Governance and cooperation in Euroregions: border tourism between Spain and Portugal

There are several obstacles to establish tourism governance policies in a border area and to improve the conceptualization of tourism in border territories transcending the transnational level, using territorial delimitation at Euroregional level. At borders, tourism usually works as a strategic policy tool to strengthen the regional image, shape common identity narratives and facilitate interactions, becoming these regions, nowadays, challenges for the actors of the territory, representing a priority area for the application of territorial development strategies at local level and at the level of the European Union itself. A qualitative analysis was based on performed semistructured interviews with key tourism stakeholders. From the interviewee? perspective, cooperation should be achieved through cooperation agreements between the business sector and economic agents to develop natural, cultural and heritage resources.     

European cross-scale spatial planning and territorial frames in the Italian Median Macroregion

This article describes the preliminary outcome of interdisciplinary research that arises from a study by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport and the Abruzzo Region (IT) on local development processes in central Italy, and specifically in the Median Macroregion, whose results have been extended to European context. It concerns the European spatial planning, specifically the study of an original interpretative model of European space, called Territorial Frames – TFs, a particular multi-scale infrastructural mesh that connects the ‘local’ territories with ‘global’ ones and that can represent the activating element of processes and policies of spatial development of settlements, of processes of valorization of the productive, naturalistic and landscape sectors. This new model interfaces with the territorial reticular component through the concept of polycentrism, also projecting evolution, and with that of the governance of development projects, using the potential of European Macroregions. The main objective of the research is to feed the topic of spatial planning, oriented to the integration between territories through a cross-scale approach, and to the activation of new processes of sustainable territorial development, with reference to the economically disadvantaged inner areas in a context of Macroregional governance.     

Reconsidering global mobility – distancing from mass cruise tourism in the aftermath of COVID-19

Abstract

The mass cruise tourism industry (MCTI) is inscribed in a neoliberal production of tourism space that promotes the economic, sociocultural and environmental marginalization of cruise destinations. With cruise tourism halted as a result of the COVID-19, but likely to resume in 2021, I question the relevance of this form of tourism and propose future development alternatives aligned with deglobalisation and degrowth of the industry. Power relations with destinations communities can be critiqued using the concepts of global mobility and local mobility to show that the former, imperative for the deployment of mass cruise tourism, is a weakness for the industry in a post-pandemic perspective of reduced mobility. Destinations must use the industry’s dependence on global mobility as leverage to transform the balance of power in their favor and promote local mobility. They must embrace radical solutions to take control of their territory to favor a transition from “Growth for development” to “Degrowth for liveability”. Host territories, relying on national and regional governance, should gradually ban or restrict the arrival of mega-cruise ships, implement policies that promote the development of a niche cruise tourism industry (NCTI) with small ships and develop a fleet controlled by local actors.     

Values in a vacuum? Towards an integrated multi‐level analysis of the governance of European space

This article calls for a new analytical approach to address how the emergence of a new European spatial policy field conditions policy‐making and implementation across Europe. This is now urgent because as the new policy field takes shape, its core ideas and values are being contested across different scales, sectors and territories of governance, creating new debates and arenas where understandings of space, place and connectivity, and relations between environment, society and economy, are being recast in a European light. In the full flow of generating a new policy field, we still seem to know little about what is being put at stake, or specifically how this is occurring. A value‐driven critical response from the research community is therefore needed, informed by research activity reaching across many dimensions of governance and policy‐making. The point of developing such an approach is not to discount previous research, but to explore how to generate synthetic and critical insights from different disciplinary and conceptual approaches within an integrated analytical framework. After this discussion, we conclude by proposing that IMAGES (Integrated Multi‐level Analysis of the Governance of European Space) can provide such a framework for analysing the emerging policy field of European spatial polices by constructing narratives of how spatial policy ideas and concepts turn into programming space, and how different territories interrelate with these policy concepts, and at the same time contribute to shaping them. This viewpoint and framework are predicated on the authors' belief that values behind the concepts remain hidden at present, both in policy processes and related research. Spatial policies seem to happen in a vacuum of values. By putting spatial justice as a value into this vacuum and by exploring the multi‐level governance of European space within an integrative analytical framework, the further development and application of the IMAGES framework can fulfil the need to contest the idea of objective policy‐making and analysis in European spatial policy.     

An Institutional Analysis of Property Development,Good Governance and Urban Sustainability

It can be argued that creating a reputation for sustainable development for the benefit of a competitive advantage resonates with institutional theory. In principle, this opens up the possibility to relate a given sustainability agenda with theoretical frameworks based on old institutional economics (OIE) and/or new institutional economics. This is particularly true in arenas where qualitative factors cause a discontinuous change from the previous structure, such as amid urban regeneration. Using empirical evidence from three very different European cities, Budapest, Amsterdam and Trondheim, it is shown that OIE has plenty to offer for a “patchy” and evolving problem area such as the analysis of planning and property development in an urban setting. The position taken here is that good community governance needs the support of the private sector too. Smart policies, regulations and especially incentives set at the local and regional levels are an imperative to meet the sustainability goals set out in the Rio-1992 agenda. This international comparison attempts to provide some guiding answers to the empirical question as to how sustainable the three cases of country- and city-specific governance are in terms of their property development.     

旅游环境保护与政府干预

提要旅游经济的快速发展带来的环境问题不容忽视,为实现旅游业自身的可持续发展,必须保护环境。制度经济学为解决旅游资源可持续开发利用问题提供了一种思想方法和分析工具。文章在分析我国旅游资源开发所面临的环境问题的基础上,寻找环境恶化的制度原因,最后从法律、法规、政策等政府行为方式的转变角度提出了减缓以致消除环境恶化的对策。     

Environmental governance in China: The effects of policy clarity,career concerns,and new appointed officials on pollution control

In the last three decades, China has taken actions to tackle its environmental issues while the tension between policymakers at the central level and decentralized implementation of such policies has been a major concern. This study investigates how policy clarity and high powered incentive system jointly affect organizational performance in the context of environmental governance in China. Utilizing city-level data compiled with text data extracted from Report on the Work of the Government from 2004 to 2015 and Difference in Differences (DID) design, we find that the compliance of local officials to protect the environment as well as the actual environmental protection outcome significantly increased. Our study also finds evidence that newly-appointed Party Secretaries at the city level are the main facilitators of enhancing environmental regulation policies. This research proposes a two by two typology based on the principal-agent theory explaining how successful environmental governance within this period in China is realized and offers practical implications for those who seek to enhance the effectiveness of environmental governance.     

The tourism and local development in world heritage context. The case of the Mayan site of Palenque,Mexico

This article discusses the effects of tourism on local development in the context of World Heritage sites. The ‘Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque’ in Mexico will be used as a case study, with especial attention on local Indigenous communities. It analyses the use of ‘World Heritage’ as a brand for tourism promotion and expected tourism growth, and the changes in the role of the Indigenous peoples in archaeology and UNESCO policies. Furthermore, it examines the implementation of World Heritage policies by the Mexican government and the local decision-makers in Palenque. It presents the touristic elements of the site and how other factors have impacted tourism flow. The article points out the empowerment processes of modern Mayan people, the response by the official managers and the Indigenous reaction to governmental investments in tourism infrastructure. The article concludes that a shift from the current type management model to a new, participatory one could contribute to reduce social tension, fostering local development through tourism and improving communities’ quality of life. The data used for my analysis were collected during fieldwork in Palenque in 2014 and 2016.     

Discourse Yes,Implementation Maybe: An Immobility and Paralysis of Sustainable Development Policy

Sustainable development policies are on the move. Cities the world over are repositioning, repackaging and remarketing themselves as green and sustainable, and sustainable development is the moniker imported to spark the process. At the same time, sustainable development, as a normative point of departure, is itself going through cycles of reinterpretation and re-composition. The research in this article aims to understand this process by mapping the trajectories of sustainable development policies, and understanding sustainable development as a contextually grounded policy in motion. In Luxembourg, as planners are confronted with finding ways to manage growth, sustainable development has come to permeate all levels of the planning system. To understand how this came into being, research methods were employed that included document screening and a series of conversational interviews that were later transcribed and coded. In so doing, the discourse around sustainable development policy could be reconstructed and analysed. The results showed that the multi-scalar, cross-national, and simultaneously micro-level governance structures pose many obstructions to the implementation of sustainable development policies that are imported from abroad. Thus, policy is ultimately immobile, and a policy paralysis can be considered.     

Sustainability of the tourist supply chain and governance in an insular biosphere reserve destination: the perspective of tourist accommodation

ABSTRACT

Small islands in peripheral regions are currently perceived as attractive tourist destinations. Governance plays an important role as a strategy for the revival of such destinations to achieve a more productive, environmental, social and sustainable management structure. ‘Good’ governance of a destination depends on all the actors involved in the tourism network. Such governance requires a redefinition of relations between government and society and minimal boundaries between public and private sectors. This paper has analysed the level of implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a tourist destination that is a biosphere reserve (BR), the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain), from a comprehensive approach involving a tourism supply chain (TSC) with private and public agents. The focal firms analysed within the TSC have been tourist accommodation establishments in Fuerteventura. The paper shows that the level of involvement of tourist accommodation in CSR is positive. However, this involvement is not sufficiently high to meet the requirements of a destination designated as a BR. Therefore, coordination policies should be developed that promote governance systems and further enhance sustainability in the destination.     

The Significance of Networking and Company Size in the Level of Creativeness of Tourism Companies: Antalya Case

The importance of creativeness and networking in the attainment of global competitiveness has been emphasized in local development literature. The level of creativeness of a company is influenced by its level of networking at both global and local levels, as well as its “institutional thickness”. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of local, global and associational networking, as well as company size, in the contribution of tourism companies to the level of their creativeness. Following a different approach from previous research, this paper addresses the tourism dimension of networking and creativeness not only to tourism but also to local development literature by providing empirical evidence and employing a quantitative method of analysis based on a firm-level survey. The findings of the paper reveal that there is a relationship not only between the associational and global levels of networking and creativeness, but also between the size of a tourism company and its level of creativeness. Based on these findings, this paper emphasizes the need of a tourism company to develop networks at global levels in particular, but also at local and associational levels, to develop creative practices and to facilitate the sustainable development of tourism regions.     

经济学视角下的政府旅游管理职能研究

纯粹的市场经济存在着信息不对称、“公地悲剧”、外部性问题和合成谬误等自身难以克服的缺陷。需要政府对旅游经济运行进行干预,因而在旅游发展过程中政府主导力量起着重要的推动作用。然而政府本身并不完美,其掌握信息的不充分、行政能力的有限理性和部门间的利益冲突决定了其在进行旅游行政管理时的局限性。因此,需要在旅游发展过程中,根据不同阶段特征对政府计划和市场两种手段进行有效的组合,并建立多中心体制来保证旅游业的健康持续发展。     

Governing Regional Development Through Culture and Creativity: The Case of the Veneto Region

This article has adopted a focus on culture and creativity in order to reflect on existing policies for the governance of large polycentric territories. Two trends, namely the increasing importance of regions in the urban planning field of study and culture as a strategic factor for territorial development, are combined to see how culture can be used as a strategic element within processes of regional development. Culture-led strategies are found to be instrumental to regional development, especially in territories undergoing a moment of inertia. The case of the Veneto Region shows that this momentum has now evidently also arrived in Italy. At a time in which the whole country is experiencing economic crisis, the Veneto region seems to be trapped in a transition stage between its successful past and the uncertainty of these days. While the Regione del Veneto is only somewhat trying to include culture and creativity in its official regional planning documents, some bottom-up initiatives have highlighted culture as a strategic factor for governing large territories and for their all-embracing development. In this context, culture and creativity can be seen as tools for governing territories that do not follow the policy orientation given by Regione del Veneto, but rather have a new understanding of regional governance taken forward by the private sector working together with the local administrations.     

ELECTRIFYING AFRICA: AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY WITH POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The European Union anticipates alleviating future energy shortages and fulfilling renewable energy mandates by importing “green” electricity from Africa. Historical precedent and environmental consequences have largely been ignored. This article presents an environmental history of African electricity generation at a continental scale, tracing its parallel developments with colonialism, as well as its pursuit in the independence eras of development assistance and neoliberalism. Initially electricity served European interests. Independent governments' development policies involved electrification primarily for industrial development; in North Africa, universal access was also a priority. Recurrent themes and cycles of environmental constraint, environmental disruption, and displacement of consequences from one ecosystem to another are addressed. Highlighted are inter‐relationships among electricity generation, fuel supplies, ecosystems, and water cycles. Late twentieth century technologies and globalized markets re‐valued African rivers and deserts as potential energy sources. Mega‐engineering projects were rejuvenated or proposed. Rural electrification was labelled uneconomic social welfare unrelated to economic development policies of selling power through national, regional, continental and intercontinental interconnections. Historical analysis suggests new areas of research for sustainable development and alternatives to declensionist narratives. Decentralized, small‐scale plants offer models of electricity supply for industrial and domestic needs, while investment in rural electrification produced measureable economic benefit at national levels. Will the EU renewable energy mandate simply displace Europe's environmental problems to Africa? Can Africa afford another water‐intensive export commodity? Will the New African Century follow well‐established patterns of exploitation, or take new, sustainable directions?     

旅游业生态计量方法探析

基于旅游业生态环境保护与经济效益的协同发展,针对我国旅游业生态计量方法上的欠缺,引入欧盟适合生态计量的Cloverleaf方法。在介绍Cloverleaf方法各个理论组成部分,分析该方法在旅游业的具体应用,并运用Cloverleaf方法对意大利的Ponza可持续发展的整体状况加以评估。结合案例研究,表明该方法是一种具有广泛应用前景的常规方法,为旅游业的生态计量提供理论与实践的参考。     

The European contribution to global environmental governance

The European Union has become an increasingly central player in international environmental politics. Its role, especially as a protagonist to the United States, has been highlighted by the way in which it successfully led the campaign for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. The 2005 UK presidency has made climate change one of its twin priorities along with African development, and it is with this in mind that the article discusses the way in which the Union can be considered an international environmental actor in its own right and the various contributions that it makes to global environmental governance. While the EU is well known as a trade actor the complexities of its role as an environmental actor, operating under shared competence between the member states and the Community, are less well understood. Despite the inherent difficulties it has been surprisingly effective, although in areas such as climate change there is a need for strong presidential leadership.
The EU's most evident field of activity has concerned the many multilateral environmental agreements in which it has come to play a leading role. However, this does not exhaust its contribution to global environmental governance that extends to the dissemination of norms and the incorporation of partners in its accession and neighbourhood policies. Sustainable development is also a key area of internal and external Union endeavour at the WTO and elsewhere, although there are continuing contradictions arising from its agricultural and fisheries policies. Finally, the Union's credibility will rest upon its ability to implement its environmental commitments and this is nowhere more evident than in its new emissions trading system. This is the centrepiece of the EU's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and it is the need to co-ordinate the Union's diplomacy in the extension of the climate change regime, to include the United States and the developing countries, that the UK presidency must address.     

Human environmental interactions in Upper Lapland,Finland: Development of participatory research strategies

The paper outlines strategies for participatory research by comparing the results of a participatory workshop on research needs in human‐environmental interaction in Finnish Lapland with an analysis of official Finnish policy documents on the same subject. The workshop was organized in Anár/Inari, Finland in October 1997 as part of the Human Environmental Interactions theme (HEI) of the European Commission's Arctic‐Alpine Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Initiative (ARTERI). The mandate of ARTERI was to develop research themes and encourage their implementation to allow for discussions among local residents, natural and social scientists, and policy‐makers concerned with environmental protection and management in arctic and alpine regions of Europe. The objective of the Anár/Inari workshop was to discuss central issues of human‐environmental interaction in the region in a participatory mode with local interest groups, generate alternative scenarios for the region, and develop research and development project proposals on the basis of the scenarios. The paper discusses the scenarios and the project proposals that the workshop developed, and compares them with official Finnish policies on forestry and reindeer management in Lapland. From methodological and theoretical perspectives, the workshop was a unique empirical setting within which to investigate the dynamic interaction between traditional and modern knowledge sets on human‐environmental interaction. From the policy perspective, the comparison of workshop recommendations and official policies offers valuable indications for future directions in participatory policy‐making in the region and novel ways of balancing the conflicting demands on environmental resources, such as reindeer management, forestry, and tourism.     

The impacts of spatial planning on the sustainable territorial development of the Rhine-Danube Trans-European Transport Corridor through Serbia

The Danube River is both the international waterway E-80 and the Rhine-Danube Core Network Corridor of nine European corridors in the trans-European transport network, and it is the core area of the most significant Danubian development axis in the Republic of Serbia. The present research focus of this paper is the integrated impact of spatial planning on achieving the sustainable territorial development of the Rhine-Danube Corridor through Serbia and its potential transboundary impact. Integrated assessment (environmental and social), based on the combined application of the standard strategic environmental assessment (SEA) method and the newly presented adapted strategic environmental assessment (ASEA) method, has made it possible to predict the effects of future activities on the sustainable territorial development of the waterway corridor, not only in Serbia, but also in other Danubian countries. The applied combination of the SEA and ASEA methods is presented in the form of key planning solutions in three selected sectors: international inland waterway, water management infrastructure and tourism. The results indicate that the negative impacts of potential conflicts between the planning solutions are far greater than the negative impacts of individual planning solutions, and that it is more difficult to control and mitigate or neutralize them.     

断石村社区旅游:契约主导型社区参与及其增权意义

以广东丹霞山断石村为例,通过田野调查分析旅游发展成熟阶段,非少数民族、景区依附型乡村社区旅游参与模式及其增权途径。研究发现,断石村在依靠丹霞山景区参与旅游发展的历程中,自下而上地自主构建了基于契约平等观的民主村治制度、土地征租制度和利益分配制度,并基于契约信守观自主执行了这些制度,有效的控制和化解了外部干预和内部冲突,确保了村民真正参与到旅游决策、管理、经营和利益分配等各个环节,基本实现了政治、经济、心理和社会增权,为我国社区旅游实践提供了一种具有典型意义的"契约主导型社区增权模式"。研究指出,断石村自我增权是嵌入于社区外部的和内部的双重制度环境下的行动结果,如何改革和完善现有制度以强化制度的强制性和制裁性,构建旨在促进社会增权的新制度,是其实现可持续发展需要解决的问题。