ABSTRACT

Education for sustainability (EfS) in the hospitality sector is increasingly recognised as one of the driving forces for sustainable development. One way of fostering sustainability in the hospitality industry is through sustainability hackathons, which are intensive events focusing on “hacking” new sustainability ideas. This paper critically explores how the hospitality industry designs and executes sustainability hackathons within the context of EfS. An exploratory case study was conducted on the Scandic Hotels chain. Data utilised including both relevant reports and in-depth interviews with the highest level of management of Scandic. The execution of the sustainability hackathon illuminates how value-based education, creative problem-solving and co-opetition were critical aspects to foster EfS in the hospitality industry. Moreover, the hackathon facilitators, i.e. the hotels’ General Managers, were found to play an essential part in shaping the sustainability education and the event’s potential impacts. This paper contributes to expand knowledge on EfS offered by the hospitality industry (as opposed to EfS in formal educational institutions) and make practical recommendations on how sustainability hackathons could be better facilitated by hotel chains.

摘要

餐饮业的可持续性教育（EfS）日益被认为是可持续发展的推动力之一。在酒店业中促进可持续性的一种方法是通过可持续性黑客马拉松，这是集中于“黑客”新的可持续性思想的密集活动。本文主要探讨了酒店业如何在EfS的背景下设计和执行可持续性黑客马拉松。在Scandic Hotels连锁店进行了探索性案例研究。利用的数据包括相关报告和对Scandic最高管理水平的深度访谈。可持续性黑客马拉松的执行说明了基于价值的教育，创造性的问题解决和合作竞争是在酒店业中促进EfS的关键方面。而且，黑客松活动的推动者，即酒店的总经理，在塑造可持续发展教育和活动的潜在影响方面起着至关重要的作用。本文有助于扩大酒店业提供的EfS知识（而不是正规教育机构中的EfS），并就如何通过酒店连锁店更好地促进可持续性黑客马拉松提出切实可行的建议。