Christy Hehir

Youth-based programmes providing education-based expeditions to the Polar Regions have been offered for more than two decades, and whilst studies hint that participants return as inspired and empowered ambassadors, research to date has been inconclusive as to what impact such expeditions have had on their participants’ subsequent lifestyle decisions and pro-environmental behaviours. To address this research gap, Social Identity Theory (SIT) was used to evaluate the impact of youth polar expeditions on participants’ pro-environmental behaviour, up to 18 years after their polar voyage. In collaboration with Students on Ice (SOI), this study tested the direct and indirect relationships between previous SOI students’ (n = 217) social identity towards the alumni programme and their subsequent connections with nature and pro-environmental behaviours. Findings suggest that social identity might be one way to explain the long-term impact of educational expeditions in terms of desired future pro-environmental behaviours, underscoring the critical importance of an alumni programme. Furthermore, a Community-Engaged Research (CER) approach was adopted to evidence the impact of this research beyond the realm of academia. We reflect on the CER approach with the intention of assisting others to produce impactful and socially robust knowledge, maximising the real-world impact of the findings.

For tourism to be entirely sustainable, one cannot travel. This is impossible. This paradox is particularly evident within last chance tourism (LCT), where tourists, seeking experiences with vanishing animals and land/seascapes, can accelerate the decline of those very attractions. Though recent studies hint that those with the highest intentions to visit LCT destinations are also some of the most concerned with climate change, no study has assessed the psychological drivers that may help explain why individuals are increasingly engaging in this paradox. Drawing on the VBN model, this research examines a theoretical framework to assess the psychological drivers behind individuals’ intention to engage in environmentally responsible behavior while traveling and, ultimately, their desire to participate in LCT. Results reveal that a set of environmentally referent cognitions (i.e., values, environmental worldview, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility) lead to personal norms activation, which then influence tourists’ intent to behave in pro-sustainable ways and, ultimately, individuals’ intentions to engage in LCT. Findings are important as they further confirm the benefits of using VBN theory within an LCT context. For practitioners, this research strengthens the appeal of sustainable tourism operations to secure business and receive positive word-of-mouth from potential LCT tourists.