GPEP Researchers Join New COST Action
(06/11/2012)
A new COST Action was launched this week in Brussels, with two researchers Dr. Marcus Collier and Dr. Craig Bullock representing GPEP as the sole Irish delegates. ‘Tourism, Wellbeing and Ecosystem Services’ (TObeWELL) aims to examine the research linkages that ecosystems may provide for wellbeing via tourism and recreation. This is an area that is becoming more important in relation to sustainable tourism, and will be increasingly significant in the Irish landscape. “The underpinning issue of this proposal is to produce new and collaborative research on how and in what way can tourism be a catalyst for improving human health and wellbeing, by using in a symbiotic and sustainable way natural resources and services provided by ecosystems, as well as exploring the challenges of (e)valuation of such services”. TObeWELL is coordinated through the University of Exeter and will operate for four years. There are currently 20 countries represented, from Iceland to Israel, with more expected to join in time. Some of the goals for this project will be to develop a platform for future funding mechanisms as well as to create new scientific and trans-disciplinary partnerships. COST is a European agency that funds scientific meetings but not research, and seeks to bring European scientists together to develop long-term research projects. For more information please see here.