The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of how tourism shapes residents' perceptions of justice in conservation policymaking. By weaving together Weber's theory of formal and substantive rationality with spillover logic, the paper offers a richer conceptualization of how the economic and non-economic benefits of tourism such as empowerment can be harnessed to improve perceptions of justice in conservation policies. We employ partial least squares structural equation modeling (SMART-PLS) on a dataset of 1,312 usable questionnaires from rural Polish residents living nearby Natura 2000 areas, to examine whether economic benefits and non-economic benefits (psychological, social, and political empowerment) derived from rural nature-based tourism, improve residents' perceptions of Natura 2000 conservation justice within distributive and participatory domains. Both economic and non-economic benefits influence perceived Natura 2000 justice within the distributive domain. However, results show that perceived economic benefits from rural nature-based tourism had no effect on how rural residents perceived participation justice in Natura 2000. In contrast, non-economic benefits associated with empowerment all influenced perceptions of participation justice. Results suggest conservation practitioners and tourism managers can leverage the empowering benefits of rural nature-based tourism to influence resident perceptions of justice in conservation policies.

This study offers a better understanding of how post-mining communities emotionally connect to local places they lost and how emotions guide everyday heritage making related to those places' past, present, and future. Our empirical case focuses on the disappearance of the Szto & lstrok;a, a small river in Bukowno, located in the Ma & lstrok;opolska region of Poland. Using place attachment theory, everyday heritage and solastalgia as an integrated analytical lens, we draw on interviews and analysis of social media. We find that grief, nostalgia, and hope are central to how people experience and narrate place loss. Nostalgia for childhood memories and riverside leisure reinforces attachments, while grief over the river's loss materializes in collective mourning rituals that sustain its presence in local memory. At the same time, hope and uncertainty animate future imaginaries, revealing heritage as not only preservation of the past but also emotional investment in what might emerge. Our findings advance the understanding of emotional engagements as active forces in heritage-making, particularly within disrupted landscapes. We argue that environmental policies must move beyond material preservation to recognize emotional attachments as critical for navigating environmental change. Incorporating these dimensions into participatory landscape planning can support more inclusive, future-oriented responses to environmental change.

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.

Frequently labeled the "greenest generation," research often portrays Generation Z (Gen Z) as a generation with strong pro-sustainability sensibilities. However, closer scrutiny exposes a disconnect between their stated intentions and actual behavior. This editorial reflection draws on the contributions to the Special Issue "Gen Z: The Sustainable Tourism Generation?" and a critical scoping review to question whether Gen Z can genuinely support a shift toward sustainable tourism. The studies in this issue address themes such as pro-environmental behavior, political consumerism, ethical choices, food waste, and psychological ownership of destinations. Overall, they demonstrate a fragmented body of work, split between those who argue for Gen Z's deep engagement with sustainability and others who highlight inconsistencies. By synthesizing insights from the special issue and mapping them against broader trends in the literature, this editorial argues that current scholarship risks overstating the coherence of Gen Z's sustainability orientation. It urges researchers to interrogate the structural, cultural, and psychological barriers that mediate the translation of values into action. Finally, it outlines a future research agenda that calls for greater theoretical clarity, comparative and longitudinal designs, and a move beyond celebratory narratives, to better understand Gen Z's actual role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals within tourism and beyond.

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.

Sweden's rural coastal communities face challenges in building wellbeing and resilience amidst economic disparities and limited job opportunities. However, a growing trend of rural tourism has emerged, revitalizing these areas, and preserving local culture and gastronomic products. Farm shops have become integral to this revitalization, providing locally produced goods and authentic regional experiences while supporting local farmers. This study explores how local farm shops leverage neolocalism to enhance rural community wellbeing on the southeast coast of Sweden. Rural visitors increasingly seek authentic connections through local food experiences, contributing to a sense of identity and belonging in rural spaces. Using a case study approach in Kalmar Län, Sweden, interviews with farm shop owners reveal key themes: cooperation, providing unique offers, becoming spaces for social interaction, and emphasizing the benefits of local produce. Farm shops act as networks of cooperation, enhancing economic viability and social cohesion. Unique offerings instill pride in residents, while social interaction fosters connections and boosts happiness. Emphasizing local produce benefits both consumers and local communities, supporting economic growth and sustainability.

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.