Descrizione

In our world, waste is everywhere: from its most obvious manifestation as residual material, it has developed and evolved into being investigated as a trope for our contemporary era. This collective volume explores how the tourism industry is a significant producer of waste and surplus in its material, cultural and symbolic forms, affecting local communities and territories. Developed as part of the PNRR – funded iNEST – Young Researchers project, the book adopts an interdisciplinary approach – spanning chemistry, economics, arts, and humanities – to examine sustainability beyond institutional rhetoric and capitalist perspectives. Starting with the case study of waste cooking oil as a recyclable element, looking at its multiple layers of complexity, each chapter presents an original outlook on these themes and their geographical relevance in the North East of Italy. Contributors investigate extractive tourist dynamics, marginalized narratives, and circular practices. Across nine chapters, which include visual illustrations by the artist Elena Mazzi, the book highlights how community initiatives, artistic interventions and participatory methods can regenerate both places and knowledge, suggesting alternatives for reimagining tourism as a more equitable, collaborative, and environmentally grounded practice.

Chiara Carolina Donelli is an Assistant Professor Tenure Track of Accounting and Business Administration at the University of Pavia. She holds a PhD in Economics and Management of Innovation and Sustainability. Her research focuses on sustainability, collaborative governance, and alternative accounting in non-profit and cultural organisations.

Francesca Pangallo is an Adjunct Professor of Italian Language and Literature for the School of International Education at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She holds a PhD in Italian Studies and her research focuses on memorial and comparative literature, as well as in corporate storytelling processes, including tourism-related contexts.

Olga Tzatzadaki is a Postdoctoral Researcher (PhD in Urban Planning and Public Policies) at the University Iuav of Venice. Her research focuses on social innovation in tourism, rural bottom-up regeneration, territorial narratives, and participatory approaches to inclusive and sustainable development.