Call for Papers – Volume 1

We invite whoever is interested in Public Archaeology issues to submit papers on any topic concerned with the relationship between archaeology and the wider world, as well as papers related to our Topic of the year.

Topic of The Year

Our Topic of the year for 2018 is The Sublime Triangle – Archaeology, sustainable tourism and development.

In geometry, a sublime triangle is an isosceles triangle in which the duplicated side is in the golden ratio to the distinct side. Is it possible to imagine a golden ratio between sustainable tourism and development, in relation to archaeology? Is it possible to combine the need to safeguard archaeological areas and the environment, with the demand of the tourism industry, while promoting a sustainable economic and social development?

The global tourism industry currently moves 1,2 billion people, and the World Tourism Organization reports that in 2030 tourists will be almost two billion. Today, the business volume of tourism – US$ 1.5 trillion in export earnings in 2015 – equals and even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles, making this industry one of the major players in ‎international commerce. However, overcrowding in several important tourism destinations and a high environmental impact are changing the perception of the benefits of mass tourism, and highlight the necessity of a change in attitudes.

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In the context of the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations 70th General Assembly has designated 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The scope is to raise awareness of the need for the tourism industry to move towards a sustainable model, and to highlight the contribution of sustainable tourism to development among public and private sector decision-makers and the public.

The #IY2017 will promote tourism’s role in five key areas. The fourth area relates to cultural values, diversity and heritage with the following aims:

  • revive traditional activities and customs;
  • empower communities and nurture pride within them;
  • promote cultural diversity;
  • raise awareness of the value of heritage.

Although these are among the main issues currently debated in public and community archaeology arenas, the relationship between archaeology, sustainable tourism and development still needs to be examined in depth.

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How to promote a broad stakeholders’ engagement in the planning, development and management of sustainable tourism in archaeological areas? What kind of policies, strategies, frameworks and tools should be advocated in order to support sustainable tourism? How to provide stakeholders with the capacity and the tools to manage tourism efficiently, responsibly and sustainably, based on the local context and needs? How can we promote quality archaeology tourism?

We are interested in any paper that shows how and why archaeological areas, museums and other cultural institutions choose to move towards a sustainable tourism and development model, how they develop strategies for managing archaeological heritage for tourism considering the risks and opportunities of archaeological tourism, and how they manage a dialogue with stakeholders while planning tourism and heritage management so that natural and cultural assets are both valued and protected.

We accept papers that analyse the relationship between archaeology, sustainable tourism and development, and propose models and ideas that arise out of concrete experiences. That is, papers should describe how local contexts have answered the above mentioned questions, and measure and analyse the impact of their actions based on sound theory and methodology. They should then draw conclusions beyond the individual case study, and critically discuss applicability and repeatability in the context of archaeology today.

Reading Corner

  • Gould, P. & Pyburn, K. A. 2017. Collision or Collaboration. Archaeology Encounters Economic Development, Springer. New York. (http://bit.ly/2mLpWj5)
  • Mowforth, M. & Munt, I. 2015. Tourism and Sustainability: Development, globalisation and new tourism in the Third World. Routledge, Abingdon.
  • Pace, A. 2012. From Heritage to Stewardship: Defining the Sustainable Care of Archaeological Places. In The Oxford Handbook of Public Archaeology, pp. 275–295. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Timothy, D.J. 2014. Contemporary Cultural Heritage and Tourism Development Issues and Emerging Trends. Public Archaeology 13(1–3): pp. 30–47. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/1465518714Z.00000000052
  • World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). 2005. Making Tourism More Sustainable – A Guide for Policy Makers. Paris-Madrid: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Available at: http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284408214.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme website: http://whc.unesco.org/en/tourism/
  • Ministero italiano dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Piano strategico di sviluppo del turismo 2017-2022: http://www.pst.beniculturali.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PST_2017_IT_final.pdf