This chapter discusses and problematizes the idea of empowerment as a condition for just tourism governance. Namely, the chapter proposes a forward-looking notion of tourism governance that integrates and connects justice and resident empowerment. Moreover, the chapter argues that the principle of empowerment must reach beyond the political realm and embrace empowerment's economic, social, environmental, and psychological domains. To that end, we first define what just tourism governance entails through the lens of Fraser's (2008) tripartite justice framework (distribution, recognition, and representation) and position empowerment as an essential component of just tourism governance. Then, we explore interdependencies between just governance and resident empowerment and how a multidimensional understanding and application of empowerment fulfill the principle of just tourism governance.

The article discusses ecological solidarity as a particular case of relational value focused on rivers. So far, theoretical considerations present in the literature have not been supported by empirical research findings. This article contributes to the development of environmental sociology by empirically examining the manifestations of ecological solidarity as a relational value, by verifying the existing theoretical assumptions about it, as well as by outlining the directions for this concept’s further operationalization in social research. To achieve these objectives, the study employs in-depth interviews conducted with individuals actively involved in river conservation efforts. Our findings suggest that the three dimensions of ecological solidarity are interdependent. Together, they motivate individuals to act for the rivers’ benefit. Understanding the specific characteristics of contemporary human-river relationships and the factors shaping them seems to be crucial for designing adequate solutions to the problems affecting river ecosystems in Poland.

Artykuł podejmuje problematykę solidarności ekologicznej jako przejawu wartości relacyjnej z rzekami. Obecne w literaturze rozważania teoretyczne nie zostały dotąd poparte wynikami badań empirycznych. Wkładem pracy w rozwój socjologii środowiska jest zatem empiryczne zbadanie przejawów solidarności ekologicznej jako wartości relacyjnej oraz weryfikacja założeń teoretycznych na jej temat, a także wytyczenie kierunków dalszej operacjonalizacji tego pojęcia w badaniach społecznych. Podstawą osiągnięcia wskazanego celu było przeprowadzenie eksploracyjnych wywiadów jakościowych z osobami zaangażowanymi w działania na rzecz rzek w Polsce. Wyniki badań pokazują, że wskazane w literaturze trzy wymiary solidarności ekologicznej są współzależne, a wspólnie mogą motywować do działania na rzecz rzek. Zrozumienie współczesnego charakteru relacji człowieka z rzekami oraz czynników kształtujących te relacje wydaje się kluczowe dla projektowania adekwatnych rozwiązań problemów dotykających ekosystemy rzeczne w Polsce.

Cultural heritage sites act as gateways to the past and provide a unique opportunity for observation and education. However, the increasing need for authentic historical experiences creates significant obstacles to the development of tourism destinations that lack sufficient infrastructure and management capabilities. Increased pressure often threatens the long-term sustainability of these sites, thus shifting the responsibility of conservation to residents and tourists. Promoting the responsible management and care of local historic sites to visitors is essential to ensure their long-term viability. Visitors' fascination with a particular heritage can create a sense of commitment to the preservation of the place. This research investigates the correlation between visitors' fascination, emotional connection to the place, and their sense of responsibility and stewardship behaviour for the Khaled Nabi site in Iran, using place attachment (PA), and attention restoration (ART) theories. The results emphasise the emotional and psychological processes that motivate visitors to participate in place stewardship, providing valuable insights for devising efficient measures to decrease the adverse effects of tourists on cultural assets.

Rivers function as natural settings, bringing people together with various activities in the surrounding area. While the literature has overlooked the emotional values and wellbeing connection associated with rivers, knowing how the rivers are perceived by visitors and how the use of rivers has changed during the pandemic can assist decision-making for land use policies and planning. On the other hand, social media, assisting in articulating visitation patterns and moods proximate to the river, provides unprecedented insight to better macro- manage these areas. In this study, we employed Machine Learning to conduct a content analysis for rivers of Poland to expose User-Generated Content (UGC) through the visitors’ lens. We aim at understanding an essential cultural hegemony, the patterns of visits, and the moods of visitors. We further compared the results with the Covid-19 daily infections. The findings suggest an increased pressure on rivers during the pandemic, specifically at the time of the lowest sentiments. Our results may help in articulating patterns and moods proximate to the river that provide unprecedented practical insight and illuminate the path for further research proposals

Empowerment can generally be thought of as individuals’ or groups’ capacity to determine their own affairs. Notions of empowerment originate from the community psychology literature. For over two decades, tourism researchers have investigated when destination residents are empowered through tourism and what that means within the context of tourism development. Consequentially, resident empowerment has been increasingly recognised as an integral component of sustainable tourism. Successful tourism development is more likely to be achieved when residents’ perspective is recognised and represented in the development process. Thus, since sustainability in tourism starts with residents’ needs, concerns, and welfare, tourism must strive to empower residents before other benefits can occur.

Restoration of keystone species, such as large herbivores, is crucial in repairing natural process in ecosystems and responding to the global biodiversity loss. These efforts however face many ecological, social and political challenges. In the context of the on-going update of the IUCN European Bison Action Plan this paper examines conservation discourses that are crucial for understanding challenges and opportunities in bison reintroduction and species restoration in general. The European bison was almost exterminated before many organizations’ efforts to save it in the 20th century. Although the history of bison has been a conservation success story, currently there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to accommodate its growing population on the densely populated continent. There are numerous points of disagreements among bison conservationists, such as the degree of human intervention, ethical consideration regarding hunting, the uses of various types of knowledge in decision-making, and finding conflict-free spaces for bison in contemporary European landscapes. This study systematically explores the various perspectives of experts from 18 countries regarding the priorities for European bison conservation. To this end, we applied Q-method online survey targeting scientists and wildlife managers. We identified three perspectives on the bison conservation: ‘participatory conservation of an iconic species’, ‘stewardship and control of vulnerable bison’, and ‘hands-off approach for restoring bison ecology’. The identified discourses show how bison conservation is evolving from traditional conservation narratives based on distinction between intrinsic and instrumental values towards innovative ideas inspired by rewilding narratives. However, the dilemmas of human-bison coexistence remain.

This study investigates the complex relationship between residents and national parks in a top nature-based destination, Poland's Tatra and Podhale region. Utilizing a door-to-door survey of 511 respondents from 26 towns around Tatra National Park (TNP), the research employs two-step structural equation modeling and fsQCA to analyze how place attachment and preferences for nature protection strategies interact. Contrary to the widely held view that tourism development positively influences attitudes toward national parks, we found tourism growth in the communities surrounding TNP impacts how these communities relate to the protected area. The study concludes that for TNP to gain broader community support, it is crucial to convey to residents their essential role as a tourism asset. This finding has wider implications for how national parks and adjacent communities can coexist harmoniously in areas experiencing rapid tourism expansion.

Renewable energy technologies are expanding in rural landscapes, where they are changing the character and meaning of place. This study explores the experience of living and recreating in proximity to landscapes undergoing this development, namely in a Swedish municipality where a major wind park is located. Using place attachment, it addresses how people construct meaning around places of everyday life through stories of their experience of place. Results show that individuals form coherent narratives of the past, present and future of places undergoing transformation. Stories of experiences of renewable energy technology and their impact on landscape relate to persisting feelings of rootedness, changing land-use activities and hope for a sustainable future. Place attachments are a form of social action as their formulation enables people to deal with change and embrace discourses of sustainability. Results highlight the discourses and practices that rural dwellers adopt in the wake of renewable energy transitions.

This paper offers a novel context-based resilience model to identify and discuss the sources of the resilience of event ecosystems during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the study employs a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) approach to study how event ecosystems have evolved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Special attention is given to their adaptability and transformability capacities. Understanding how event ecosystems change under unexpected circumstances will promote solutions that strengthen the sector’s resilience in a global pandemic and the post-pandemic reality. Therefore, the research contributes twofold to the existing literature on event crisis management. First, it proposes a context-based event ecosystem resilience framework (CEER) to enable a more comprehensive understanding of what makes event ecosystems resilient and responsive to the changing environment in which they operate. Second, it takes on a challenge to conduct an empirical investigation of various aspects of the CEER model in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The chapter identifies several themes that are potentially significant in future research on Gen Z and sustainable tourism consumption. The need for cross-generational and cross-cultural research is identified, especially in a longitudinal context. It is also noted that the majority of research is undertaken in the developed world and the authors highlight the need for research in less developed countries. Future research themes that appear to offer useful possibilities include the Muslim Gen Z travel market; female travellers, especially solo tourists; the relationship between Gen Z and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and Gen Z and political consumerism and social activism. The chapter concludes by noting that the relationship between Gen Z and sustainable consumption is much more nuanced than what is often portrayed, especially with respect to the attitude-behaviour gap, comparisons with the pro-environmental behaviours of other generations, and tourism consumption practices.