18.1 Leisure, Environment and Sustainability: Current Challenges

Wednesday, August 1, 2012: 9:00 AM
Faculty of Economics, TBA
Oral Presentation
Christianne GOMES , Grupo de Pesquisa Otium - Lazer, Brasil & America Latina, Brazil
Rodrigo Antonio ELIZALDE SOTO , UFMG/GRUPO OTIUM - LAZER, BRASIL & AMERICA LATINA, BELO HORIZONTE - MG, Brazil
The objective of this research is to understand how leisure and toursm can contribute to sustainability and social and environmental challenges of today. It is necessary to address sustainability considering the various elements that are linked to it: economic, social, environmental and ecological, among others.  The concept of sustainability involves not only the environment, because it involves issues such as poverty, population, health, food, work, democracy and human rights, education and leisure, etc. In this perspective, as is highlighted by Unesco, the subject of sustainability should be treated with an inter / transdisciplinary. In this sense, it should be noted leisure, education (formal, non formal and informal), art, politics, internet and social network, as well as many other cultural expressions are needed to address when considering the challenges of sustainability. Yesterday, today and forever it is essential to unravel the conflicts of the present and seek social transformation in the sense of achieving environmental sustainability, social, cultural and many others. For this reason, educators and researchers have the duty and the right to discuss these issues. We can do it from many fronts, but the basic premise of this paper is that leisure can be a very important tool for mobilizing the systematic development of knowledge and experiences committed to sustainability and environmental challenges.