentel, 2016) is to detail a camping trip during which Tie Sing, a Chef, worked with Stephen Mather, a millionaire concerned about conserving national resources, to convince a group of influential Americans to create a National Park Service.
Design/methodology/approach
This lesson plan, based in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) C3 Framework, encourages third grade students to investigate the geography of the camping area in what is now Sequoia National Park. Students also analyze and determine whether or not the National Park Service is a good idea. Students move through four stages of inquiry in the C3 Framework as guided by their teacher.
Findings
During Dimension 1, students determine the types of sources that will help them answer the inquiry questions. Next in Dimension 2, students are engaged in a read-aloud of Mountain Chef while learning how to gather information from the text and record evidence in an I-Chart through teacher modeling (Hoffman, 1992). Students use a text set in Dimension 3 to gather evidence in response to inquiry questions. The lesson concludes in Dimension 4 with students using research evidence to create a WPA-like poster of the camping area and students communicating ideas via social media.
Practical implications
Think-aloud – “Students who are exposed to think-aloud outperform their peers who do not receive the same instruction on measures of reading comprehension” (Ness, 2018). The teacher implements the think-aloud strategy within Dimension 2 of the lesson plan. Think-aloud is a metacognitive strategy that requires a teacher to verbalize thinking processes to scaffold students to perform a learning task on his or her own later. The portions of text that were selected for think-aloud were identified as “juicy stopping points,” points that may pose a challenge for students, or points where there were comprehension opportunities related to inquiry questions. Teachers may adjust this lesson to increase or decrease scaffolding through think-aloud at their professional discretion.
Originality/value
Mountain Chef was selected as the 2017 winner of the Carter Woodson Book Award in the Elementary category. This lesson plan was presented at the NCSS 2017 annual conference at the Carter Woodson and Notable Tradebooks: Engaging Early Grade Lesson Plans session.
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Isabel Stella Schellnack-Kelly
Social media sites contribute significantly to nature conservation in, that they enlighten and educate those members of the public who would ordinarily not be in a position, or…
Abstract
Purpose
Social media sites contribute significantly to nature conservation in, that they enlighten and educate those members of the public who would ordinarily not be in a position, or would not be fortunate enough to visit the park and experience the various aspects first-hand. The purpose of this paper is to showcase social media pages related to a national game reserve in South Africa. This game reserve is the largest in the country and has a wide variety of conserved fauna and flora.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical framework used is the SCOPE framework that streamlines strategy development, content choice, refinement of online engagement, choice of social media platform and evaluations of social media campaigns.
Findings
The findings relate to the content found on these social media pages, as well as how members of the public interact with each other and officials from the game reserve in sharing experiences related to this wilderness area.
Research limitations/implications
The research is related to the Kruger National Park in South Africa and is limited to three social media sites.
Originality/value
Through its social media presence, this South African game reserve is able to share experiences from what is effectively a living museum, as well as from its library and archives, with members of the public and allowing individual members to share their encounters with wildlife and their historical memories of this wilderness area.
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The paper seeks to deal with vernacular roofing practices within the North York Moors National Park.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to deal with vernacular roofing practices within the North York Moors National Park.
Design/methodology/approach
Initially the paper carries out a literature review of the geography and geology of the area and identifies what makes it physically unique. The paper then examines the development of various roofing materials, including thatch, stone slates and pantiles with case studies of old practice and modern methods from around the Park.
Findings
Roofing styles are simplistic and have steered away from the intricate in favour of the indigenous or readily available. The paper demonstrates the much‐regionalised nature of the roofing materials and recognises this as one of the special cultural features worthy of conservation.
Research limitations/implications
The results are limited to the North York Moors National Park but the approach taken could be extended to other conservation areas.
Practical implications
The results of the research will benefit those involved in the conservation of vernacular buildings in the North York Moors National Park.
Originality/value
The paper calls for additional guidance for roofers and specifiers on traditional vernacular techniques and for existing funding under the Environmental Stewardship Scheme to be extended to include rural communities in National Parks.
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Mike McDonald, Bernard Keys, Frank Catroppa and Norma Patton
US National Park Service personnel are resistant to trainingprogrammes derived from business and industry. The circumstances leadingto development of a customised training…
Abstract
US National Park Service personnel are resistant to training programmes derived from business and industry. The circumstances leading to development of a customised training programme are described – in particular the development and presentation of a simulation which was a key feature.
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