The BEST Education Network emerged from a broader initiative known as Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel, which was founded in 1998. The primary objective of BEST was to develop and disseminate knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism. In 2003 BEST went through organisational changes and the group overseeing the educational and curriculum aspects of the organisation became independent and renamed itself the BEST Education Network.
Structure
The BEST Education Network is coordinated by an international Executive Committee of academics with expertise in sustainable tourism. The committee is currently chaired by Dr. Gianna Moscardo.
Think Tanks
BEST-EN holds annual Think Tanks at various universities around the world, during which research is presented, sustainable tourism topics are discussed, and resources for teaching and practice in sustainable tourism are developed. The BEST Think Tanks draw together educators, researchers, consultants and practitioners from the tourism industry. Their knowledge and experience are incorporated into the design of various resources on sustainable tourism including research agendas, identification of issues, current research and implications for practice. The Think Tanks consist of research presentations, keynote speakers, a research agenda, and curriculum development sessions. Each year the Think Tank has a particular theme and seeks to provide vision and cutting-edge insight to the topic at hand. Past themes have included:
Think Tank V: Managing Risk and Crisis for Sustainable Tourism: Research and Innovation, The University of West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica
Think Tank IV: Sustainability and Mass Destinations: Challenges and Possibilities, The University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Think Tank III: Strategic Management and Events & Meeting Management, Costa Rica
Think Tank II: Tourism Transportation and Tourism Operations, University of Hawaii, USA
Think Tank I: Tourism Marketing, Tourism Planning, and Development and Human Resources Management, South Africa
The Think Tanks are open to academics, educators, researchers, government officials, industry experts, sustainability experts, environmental, economic, community and cultural experts in the tourism field. Each Think Tank provides an opportunity for participants to highlight and explore topics that are of significance to the practice of tourism and/or sustainability. Interested delegates are invited to participate in workshops to identify 'hot topics' in sustainable tourism, outlining the specific problems linked to these topics, exploring the types of approaches that can be taken to develop 'cutting edge' research and solutions in these areas, and discussion of implications for stakeholder decision making and policy makers.
Education
In 2007, BEST EN launched the Tourism Education Futures Initiative, which seeks to provide vision, knowledge and a framework for tourism education programs to promote global citizenship and optimism for a better world. An important outcome of the TEFI process is a set of five values-based principles that tourism students should embody upon graduation to become responsible leaders and stewards for the destinations where they work or live. The five value sets are: 1. Ethics, 2. Stewardship, 3. Knowledge, 4. Professionalism and 5. Mutuality, and are portrayed as interlocking Value Principles because of their interconnectedness and their permeability. BEST EN has also been involved in the development of the platform. INNOTOUR is a WEB 2.0 platform for education, research and business development in tourism and is an experimental meeting place for academics, students and enterprises. Launched in 2009, INNOTOUR is based on content created by the users. The platform is designed to facilitate international interaction and knowledge dissemination between students. New educational and scientific collaborative practices are developed to build interdisciplinary bridges between international campuses.
