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I wish I could have found a class like this when I was in college–I’m pretty impressed with a new course being offered at Harvard this fall: Environmental Management of International Tourism Development. It is all about how to keep us as a world traveling and getting to know other people and cultures, while not stomping on and destroying the places we seek out.

Megan Epler Wood is teaching, and students will look at the ways the global tourism industry has been doing so far, and then how to examine ways in which mainstream tourism companies can address the challenge of environmental management and impact. It is nice that guest lecturers will visit class from large corporations like Wyndham Hotels, Rock Resorts, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, among others. Professor Wood has been working, via her own company, with developing sustainable tourism in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Sierra Leone, and Sri Lanka.

I just love, and respect, that the travel industry, or at least some factions therein, is on point on so many levels in finding responsible ways to keep our community a global one, and keep it interactive, and hopefully not beat the crap out of the globe while we’re at it. There is a long way to go, of course, and creating a link to academia is a great way to expand the conversation.