An assessment on the opportunities to develop ecotourism in Hong Kong

Congress Theme: Hospitality: The Interaction with LandHong Kong is famous for its dense, highrise-populated urban fabric. When tourists consider visiting Hong Kong, most would think of Hong Kong as a “city-break” destination rather than a place to explore the natural and cultural landscapes. Nevertheless, little that people may know of, Hong Kong’s urban area only covers about 30% of its land area, the rest of the 70% is in fact covered with various types of landscapes. Therefore, this paper aims at exploring the tremendous opportunities for Hong Kong to develop its ecotourism in its rural areas– an alternative operation of tourism that encourages more “interaction with the land” to induce a deeper understanding of Hong Kong’s local traditional culture and its strategic ecological networks. The “interaction with the land” via the operation of ecotourism in Hong Kong can be explored in two spectrums. First, assessment will be made to a few case studies of Hong Kong’s rural landscapes, evaluating whether these areas have the varieties of landscapes and ecology types for travellers to explore. The choices of case studies are mostly the working landscapes in Hong Kong - traditionally there are a lot of agricultural and aquacultural activities in the rural areas, together with the village settlements, creating a lot of interesting cultural landscapes. Second, evaluations will be made in discussing whether the tourism and land development policies in Hong Kong are helpful in guiding and nurturing the growth of ecotourism here at all. “Interaction with the land” incorporates more than just interacting with the physicality of the landscape. It induces a “refreshment” or an evaluation on the mindset, triggering new perspectives of seeing things, or even a new interpretation of man’s relationship with nature. Not only it benefits the tourists that come to visit the various types of landscapes, but it also benefits the local residents who host the guests. The operation process of ecotourism also helps educate the locals on environmental awareness. Therefore, it is an industry worth investigating.postprin

Evaluation processes used by Iowa dietitians to determine adequacy of nutrition education materials

A challenge which plagues dietitians is limited time to spend with clients; consequently, a greater reliability is placed on the distribution of written nutrition materials. To be effective, materials need to contain nutrition messages that are clear, concise, and address clients' nutritional and educational needs. The process of determining clients' needs should be coupled with selecting the most appropriate nutrition education materials. Such procedures are derived from the application of nutrition communication principles which serve as guides for dietitians in helping their clients establish healthy dietary behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine evaluation techniques utilized by dietitians to determine the adequacy of nutrition education materials. A content grid was formed for evaluation criteria identified in the literature. An instrument based on these compiled criteria was developed, reviewed by nutrition education experts, and pilot-tested to support construct- and content-related evidence of validity. The instrument was mailed to a random sample of 350 dietitians who were licensed in Iowa. A total of 223 (63.7%) instruments were returned; 142 (63.7%) respondents reported that they do select and use nutrition education materials with clients; thus, they were able to complete the survey. The dietitians provided information on the frequency with which they evaluate specific characteristics of printed nutrition education materials; the potential barriers they encounter when selecting, evaluating and developing materials; and their perceptions of the adequacy of materials for client use. It was found that dietitians in Iowa do tend to conduct thorough client need assessments; however, they generally do not couple this practice with a formal evaluation of the nutrition education materials provided to clients. Dietitians most frequently evaluate the content characteristics of nutrition education materials in relation to readability and format characteristics. Barriers most frequently encountered by dietitians are limited budgets to purchase materials and inadequate time to evaluate and develop them. Many dietitians perceive that the nutrition education materials they provide do meet clients' needs, encourage healthy dietary behaviors, and are understandable. The results of this study can guide professional development opportunities for dietitians, enhance nutrition services, and potentially lighten the substantial economic burden of chronic diet-related diseases.The research done for this thesis received the Iowa State University 1997 Research Excellence Award and the 1997 Family & Consumer Sciences Education & Studies Research Excellence Award

What\u27s wrong with this tree? : Integrating effective communication with tree care instruction

An instructional development project using an exhibit illustrating improper tree care is integrated with the model of the events of instruction (Gagne & Briggs, 1979) and with the model of the stages of the innovation-decision process (Rogers, 1983). These two models are correlated and related to the field of arboriculture. An arborist using these correlated models in conjunction with the What\u27s Wrong With This Tree exhibit will be able to provide effective and efficient instruction on the topic of proper tree care

Strategies for Systems Thinking and Sustainable Food Systems Integration in Dietetics Education

In a time where food and nutrition challenges are increasingly interconnected, nutrition and dietetics education must evolve to prepare students for the complexities of promoting sustainable food systems. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics emphasizes nutrition and health, social, cultural, and ethical values, environmental stewardship, and economic vitality as principles of sustainable food systems. In addition, the Accreditation Council on Education in Nutrition and Dietetics and the Commission on Dietetics Registration point to a need to prepare nutrition and dietetics students for sustainable food systems aspects related to equity and access and to employ socially and culturally appropriate interventions.This article is published as Bergquist, E.E., Tagtow, Angela M., Strategies for Systems Thinking and Sustainable Food Systems Integration in Dietetics Education. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. August 2025, In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2025.08.00

Leveraging Online Learning to Promote Systems Thinking for Sustainable Food Systems Training in Dietetics Education

Educating and training a multisectoral food systems workforce is a critical part of developing sustainable, resilient, and healthy food and water systems. This paper shares perspectives from a working group of educators, learners, and food systems subject matter experts that collaborated over the course of a year to develop, pilot test, and evaluate two interactive webinar series with a multi-site cohort of dietetics interns and graduate students. The three-part webinar series format included a training webinar, a practice activity, and a synthesis webinar. In reflecting on the effectiveness of this format, we provide direct assessments of student learning from subject matter experts alongside indirect assessments from pre- and post-surveys fielded with learners. Learners who participated in an interactive webinar series demonstrated skills in several dimensions of systems thinking and gained confidence in food systems learning outcomes. Learners also shared valuable feedback on the opportunities and challenges of using online platforms for this experience. As online learning opportunities become more common, it will become increasingly important for educators to prioritize strategies that effectively equip students with the higher-order thinking skills, such as systems thinking, needed to address the complexities of sustainable food systems. The interactive webinar series format described here provides an opportunity to leverage didactic webinars in combination with interactive experiences that enable learners to deepen their knowledge through practice with peers and subject matter experts. Though this format was piloted within dietetics education programs, many of the lessons learned are transferable to other food systems educational contexts

Leveraging Online Learning to Promote Systems Thinking for Sustainable Food Systems Training in Dietetics Education

Educating and training a multisectoral food systems workforce is a critical part of developing sustainable, resilient, and healthy food and water systems. This paper shares perspectives from a working group of educators, learners, and food systems subject matter experts that collaborated over the course of a year to develop, pilot test, and evaluate two interactive webinar series with a multi-site cohort of dietetics interns and graduate students. The three-part webinar series format included a training webinar, a practice activity, and a synthesis webinar. In reflecting on the effectiveness of this format, we provide direct assessments of student learning from subject matter experts alongside indirect assessments from pre- and post-surveys fielded with learners. Learners who participated in an interactive webinar series demonstrated skills in several dimensions of systems thinking and gained confidence in food systems learning outcomes. Learners also shared valuable feedback on the opportunities and challenges of using online platforms for this experience. As online learning opportunities become more common, it will become increasingly important for educators to prioritize strategies that effectively equip students with the higher-order thinking skills, such as systems thinking, needed to address the complexities of sustainable food systems. The interactive webinar series format described here provides an opportunity to leverage didactic webinars in combination with interactive experiences that enable learners to deepen their knowledge through practice with peers and subject matter experts. Though this format was piloted within dietetics education programs, many of the lessons learned are transferable to other food systems educational contexts.This article is published as Spiker M, Hege A, Giddens J, Cummings J, Steinmetz J, Tagtow A, Bergquist E, Burns L, Campbell C, Stadler D, Combs E, Prange N, Schwartz A, Brown K and Sauer K (2021) Leveraging Online Learning to Promote Systems Thinking for Sustainable Food Systems Training in Dietetics Education. Front. Nutr. 8:623336. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.623336. Copyright © 2021 Spiker, Hege, Giddens, Cummings, Steinmetz, Tagtow, Bergquist, Burns, Campbell, Stadler, Combs, Prange, Schwartz, Brown and Sauer. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, which does not comply with these terms. The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021. 623336/full#supplementary-materia

Critical Dietetics and Sustainable Food Systems

In this chapter, we invite readers to consider a food system that is based on values where individual health, the health of the society (social system) and ecosystem health are of equal importance. With this as a lens, there is a clear need to move beyond the biosciences to consider transdisciplinary approaches as important for nutrition and Dietetic in today and tomorrow’s reality