Pragmatic engagement with the wicked tourism problem of climate change through 'soft' transformative governance. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weaver, David; Moyle, Brent D.; Casali, Luca; McLennan, Char-lee
• Is Part Of: Tourism management. Volume 93(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: Adaptive cycles -- Climate change -- Panarchy -- Transformative governance -- Wicked problems -- Tourisystem; Tourism -- Periodicals; 338.4791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2022.104573
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-5177

Abstract

Abstract: This paper investigates the potential of transformative governance to address the wicked tourism problem of climate change. Drawing on a pragmatic constructivist approach that synthesises related concepts such as crisis, tourisystem, "dragons of inaction", adaptive cycles and "panarchy", we contend that progress toward lower-carbon tourism is currently impeded by mutually reinforcing poverty and rigidity traps which perpetuate gaps between pro-environmental attitudes and actual behaviour. Poverty traps occur when insufficient creativity is injected into the threatened system, while rigidity traps describe conservation of maladaptive system structures that reject creativity. Tourism responses to COVID-19 further demonstrate the intractability of these traps. "Soft" transformative governance, proposed as a realistic path for escaping the traps and improving system resilience, entails accelerated accrual of micro-transformations through paradigm nudge, or "transformation by stealth". Facilitative strategies include constructive manipulation of stakeholder values, and adaptive mobilisation of citizenship rights and responsibilities.