Co-designing tourism for sustainable development

This paper addresses the need to transform tourism practices with others. Its contribution is a critical conceptualization of how collaborative tourism design can facilitate sustainable transformation. Recognizing SDG #17 to “Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development” we argue that collaboration–not only partnerships and cooperation–should be a central tenet for intentional change. Collaboration rests on the hypothesis that the sum is more than its individual parts. We introduce how the collaborative design (co-design) of tourism contributes a unique range of processes, methods, tools and notably an attitude of mind that enables its practitioners to, with others, explore, reveal, encompass and address issues and nuances in an overall sustainable tourism co-design process. This understanding deliberately challenges the notion that a sustainable development process can be planned and micro-managed with pre-determined outcomes. Examples from Denmark and Norway illustrate how sustainable tourism co-design intentionally aims to transform human relations, encourage stewardship and demonstrate how such a practice does not reach for quick-fix solutions. Findings indicate that we have yet to realize the power of collaboration, stewardship and “other-regarding” ethics to guide actions underpinning SDG#17 for more sustainable and resourceful futures.