Læringsutbytte

The students will have knowledge about:

• Practical elements of the planning and management of ecotourism destinations, businesses and products.
• Case studies demonstrating the practical challenges surrounding the concept of ecotourism
• The efforts that are done to meet and handle the challenges of ecotourism development through management and certification systems and guidelines.

The students will have skills in:

• Practical work with the development and management of ecotourism, achieved by a field study in Norway or abroad.
• Balancing the focus and achievements in issues like environmental awareness, sustainability, social and cultural responsibility and economic gains.

The students will have general competence in:

• The practical challenges that appear in the context of responsible and sustainable tourism, and in relation to tourism development in general.
• The ability to be realistic in this sense of balancing the profit making with cultural, social and ecological concerns.

Innhold

Main themes:

• The development of and present status with regard to systems for ecotourism certification
• Ecotourism project and development methods
• Practical case studies
• Field work
• Current and future challenges when implementing ecotourism proposals and ideas into the "real world"

Arbeids- og læringsformer

Lectures with active use of group work, student presentations, and seminars. One guest lecture will be arranged. Individual students will carry out field studies and make reports from this related to practical development and management of future tourism. The students will present an outline of the progress in their planning of the assignment they have chosen for their field study.

Vurderingsformer

Assessment is divided into two parts. The first part, an individual field study report with a mandatory supervision, will form 70 % of the final grade. The other 30 % will be based on a 3 hour final written examination. Both parts must be passed in order for the student to receive a passing grade for the course as a whole.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean

Det tas forbehold om mindre justeringer i planen.