Using complex adaptive systems to investigate Aboriginal-tourism relationships in Purnululu National Park: exploring the role of capital

Strickland-Munro, J.K., Moore, S.A. and Allison, H.E. (2010) Using complex adaptive systems to investigate Aboriginal-tourism relationships in Purnululu National Park: exploring the role of capital. In: 20th Annual CAUTHE Conference. Tourism and Hospitality - Challenge the Limits, 8 - 11 February, Hobart, Tasmania.

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Abstract

Resource management systems such as national parks are complex and dynamic with strong interdependencies between their human and ecological components. Their management has become more difficult as scale, impacts and consequences have increased and local communities have become increasingly involved. Increasing pressures from tourism have added to this management complexity. Complex adaptive systems thinking, and especially the metaphor of the adaptive cycle (Holling 2001), can potentially enhance our understanding of these resource systems, including national parks. The concept of the adaptive cycle can help understand changes over time in a system such as a national park.