BEST Education Network
| Non-Profit | |
| Industry | Travel & Tourism |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Austria |
|
Key people
|
Dagmar Lund-Durlacher (Chair) Tina Tiller (Secretary) |
| Website | www |
BEST Education Network (BEST-EN), headquartered at Modul University Vienna, Austria is an international consortium of educators committed to furthering the development and dissemination of knowledge in the field of Sustainable tourism.
The BEST Education Network emerged from a broader initiative known as Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel, which was founded in 1998. The primary objective of BEST was to develop and disseminate knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism. In 2003 BEST went through organisational changes and the group overseeing the educational and curriculum aspects of the organisation became independent and renamed itself the BEST Education Network.
The BEST Education Network is coordinated by an international Executive Committee of academics with expertise in sustainable tourism. The committee is currently chaired by Dr. Janne Liburd. The executive committee is supported by an International Advisory Committee of senior tourism academics.
BEST-EN holds annual Think Tanks at various universities around the world, during which research is presented, sustainable tourism topics are discussed, and curriculum modules for undergraduates are developed. Research and module development sessions enable delegates to discuss the theme for each Think Tank in relation to learning objectives and a research agenda. The BEST Think Tanks draw together educators, researchers, consultants and practitioners from the tourism industry. Their knowledge and experience are incorporated into the design of various topic curriculum modules on sustainable tourism for use in university curricula worldwide so that future managers will have the skill and knowledge needed to manage tourism in a sustainable manner.
The Think Tanks are typically held at a university where sustainable tourism is taught and researched. They consist of research presentations, keynote speakers, a research agenda, and curriculum development sessions. Each year the Think Tank has a particular theme and seeks to provide vision and cutting-edge insight to the topic at hand. Past themes have included:
Each Think Tank provides an opportunity for researchers to present their work. A Call for Papers goes out at the end of the previous year and papers are invited and then blind reviewed by an academic review committee. Key experts in the field are also invited as keynote speakers to share their knowledge on topics related to the overall theme of the Think Tank. The Think Tanks are open to academics, educators, researchers, government officials, industry experts, sustainability experts, environmental, economic, community and cultural experts in the tourism field.
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Wikipedia