Title: Fragile Landscapes and Intense Tourism: Rethinking Cultural and Environmental Sustainability
Chair:
Assis. Prof. Konaxis Ioannis
Department of Tourism Studies
University of Piraeus, Greece
Abstract/Description:
Across the globe, landscapes of high cultural and environmental value are increasingly exposed to the intensification of tourism activities. Protected areas, cultural routes, coastal zones, rural territories and heritage-rich regions are facing mounting pressures related to climate change, environmental degradation, overtourism, land-use conflicts and shifting mobility patterns.
At the same time, tourism remains a critical driver of local development, cultural identity and place-making. This growing tension raises fundamental questions concerning the capacity of fragile landscapes to accommodate tourism development, the effectiveness of existing management frameworks and the role of landscape-based approaches in safeguarding cultural and environmental values.
This special session aims to foster an open and interdisciplinary dialogue among academics, researchers, policy-makers and professionals on the evolving relationship between tourism development, cultural heritage, protected landscapes and landscape management. Particular attention is given to areas of high ecological sensitivity and cultural significance, where tourism pressure challenges long-term sustainability.
The session welcomes theoretical contributions, empirical research and applied case studies addressing, among others:
- Tourism development and management in protected areas and heritage landscapes
- Landscape planning and adaptive landscape design approaches for tourism destinations
- Visitor pressure, carrying capacity and limits of acceptable change
- Climate change impacts and nature-based adaptation strategies in tourism landscapes
- Landscape character, cultural identity and sense of place under tourism pressure
- Governance models and integrated management of cultural and environmental assets
By bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives, this session seeks to highlight the interconnected nature of tourism, cultural heritage and landscape systems, emphasizing their role in enhancing environmental balance, social well-being and long-term sustainability. In an era of accelerating environmental and socio-economic change, the session contributes to critical reflections on how fragile landscapes can evolve through responsible, landscape-led and sustainability-oriented tourism development.