24
M. Baranowski and D. Mroczkowska
interconnection, and relatively high levels of self-awareness in their values, thoughts,
behaviors, and actions as well as cultivating continued individual growth in their
physical, emotional, social, philosophical, and intellectual abilities. Own sustainability includes possessing a well-developed and demonstrated value system that
acknowledges the importance and interconnectedness of all global biological and
social systems, and our appropriate place within them” (Pappas and Pappas 2015,
p. 12).
Although leisure researchers are involved in sustainability research, their contribution is still much smaller compared to other more traditional academic disciplines.
The lack of scholarly work linking sustainability and leisure is especially alarming,
considering leisurely activities are based on the inherent freedom of choice. McCole
and Vogt (2011) emphasize that the future of leisure itself is dependent on access to
sustainably managed resources.
Vaugeois et al. (2017) conducted a study between 2005 and 2015 on the extent
to which the most popular leisure and tourism journals—Leisure/Loisir, Journal of
Leisure Research, Leisure Studies, Leisure Sciences, World Leisure, Journal of Park
and Recreation Administration, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and the Journal of
Ecotourism—relate to the subject of sustainable development.
The results in Table 1 show that leisure researchers address the issue of sustainability in three dimensions: ecological or environmental (the most common among
researchers), socio-cultural, and economic, where only two subcategories are defined.
The last category, on the other hand, was added to capture topics that have emerged
outside the three areas and was called advancing inquiry into sustainability.
In addition, as Vaugeois et al. (2017, pp. 312–317) emphasize, research on sustainability in the leisure journals has emerged more slowly than within the tourism
journals both in the scope of topics explored and the volume of inquiry. Leisure
articles could be described as just starting to explore sustainability, while articles on
tourism seem to be more insightful, attempting to describe and explain how tourism
intertwines with sustainability.
They also emphasize that leisure scholars must be willing to question their
research, role and practices in a way that not only results in a better understanding
of both what leisure does to alleviate sustainability issues but also what it does to
cause them. In addition, they highlight three areas worth exploring further. These
concern, firstly, questions and research on the relationship between leisure time and
sustainability. Secondly, they indicate that researchers should critically examine the
influence of leisure consumption on sustainability. Armed with this type of evidence
in the future, leisure research will be able to articulate its positive and negative
influences with enhanced metrics, allowing for comparisons between other sectors
and for the evaluation and monitoring of interventions. Thirdly, researchers should
question existing practices in a way that allows for the proposal of new models and
approaches to enhance sustainability through leisure. This aim could be substantially enhanced through the use of interdisciplinary research where critical reflection
around sustainability is more evolved.
M. Baranowski and D. Mroczkowska
interconnection, and relatively high levels of self-awareness in their values, thoughts,
behaviors, and actions as well as cultivating continued individual growth in their
physical, emotional, social, philosophical, and intellectual abilities. Own sustainability includes possessing a well-developed and demonstrated value system that
acknowledges the importance and interconnectedness of all global biological and
social systems, and our appropriate place within them” (Pappas and Pappas 2015,
p. 12).
Although leisure researchers are involved in sustainability research, their contribution is still much smaller compared to other more traditional academic disciplines.
The lack of scholarly work linking sustainability and leisure is especially alarming,
considering leisurely activities are based on the inherent freedom of choice. McCole
and Vogt (2011) emphasize that the future of leisure itself is dependent on access to
sustainably managed resources.
Vaugeois et al. (2017) conducted a study between 2005 and 2015 on the extent
to which the most popular leisure and tourism journals—Leisure/Loisir, Journal of
Leisure Research, Leisure Studies, Leisure Sciences, World Leisure, Journal of Park
and Recreation Administration, Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and the Journal of
Ecotourism—relate to the subject of sustainable development.
The results in Table 1 show that leisure researchers address the issue of sustainability in three dimensions: ecological or environmental (the most common among
researchers), socio-cultural, and economic, where only two subcategories are defined.
The last category, on the other hand, was added to capture topics that have emerged
outside the three areas and was called advancing inquiry into sustainability.
In addition, as Vaugeois et al. (2017, pp. 312–317) emphasize, research on sustainability in the leisure journals has emerged more slowly than within the tourism
journals both in the scope of topics explored and the volume of inquiry. Leisure
articles could be described as just starting to explore sustainability, while articles on
tourism seem to be more insightful, attempting to describe and explain how tourism
intertwines with sustainability.
They also emphasize that leisure scholars must be willing to question their
research, role and practices in a way that not only results in a better understanding
of both what leisure does to alleviate sustainability issues but also what it does to
cause them. In addition, they highlight three areas worth exploring further. These
concern, firstly, questions and research on the relationship between leisure time and
sustainability. Secondly, they indicate that researchers should critically examine the
influence of leisure consumption on sustainability. Armed with this type of evidence
in the future, leisure research will be able to articulate its positive and negative
influences with enhanced metrics, allowing for comparisons between other sectors
and for the evaluation and monitoring of interventions. Thirdly, researchers should
question existing practices in a way that allows for the proposal of new models and
approaches to enhance sustainability through leisure. This aim could be substantially enhanced through the use of interdisciplinary research where critical reflection
around sustainability is more evolved.