Scientific tourism and changing mountain environments
15The thesis Le tourisme scientifique pour participer à la réinvention des Alpes : quand la dialectique tourisme et science participe à accompagner la mutation des environnements montagnards (Scientific tourism as part of the reinvention of the Alps: when the dialectic of tourism and science helps to accompany the mutation of mountain environments ) questions the different practices of scientific tourism in mountain territories. It proposes an updated reading of the triptych mountain, tourism and science in a changing socio-cultural and climatic context.
© Bertrand Bodin
Scientific tourism encompasses all forms of tourism involving the transfer and/or production of scientific knowledge. Four main forms have been identified: adventure tourism with a scientific dimension; ecotourism with scientific mediation; scientific eco-volunteering; and researchers developing research protocols in the field. These forms are not set in stone, and can hybridize with one another.
The current context of climatic and socio-cultural change calls for a rethinking of tourism practices as a whole. Scientific tourism is a means of raising awareness of contemporary global environmental issues among a variety of audiences.
Mountains stand out as privileged spaces for this work. Combining tourist discoveries and research, they are scientific and geographical objects. In addition to their appeal to explorers, mountains are the backdrop for ancestral tales and myths, as well as various practices that make them a social construct.
These areas are particularly hard hit by climate and socio-cultural changes, and must therefore see their tourism practices reinvented. In this respect, mountains stand out as both a playground and a laboratory for scientific tourism.
Thesis Ecrins Monts d'Ardèche Culture and heritage Natural areas, resources and biodiversity Tourism and recreational practices
Coordination
Yannick Vialette
Pacte (UGA)