Nature Sports: Prospects for Sustainability

Derek Van Rheenen and Ricardo Melo
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Derek Van Rheenen: International Research Network in Sport Tourism (IRNIST), Cultural Studies of Sport in Education (CSSE) Program, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Ricardo Melo: International Research Network in Sport Tourism (IRNIST), Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation (CiTUR), Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra—Coimbra Education School (IPC-ESEC), Centre for Social Studies—University of Coimbra (CES-UC), 3030-329 Coimbra, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: This paper articulates a paradigm shift in the adoption of a critical ecopedagogy focused on substantive and systemic change within nature sports. In analyzing the unifying concept of nature sports, we propose an ontological shift towards genuine sustainability, a communion among people and with nature. These activities comprise a group of physical practices that have the potential to challenge participants in novel ways that provide an alternative to traditional sports and the ideological values associated with these dominant sports, such as competition and personal gain. Nature sports inscribe meaning on bodies in motion, with a blurring or erasure of boundaries, as participants become one with nature rather than seeking to exploit or conquer it. These novel and countercultural practices promise the possibility of systemic sustainability, as participants redefine sport in terms of relational equity and ecoliteracy. As a utopian project, this systems approach recognizes the nature-sport nexus as a living framework to honor culturally appropriate practices and traditions in building an ecological movement centered on environmental justice. In this way, nature sports offer an opportunity to reimagine sustainable development through the promotion of a circular, rather than linear, economy—an economy based on re-creation rather than exploitation and waste.

Keywords: ecopedagogy; ecoliteracy; systemic sustainability; relational equity; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:8732-:d:608598

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