TY - JOUR
T1 - Co-producing sustainable solutions in indigenous communities through scientific tourism
AU - Buzinde, Christine N.
AU - Manuel-Navarrete, David
AU - Swanson, Tod
N1 - Funding Information:
In the Spring of 2018, we (the authors) co-organized a trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon to convene with some members of the Waorani Indigenous communities of Gomataon and Geyepade in Pastaza Province, Ecuador. The trip was part of the Language for Sustainability Project funded by the Global Consortium for Sustainability Outcomes to promote the link between Indigenous languages, and the sustainability of Indigenous communities through scientific and educational tourism. The project was focused on sustainable income generation through the establishment of an Indigenous sustainability field school in Waorani and Achuar communities; wherein, locals teach the local language and bioculture, and through study abroad programs, Western students pay to get immersed in local knowledge systems related to sustainability. The goal was to create extensions of an existing Field School that has been successfully operating for two decades in a Kichwa community near Tena, Ecuador. These extensions, geared towards education and scientific tourists, would provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate access to remote ecosystems while also orienting outsiders to the valuable Indigenous knowledge systems associated with the locale. Opportunities for ‘scientific tourists’ to co-produce knowledge with Indigenous people were envisioned as central to the design of the Field School’s program and vital to the emergence of sustainable outcomes.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/9/1
Y1 - 2020/9/1
N2 - This conceptual paper explores theoretical linkages between scientific tourism and sustainability outcomes within indigenous communities. Drawing on sustainability science, boundary work theory, indigenous knowledge, and decolonial frameworks, we present a typology of scientific tourism situations mapped according to the degree in which they allow co-production of solutions that combine indigenous and scientific knowledge. This paper is based on the premise that co-produced solutions are essential for sustainability outcomes and they require effective boundary organizations capable of translating and coordinating across cultural paradigms. Two approaches to scientific tourism that can facilitate sustainability outcomes, particularly in indigenous communities, are proposed. The first approach is endogenous to the academy and requires cognition of knowledge plurality and researcher reflexivity. The second is exogenous to the academy and entails boundary organizations as well as tools and strategies necessary for horizontal co-production. Implications for future scholarship on scientific tourism in marginalized and/or global south communities are discussed.
AB - This conceptual paper explores theoretical linkages between scientific tourism and sustainability outcomes within indigenous communities. Drawing on sustainability science, boundary work theory, indigenous knowledge, and decolonial frameworks, we present a typology of scientific tourism situations mapped according to the degree in which they allow co-production of solutions that combine indigenous and scientific knowledge. This paper is based on the premise that co-produced solutions are essential for sustainability outcomes and they require effective boundary organizations capable of translating and coordinating across cultural paradigms. Two approaches to scientific tourism that can facilitate sustainability outcomes, particularly in indigenous communities, are proposed. The first approach is endogenous to the academy and requires cognition of knowledge plurality and researcher reflexivity. The second is exogenous to the academy and entails boundary organizations as well as tools and strategies necessary for horizontal co-production. Implications for future scholarship on scientific tourism in marginalized and/or global south communities are discussed.
KW - Ecuador
KW - Sustainability
KW - boundary organization
KW - indigenous knowledge
KW - knowledge co-production
KW - scientific tourism
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U2 - 10.1080/09669582.2020.1732993
DO - 10.1080/09669582.2020.1732993
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85080931746
SN - 0966-9582
VL - 28
SP - 1255
EP - 1271
JO - Journal of Sustainable Tourism
JF - Journal of Sustainable Tourism
IS - 9
ER -