As a geographer, I wanted to offer a summer study abroad program on sustainability. However, it wouldn't make sense to design a sustainability program that includes flying abroad due to planes' excessive carbon footprint. Alternative Amtrak's diesel-powered trains reduce per person carbon dioxide emissions by 40% compared with flying.
During the program, students use only public transit, stay in locally owned lodgings, and eat at locally sourced restaurants. Combine my love of Amtrak with a desire to get students out of the classroom, and we found ourselves riding across the country to learn about sustainable tourism, landscapes, and urban and regional planning.
Over the course of three weeks, students visit six locations, with overnight train rides between each ranging from 16 to 24 hours. The days are broken up into lessons on observing landscape and land use, sustainable tourism, and urban deindustrialization, with at least an hour of class time on each train ride.
The course appeals to millennial and Gen Z students who are increasingly concerned about the climate crisis and continued carbon emissions. The experience gives students real-world examples of how sustainable practices can be implemented in tourism.
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