dr. Noel Healy

Presentations

2010, 'Mediating the visitor experience - Exploring the transformation of Irish nature-based tourism, conference paper, fifth international conference on Monitoring and Management of visitor Flows in recreational and protected areas, Wageningen, the Netherlands,(may 30-June 3).

2010, 'Collaborative tourism planning in Ireland: Science, experts and the politics of participation, conference paper, Conference of Irish Geographers 2010, NUI Maynooth (30th April - 2nd May).

2008, Van Riper, C.J., Healy, Noel. “Perceptions of the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management Student Forum”, Conference Paper, Presented at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. Burlington, VT 

2008, Van Riper, C.J., Healy, Noel. “Connecting Students with Conferences: Perceptions of the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management Student Forum”, Conference Paper, Presented at the Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Lake George, NY

2008, ’Engineering enclavic tourist spaces: The McDonaldisation of Irish tourism?’ Department of Geography, Departmental Seminar Series, NUI, Galway (3rd April).

2007, 'Commodification and conflict: What can the Irish approach to the management of protected areas tell us?', conference paper, European Tourism and the Environment Conference: Promotion and protection, achieving the balance, The Europa Academy, Dublin (11th-12th October)

2007, "The commodification of the landscape: Using qualitative insights to explore visitor experiences in Ireland's National Parks and Protected areas", conference paper, 13th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Utah State University in Park City, Utah (17th-21st June)

2007, 'The homogenisation of nature and the tourist experience: Assessing visitor experiences and preferences at the Cliffs of Moher, conference paper, The 2007 Conference of Irish Geographers, St Patrick's college, Drumcondra (11th-13th May)

2007, ’National parks and protected areas: Ireland’s “honeypot” approach to protected area management’, conference paper, The 17th ESAI Environ conference, Institute of Technology Carlow (26th – 28th January)

2006, ’Parks and Protected Areas -Integrating Environmental Policies into the Tourism Product’, seminar paper, EPA/ ERTDI Doctoral Scholarship Seminar, Dublin (26th October.

2006, 'Parks, Protected Areas and the Irish Visitor Centre Conundrum: Analysis of Visitor Management Strategies from the West of Ireland', Conference paper, 12th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada (June 4th -7th).

2005, ’Integrating Environmental Policies into the Tourism Product- Developing a Model of Best Practice’, poster presentation, Conference of Irish Geographers, NUI, Galway (6th May-8th May).

2005, ’Ireland's National Parks and Protected Areas: The Visitor Centre Conundrum'. Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, (October 12th).

2005, ’US National Parks: Tourism and the Development of Visitor Centres’. Department of Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, (December 7th).

2005, ’Sustainable Partnerships: Tourism, the Environment and the Role of Visitor Centres’. Poster presentation at the 11th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Ostersund Sweden, June 16th -19th.

Teaching involvement

TI 219 Environment and Landforms (Managing Nature, Culture and Heritage)
TI 224 Residential Field Class (Barcelona)

Organised Seminars

Professor Matt S. Carroll, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, Briefing on Field Research in Kerry. NUIG Department of Geography seminar series, November 2006

Organised Conference Sessions

Natural Resource Planning and Governance – Politics and Conflicting Narratives of Nature and Development
- Conference of Irish Geographers 2010

Nature conservation, the sustainable use of natural resources and protected area planning are problematic areas due to the multiplicity of stakeholders’ involved and their often diverse and divergent views of nature and development. A new attitude of open, transparent and inclusive governance in the formulation of natural resource management is now widely acknowledged to play a significant role in achieving sustainable development. However, widespread conflict over the direction, formulation and implementation of environmental strategies, policies and plans has raised questions about how democratic Ireland’s planning and governance system actually are. Thus, this session aims at bringing together contributions that are seeking to examine and re-conceptualise the relationships between politics, decision-making structures and science in natural resource governance. Exploring these new modes of governance and interrogating the interlinked dynamics of conservation, social justice and the diverse political ecologies involved in natural resource management opens the door to many critical questions such as: How environmental management agendas are formulated and whether citizens can participate in sustainable development? Do local communities and civil society have genuine involvement in decision-making? What relations and decision-making roles should exist between ’local’ and expert knowledges of nature? To what extent do we have “tokenism”, that is public input without decision-making authority? And does governance change the political dynamics of natural resource planning and if so how?

Contested Landscapes in Tourism: Management, Culture, Conservation and Consumption - Conference of Irish Geographers 2007

Tourism constitutes one of the major contemporary forces of spatial transformation modifying and defining global landscapes. The tourist industry and tourists are increasingly using, consuming and changing landscapes. These changes are integrated into larger processes such as globalisation, discourses of development, identity politics, competition, consumption and nature conservation. This transformation of landscapes of ecological and cultural significance for tourism consumption creates conflicts between local communities, tourist developers, tourists and governing authorities.  On the one hand tourism provides the instrument for the protection and conservation of various features of threatened environments and ecosystems, while concurrently it can be viewed as constituting a major contributing factor to the transformation of these very same features by turning them into commodified objects to be consumed by tourists. Indeed, in an attempt to provide new markets for tourism, tourist destinations become re-engineered (often by actors beyond the immediate local) as experiences for visitors to enjoy often leading to conflict between stakeholders. Consequently areas which appeal to us because of their uniqueness, isolation or beauty, are in danger of being spoilt, changed or becoming less distinctive, through tourist infrastructural and facility development. Maintaining the balance between attracting tourists to threatened environments while simultaneously conserving, protecting and implementing sustainable tourism practices has therefore proved extremely difficult. The purpose of this session is to explore contested landscapes in tourism (particularly National Parks and protected areas) and their connection to culture, conservation and consumption in tourism research and management.

PhD Abstract

Interpretation, Governance and Conflict: A Critique of Protected Area Planning in Ireland

This thesis explores the intricate political environment and power struggles which mould and contest Irish protected area decision-making structures by comparing two controversial cases of tourism development in the West of Ireland – Mullaghmore and the Cliffs of Moher. Using an innovative multi-method approach to data collection and analysis that combines survey data, interviews and observation, it shows that conflicts over the development of visitor centres reveal serious gaps in Ireland’s approach to protected area planning that impede sustainable tourism efforts. By exploring the views of locals, planning professionals, public representatives and visitors, this research offers a multi-layered analysis of planning, governance and sustainable tourism development in Ireland.  Initially, this thesis presents evidence to show that the particularities of the Irish political system and the prevalence of a producer-orientated development paradigm combine to reinforce a productivist and exclusionary approach to protected area planning. Recent efforts towards participatory tourism planning have been weakened by a strong political influence in planning, the prioritisation of scientific ’expertise’ over local knowledge, a lack of research on hosts’ and visitors’ attitudes and behaviour, a fragmented inter-agency style of governance and serious gaps in legislation, policy and management. Following from this, the thesis argues for a shift in Ireland’s tourism planning towards a more open, inclusive and transparent system that aims at greater sustainability while responding to a volatile global tourism market. It contends that a successful approach to planning, resource management and nature protection must be culturally sensitive and take seriously the needs of both hosts and guests. This implies radical transformation of visitor centre development, in particular with regard to their location within communities. To this end, the thesis recommends institutional reform to facilitate full and inclusive participation of all stakeholders, particularly local communities and visitors, and advocates the establishment of a Burren governing agency.

External activities

Member of the Geographical Society of Ireland
Member of the International Association for Society and Natural Resources
Member of the Association of American Geographers
Member of Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
Rural Studies Research Group NUIG