CONCEPTUALIZING A SUSTAINABLE SKI RESORT: A CASE STUDY OF BLUE MOUNTAIN RESORT IN ONTARIO by Tania Del Matto A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Environmental Studies in Environment and Resources Studies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2007 ©Tania Del Matto, 2007 Author’s declaration for electronic submission of a thesis I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii ABSTRACT Sustainability has become a goal for many recreational tourism businesses. For ski resorts, the goal of sustainability has been driven by a growing understanding of the impacts ski resorts have on the biophysical environment and the host communities in which they reside. In addition, ski resort owners and operators have an inherent self-interest and ethical responsibility as corporate citizens to pursue sustainability. Has a sustainable ski resort, however, been adequately defined at a conceptual level? The current understanding of sustainable ski resorts is limiting because it encourages ski resort owners and operators to address sustainability challenges in a compartmentalized fashion and in isolation of one another. This thesis examines how ski resorts would benefit from taking an integrated systems approach to sustainability—an approach that when applied, can be used to assess the state of sustainability at an organization and can broaden the scope of decision-making at an organization. This approach is missing in an industry where sustainability has historically meant focusing on achieving outcomes in efficiency thus failing to acknowledge the broader socio-ecological footprint of a ski resort. Gibson et al. (2005) argue the journey toward sustainability ought to be guided by a set of requirements based on principles of sustainability. Such principles operate on an integrated systems approach. This thesis uses the Gibson principles as the criteria by which to assess literature that discusses desirable characteristics of businesses and recreation/tourism destinations in sustainability terms. The intention here is to incorporate context specific insights into the Gibson principles such that the Gibson principles are adapted for ski resorts. The sustainable ski resort principles emerge out of this adaptation process and are applied using an exploratory case study. Specifically, the principles are compared against the current conditions of sustainability at Blue Mountain Resort (BMR), located in the Town of Blue Mountains (Ontario), with the goal of assessing the state of sustainability at BMR. The analysis resulted in the identification of five areas where the sustainable ski resort principles advanced the understanding of what constitutes a sustainable ski resort. First, the sustainable ski resort principles clearly require that there be limits on quantitative growth and, as such, ski resorts must strive towards decoupling improvements in quality and service from further growth and consumption. Second, a sustainable ski resort contributes to narrowing the socio-economic gaps within the workplace and the host community while operating within a multigenerational timescale to ensure future generations are fairly represented. Third, a sustainable ski resort reduces its net consumption of materials and resources and invests these savings in areas that are deficient in natural and social capital. Fourth, the sustainable ski resort principles require decision making power to be shared amongst internal and external stakeholders. Fifth, stakeholders must pursue opportunities to arrive at decisions iii that strengthen the well-being of both human and ecological systems through the integrated application of the sustainable ski resort principles. The analysis of the case study findings reveals that five of the eight sustainable ski resort principles are partially realized as represented by BMR’s demonstrated leadership amongst ski resorts in Ontario in the areas of solid waste reduction, energy efficiency and staff/public education. As evidenced in the case study, the ski resort industry’s responses to its sustainability challenges have largely been handled in isolation using conventional approaches to decision-making that tend to address sustainability challenges as separate entities. This perpetuates the notion that sustainability challenges are detached and therefore detached solutions are proposed or pursued. These approaches fail to recognize the linkages and interdependencies between entities thereby failing to pursue integration—the essence of sustainability as articulated by the sustainable ski resort principles. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervising professors, Dr. Mary Louise McAllister and Dr. Ian H. Rowlands, for their support, guidance and patience while my thesis went through its evolution. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all research participants, in particular the interviewees who took time out of their busy schedules to share their insights with me. On a personal level, I am indebted to my unwavering support network of family, friends, and colleagues. During times of struggle, their words of encouragement, wisdom and understanding propelled me forward. Without their support, this journey through education would not have been possible. And finally, I am thankful for my husband, Jeff for his love, patience and continuous optimism during the highs and lows of this challenging, but fruitful journey. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................ix LIST OF ACRONYMS ...........................................................................................................................................x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND ON SKI RESORTS AND SUSTAINABILITY ...........................................................................2 1.1.1 Defining Ski Resorts ..........................................................................................................................2 1.1.2 Defining Host Communities...............................................................................................................3 1.1.3 Defining Stakeholders........................................................................................................................3 1.1.4 Defining Sustainability.......................................................................................................................4 1.1.5 Viewing Ski Resorts from a Systems Perspective..............................................................................5 1.2 THESIS RATIONALE .................................................................................................................................5 1.2.1 Thesis Rationale: The Need for Sustainable Ski Resorts ..................................................................5 1.2.2 Thesis Rationale: Inherent Self-interest in Sustainability ..................................................................7 1.2.3 Thesis Rationale: Ski Resorts Must Operate in a Sustainable Manner..............................................9 1.2.4 Thesis Rationale: Importance of Sustainability Principles..............................................................10 1.3 PURPOSE OF THE THESIS ........................................................................................................................11 1.4 RELEVANCE OF THE THESIS ...................................................................................................................12 1.5 STRUCTURE OF THESIS ..........................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH DESIGN ..................................................................................................................15 2.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................................16 2.1.1 Pillar-based Approaches to Sustainability........................................................................................16 2.1.2 The Integrated Systems Approach to Sustainability.........................................................................18 2.1.3 Sustainability Principles...................................................................................................................21 2.1.4 Gibson Principles .............................................................................................................................23