Jan 19, 20233 min
Updated: Apr 23, 2023
A key challenge that keeps coming up in our conversations about shifting towards a regenerative approach in tourism is the need for a change at two levels: a shift in mindsets and wholesale cultural change within both industry and public policy. This mindset shift involves (1) working to evolve individual worldviews and (2) working collectively to move beyond the paradigms that condition our thinking. This shift requires that, firstly, we identify and work with the wormholes of change in our own spheres of influence, and secondly, to work collectively in service of a living systems worldview.
A wormhole is a tunnel-like connection through space-time. It's a theoretical construct from physics, but it has become a metaphor denoting the connections that can be made between disparate points wherein a new way of seeing and doing is possible. Used in the context of a regenerative approach to tourism, it's all about connecting and building bridges between ideas and actions that can, in turn, help address the cascading effects of the polycrisis we face, i.e. climate change, biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, climate-induced migration, economic disruption and so on.
To understand and address this polycrisis, it has become clear we need new thinking, new systems, and new practices, including the capacity for:
Complex systems thinking
Connecting dots, building bridges between disparate ideas and their interactions
Building awareness of that which we do not know or understand
Understanding how our minds have been previously conditioned
The courage to step beyond our comfort zones
Becoming attuned to how we react/respond to what we do not understand
Being comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty and change.
In this post, we deconstruct the big narrative about regenerative approaches in tourism, and identify the shifts and changes we are already nurturing in practice and in those of others working in a similar space. In order to avoid the fear, angst, and resistance that is often triggered when talking about big systems change, we share with you what it means in small conversations and practices on the ground with the clients and communities we work with.
There are definitely shifts happening at the edges. It's at the edges where new ideas and transformations of mindsets start to take hold. In our own work, we are seeing this change:
Pushing up from the innovative thinking on the ground and in communities that are actively working in lean and experimental ways to influence policy development higher up.
Pushing sideways, where horizontal connections and learnings are being made across diverse and seemingly unrelated sectors such as food systems and forestry.
The challenge is how to unleash these wormholes at the edge into fully supported experiments where we can learn, collect evidence, and reflect on how these small actions can shift the system to deal with the cascading polycrisis. We need more opportunities that allow us to connect the dots, think differently, and experiment with different ways of working so that we can shift the established thinking at the slower-moving centre.
In the table below, we have translated the bigger challenge of a regenerative approach into smaller 'bite-sized' transitions based on what we are seeing and how we are working. We are moving from the traditional narrative to a new narrative. Systems change sounds complex, expensive, disruptive, and out of reach. But when we break it down, the shifts can be seen as incremental, everyone's responsibility, and in everyone's interests.
In our upcoming Tourism CoLab Course, Introduction to Regenerative Tourism (starting February 2023) we explore regenerative tourism, what it means and what it takes to start the journey. We want to make regenerative tourism accessible regardless of where one might be located in the diversity of planetary stakeholders. We hope to sharpen your thinking, reduce fear, del with resistance, and help you feel inspired!
The Tourism CoLab is an online tourism education and change-making agency specialising in disrupting tourism through unlearning experiences and experimental journeys.