The EVC Magazine Summer 2024 - Magazine - Page 36
ethics & sustainability
ETHICAL
VOLUNTEERING
Image: STC Expeditions. Bridgwater College's visit to Morocco
ARE YOU ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?
Today’s students are tomorrow’s gap year travellers and lifelong holiday makers.
Teachers and tour operators have an opportunity and responsibility to ensure we’re
educating young people about the world and how to navigate it in a responsible
way. We can help ensure these experiences are not only enriching for our students
but also ethically sound and beneficial to the communities and places we visit.
Volunteering abroad is a popular component of
overseas educational travel programmes.
For schools, the key areas to consider are how, where
and why students volunteer. So how can we do this?
At its best, these projects can be positive
The best starting point is to ask the right questions, of
experiences benefitting both the visiting and host yourself and your tour operator.
communities. But there are potential issues too,
so it’s important that educational visits embody
Adrian Ferraro is Director of STC Expeditions
the principles of ethical volunteering.
and a Lecturer in Ethical Tourism.
www.thestc.co.uk
