Up in the Air: The Icarus Foundation Blog

First Online Student Symposium on Tourism and Climate Change Announced

The Icarus Foundation has announced they will host a one-day online student symposium on tourism and climate change in spring, 2010.  The conference will be student led with student content.  Participants in the forum will include tourism industry representatives, university and college students and faculty members and The Icarus Foundation.  Confirmed sponsors so far include Intrepid Travel, i-to-i and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Originally planned to include the Canadian institutions only, initial response has included a great deal of interest from American students and institutions, so the Foundation recently decided to widen the scope to be North American focused.

Scheduled for March 29,2010, students will present and discuss project work that explore the issues and possible solutions surrounding climate change and tourism. Through interactive presentations, including aspects of video, audio, and text, students will foster discussion on the next steps needed for the industry to move forward meaningfully. 

Recent years have seen an increase in research on tourism and climate change amongst academics.  Additionally, dialogue on climate change amongst the tourism industry has also increased.  The goal of this symposium is to connect students to industry in North America on the topic of climate change.  This project is very timely given the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) scheduled for December of this year.

Contrary to existing research and dialogue, there is little action amongst the tourism industry to mitigate the negative impacts of tourism and few research studies or projects exist that provide actionable tools through which industry can easily learn.  As students will be the leaders of tomorrow and move into leadership positions within the hospitality and tourism industry, it is important that they have the opportunity to share information and engage in dialogue.

Students, speak with your faculty member to ensure that your university or college is participating! For more information on participating in or sponsoring this event please contact aousmand @ theicarusfoundation.com, or go to www.theicarusfoundation.com

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An Invitation to The World From

The Invitation starts quite simply as, "Dear World..."

When - Saturday October 24. What - The International Day of Climate Action. Where - Everywhere    

Expert climatologist—NASA’s James Hansen—and his team showed in recent studies that if we let the amount of carbon in the atmosphere go above 350 parts per million, then no longer can we have a planet “similar to the one on which civilization developed and to which life on earth is adapted.”

Currently we are at 390 parts per million.  And we are seeing the impacts, Arctic melt, massive drought, changing weather patters.  Scientists warn that we are dangerously close to the tipping point and in order to avoid run-away global warming, emission levels must begin to fall no later than 2016.  But first, we need a  new global treaty to be in effect the moment the first phase of Kyoto ends at the end of 2012.  That’s what the 15th Convention of the Parties in Copenhagen is all about.

The International Day of Climate Action is a day of action.  To date more than 150 nations are participating, Canadians Sheila Watt-Cloutier and David Suzuki are joining dozens on internationally recognized explorers, scientists, activists and authors to send a message to our world leaders that they want results from Copenhagen. 

To find an event near you check out http://www.350.org/, and we'll see you this Saturday!

The Icarus Team

 

2007 Speaking Events

Icarus People are on the move - unfortunately having to burn carbon while getting the word out that climate change requires urgent attention, focus and creativity. Over the past two weeks, we've contributed to the UNWTO Second International Conference on Climate Change and Tourism in Davos and Dr. Rachel Dodds, Director, Sustaining Tourism and Assistant Professor, Ryerson University and co-Founder of The Icarus Foundation spoke at the Ontario Tourism Summit on Oct 4th on challenges and opportunities associated with climate change.

October 16th. The Royal Aerosociety of Great Britain is putting on another landmark Greener By Design conference in London on October 16th and Dr. Rachel Dodds will be attending. The Conference called Aviation and Environment, State of Play. Hopefully, the conference will cast more light on the gap between the aviation industry and some environmental NGOs regarding the relative importance of aviation's contribution to greenhouse gases today and in the future. The lead author of the IPCC Working Group III report, Climate and Economiy, Society and Nature, Ron Wit will present, along with Tony Juniper from Friends of the Eartth and Bart Boon, from CE Delft,  the aviation consultants that have done considerable work on the European Trading Standards scheme. Greener by Design was formed by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), British Air Tramsports Association (BATA), the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), and Society of British Aeropace Companies (SBAC).

October 17th.The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Australia Tourism Export Council (ATEC) are hosting an invitation only event of senior industry leaders in Sydney, October 17th-18th under the theme Travel Directions and Distribution: A New Paradigm. Anna Pollock is keynote speaker, opening the conference and setting the tone. She will show the connection between trends, drivers and paradigms and suggest that, as "the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment," what's really needed is a change of mindset or paradigm. But do we know what the means? Ecological thinking needs to be applied to every aspect of tourism if this industry is to survive in the future.

November 7th. The BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association of British Columbia is holding its Tourism Issues Forum in Richmond, British Columbia under the title: Climate Change is it On Your Radar? and Anna Pollock is keynote speaker. David Butler, Director Land Resources for Canadian Mountain Holidays, and co-founder of the BC Sustainable Tourism Collective, will also present practical case studies of operators who are acting responsibly.

November 22nd. Baxter Travel Media is the host of Canada's first ever conference on responsible tourism. This one day forum will address climate change, sustainable tourism best practices, corporate social responsibility and emerging green travel trends. Icarus will be there en force and en masse! Jacqueline Kuehnel, formerly VP at Signature Vacations and now a carbon management expert representing The Carbon Neutral Company ,  organised this event with assistance from Drs. Rachel Dodds and Sonya Graci (Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Ryerson Univerisity) who are speaking. Daniel Scott, Canada Research Chair in Global Change and Tourism, Department of Geography, Univerity of Waterloo,  who recently completed the first ever report on climate change and tourism for UNWTO (obtain here) is keynote speaker along with Anna Pollock, co-founder of Icarus, author of this blog, and President of DestiCorp. Considerable industry participation is also encouraging: Gap Adventures, First Choice Holidays, Hotel Association of Canada, Air Transport Council of Canada, TIAC and Pinchin Environmental will also share their experiences and views on acting responsibly.

November 26th. The BC Aviation Council has made Aviation and Global Sustainability the theme of their 69th Annual Conference in Vancouver on November 25th and 26th. Icarus co-founder, Joe Kelly, head of Environmental Practice at InterVISTAS Consulting helped design the agenda and will be speaking along with Anna Pollock and an assembly of highly qualified speakers including Dr. Marc Jaccard, Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental management, SFU  and author of the book: The Cost of Environmental Policy and former Premier of BC: The Hon Mike Harcourt.