Empathy Within Intergenerational and Intragenerational Equity Through Tourism Education

Abstract

The three sustainable development pillars inevitably raise the question of what kind of environment children will live and learn in. The answer largely depends on the method and influence of education in the life of modern society. The type and format of teaching that we provide to the youth today will create and shape their way of life in the next decades, i.e. whether in the future they will be good people, conscientious citizens and successful leaders depends on us now. Tourism has not only a significant economic role, but today it is also a social factor of integral importance for the formation of tolerance and understanding between societies. Moreover, today its dimensions are extremely diverse and wide-ranging, so education related to it requires new scientific approaches and special ways of communication based on personal example, social inclusion and empathy. The present study reveals the systematic relation of empathy and education within the concepts of intergenerational and intragenerational equity through tourism learning. Based on the theoretical reflection of specific characteristics of those concepts a conceptual model is proposed accounting for inclusion of tourism education in the governance of the social environment.