Vision and Goals
A major concern relating to tourism is its relationship with the natural environment. Since many tourism and leisure activities rely on the environment for their success, it is imperative to understand the connections between those activities and environmental processes. The Institute has the capability to examine these connections by integrating social, cultural and economic domains with a scientific basis for the understanding of environmental processes and trends. This includes the projection of the impacts of predicted climate change on tourism capacity in areas sensitive to climatic change, and its associated feedback into areas such as sea-level rise and bio-diversity.

Operating Principles
To foster interdisciplinary research and consultancy, drawing together expertise from the natural and social sciences, from within the Institute, as well as utilising long-established external partnerships. Outputs from the Institute are rooted within extensive research activity.

Main Constituencies
The Institute’s work on the environment and sustainable development is based upon local, regional, national and international experience, and has involved working with, for example, colleagues in other HE institutions, local councils and NGOs, as well as participating on international research projects involving government institutions and other universities.

Expertise Offered/Provided
The Institute can provide a scientific assessment of the relationships between tourism and leisure activities, and environmental/ecological processes and responses.

Recent and current activities

Current research includes:
 
• investigating the relationship between shoreline management;

• use of the coastal zone and impacts of sea-level rise; 

• examination of the environmental context of past events that contributed to the current heritage resource; 

• coastal ecology and tourist activity interaction;

• Studies of world heritage sites: A consideration of the potential for nature conservation via cultural conservation. 
 
 
Our plans for the future?
We aim to be at the forefront of research and consultancy into the relationship between the natural environment and tourism. From this we can provide informed policy strategies for tourism that conform to sustainability principles. 
 
For more details of projects in this area go to projects.