Ph.D Research, Sustainable Tourism and Education

PhD research, consultancy and walking in Cornwall

My PhD with the Institute of Cornish Studies

I’ve just gone full time as a research student, interviewing people about their relationship with walking and landscape within the narrative of a climate and ecological emergency. Can we use the footpaths locally to transition to a low carbon economy?

Isn’t walking, amongst other things, about our own personal, community and planetary health and wellbeing? Do we not need to reconnect to the natural cycles we live within which we are also tampering with and changing, some say destroying? I am detecting an urgency underpinning people’s perception of their locale: a climatic sense of place. I am investigating how an appreciation and love of where we live can be arrived at, through our walking experiences on our local footpath networks. Is there a need for increasing utilisation of our local footpath system? Can they be a catalyst to help protect what we value and call ‘home’? “Act local, think global” is a decades old mantra. Can all those who use the footpaths, for their different reasons, work as a community to utilise them to help connect to each other and our respective communities.

Footpaths can be used for improving physical and mental health and wellbeing, for improving and creating wildlife corridors and to enable decarbonisation projects. It is also time for integrating footpath networks into emergent local and national transport policies.

How do we perceive our personal movement through the landscape? It has been established that we are in an age of an existential crisis. Maybe we need to walk more!

books on walking

walkitcornwall is looking to expand and explore ways of employing and training people in the following inter disciplinary areas:-

      1. Furthering the business links and network of CoaST(Cornwall’s sustainable tourism network) with walkitcornwall becoming a passionate Ambassador and trainer for sustainable tourism in Cornwall. This includes:-
        1. To encourage, promote and advise on low impact tourism.
        2. Working in partnership with the Cornwall Access Team and major landowners on the 3000kms of paths in Cornwall bringing awareness of their usage, heritage and state of repair into the 21st century.
        3. Building awareness for company’s within Cornwall of the vital importance of the natural heritage on the doorstep to be promoted and conserved. Already discussed with CoaST.
        4. Promoting and establishing an integrated travel network with local transport providers including bus and taxi companies, Ecodrive, landowners and renewable energy companies for walkers.
      2. Furthering the ongoing academic interdisciplinary links with the departments at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth relating to the uniqueness of Cornwall’s history, identity and natural history.
      3. Green guide courses to be recognised by Visit Cornwall and all stakeholders in the Cornwall tourism industry as a high standard diploma to guarantee a gold standard visitor experience for those who are interested in experiencing the unique Cornish landscape. 97% of visitors enjoy the coast, landscape and biodiversity of Cornwall and site it as one major reason for visiting. Taking on one or two more staff for the walking business is fundamental to this and the other areas of walkitcornwall’s raison d’etre.
      4. Environmental Education for all key stages and beyond into higher education and degree work with the accent on outside education and re engaging with the natural world. This includes engaging with nature through literacy, numeracy, history, social studies, research, local history and heritage and many other academic subjects.

These four main points for the future encapsulate a very brief synopsis of the wider and interconnected added value that walkitcornwall can offer. Apart from training staff for taking guided walks, it is aimed at partnerships with other companies, education facilities and stakeholders within the Cornish tourism industry that are looking towards establishing sustainability as a core principle of their working ethos within Cornwall. This can be achieved through both academic and practical programmes of which direct engagement with the unique natural heritage of Cornwall is the principle methodology.

Engage, enquire and enjoy……

Amongst other projects walkitcornwall has:-

    • been lead business partner in a CUC ESF 3 year studentship project with the University of Exeter.
    • Been an ambassador with CoaST (Cornwall Sustainable Tourism) network.
    • Been on the committee for the South West Coast Path Association.
    • Provided walks for the SWCP Team based in Devon.
    • Provided walks for Natural England and NT.
    • Written about the human interaction with landscape and the narratives of perceiving walking for a monthly listings magazine.
    • Been on two organising committees for walking festivals in and around the Fal River; the Fal River Autumn Walking Festival and the Falmouth Spring Festival.