BEST EN Think Tank IX The Importance of Values in Sustainable Tourism Valuing Open Innovation Environments in Tourism Education and Research. The case of INNOTOUR

The world has changed tremendously since the publication of Our Common Future by the World Commission for Environment and Development (1987), which elevated the concept of sustainable development from grassroots initiatives to the forefront of global politics and arguably public awareness. Some initiatives and progress can be documented in tourism research and the industry towards a more sustainable future. Yet the scale of efforts remains overshadowed by the scope of problems (Ottosson and Samuelsson 2008). Two of these are human induced climate change and the recent global financial crisis that draw attention to the value of knowledge and problem of borrowing from resources that do not exist. Many tourism educators and scholars are intimately aware of the seismic changes and mega-trends facing the tourism industry (Dwyer et. al 2007). Still it is questionable whether the tourism sector altogether is well prepared for these new futures. Although some enterprises and (semi)public organisations are highly professional, the general picture of the industry is bleak when it comes to competences, innovativeness and leadership. The majority of enterprises are small and with limited resources for comprehensive turnarounds