Sustainable Tourism CRC

Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre

Type	Not for profit Cooperative Research Centre
Industry	Sustainable tourism Ecotourism
Headquarters	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Products	Decipher, Earthcheck, IPAT and Green Globe
Website	Sustainable Tourism CRC

Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre (STCRC), headquartered in Gold Coast, Queensland, was an Australian Cooperative Research Centre established by the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program to establish a competitive and dynamic sustainable tourism industry in Australia. It ceased to operate on 30 June 2010.^[1]

STCRC is a not-for-profit company owned by its industry, government and university partners. STCRC stands as the world’s largest travel and tourism research centre.

History

STCRC was established under the Australian Government's Cooperative Research Centres Program to underpin the development of a dynamic, internationally competitive, and sustainable tourism industry. Since its inception the STCRC has supported over 170 PhD scholars through a suite of scholarships and the provision of a Career Development Program. STCRC currently supports over 90 postgraduate students. All are of exceptional academic standard. Most hold a first class honours degree and many have also received university awards for excellence. All supplementary scholarship holders also hold an APA or university-equivalent scholarship.

Organisational aims

STCRC's aims are the development and management of intellectual property (IP) to deliver innovation to business, community, and government enhancing environmental, economic and social sustainability of tourism – one of the world's largest, fastest growing industries.

In doing so, STCRC aims to develop Australia's long-term tourism research capactities through a vigorous postgraduate research education programme. Presently this programme has produced a number of PhD students and the program is supported by scholarships for students in industry-designed projects, and by developing and distributing education and training products.

Commercialisation unit

The Commercialisation of STCRC research, sustainability oriented technologies and certification programs is done through EC3 Global (now called EarthCheck) which is wholly owned by the STCRC. EarthCheck provides an array of programs and services for companies, communities and other interest groups to set and achieve sustainability targets. With origins leading back to 1987, EarthCheck's research encompasses 250 tourism and environmental sustainability leaders in 16 universities.^[2] EarthCheck's influence has grown to encompass hundreds of projects, creating a strong market presence in over 50 countries.

University partners

There are currently 16 Australian universities who are partners with the STCRC, these are listed below.

• Charles Darwin University

Charles Darwin University was formed in 2003, with over 50 years history delivering tertiary education to the Northern Territory. Charles Darwin's Main Campus is located in Darwin, Australia and is named after Charles Darwin, the English Naturalist

Formed in 2003 through a merger between the Northern Territory University, Alice Springs-based Centralian College, NT Rural College in Katherine and the Menzies School of Health Research. Charles Darwin University is the largest university in the Northern Territory.

• Curtin University of Technology

Curtin University of Technology formed in 1986 is Western Australia's Largest University^[3] with over 40,000 students presently. Curtin University has a strong emphasis on innovation and technology, which are the main themes of the university.

Curtin University has an important Research & Development history,^[4] with an annual income from research of around $12 Million Australian Dollars annually.

• Edith Cowan University

Edith Cowan University is the second largest university in Western Australia and has approximately 23,000 students of which over 3,000 originate from countries outside Australia. It was established in 1991, and is the only Australian university named after a woman, Edith Dircksey Cowan.

The university specialises in the service professions, and the teaching of education remains a key focus. Joint research and study with other universities and international consultancies remains an important area for the university.

• Griffith University

Griffith University is an Australian public university with five campuses in Queensland between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. As of 2008, there were more than 37,000 enrolled students and 3,500 staff.^[5] As such, Griffith stands as one of Queensland's largest universities and holds Queensland's oldest academy.

Griffith has diverse multidisciplinary teaching and research fields, and has students and academic staff from over 120 countries throughout the world.

• James Cook University

James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia and was proclaimed on 20 April 1970^[6] in Townsville. James Cook University is the second oldest university in Queensland. James Cook University is listed as one of the best universities in Queensland and is one of only 17 in Australia that was listed in the ARWU top 500 academic world universities in 2007.^[7]

The main fields of research include marine sciences, biodiversity, sustainable management of tropical ecosystems, tropical health care and tourism. James Cook University receives over $23 Million dollars^[8] in research funding annually, highlighting the importance of its ongoing research projects .

• La Trobe University

La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. La Trobe is generally considered to be ranked amongst the top ten universities in Australia and in 2005 was ranked in the top 100 universities in the world.^[9][10]

Presently La Trobe university has over 28,000 enrolled students and has become a well established centre for teaching, training, scholarship and research.

• Monash University

Monash University is a public university with campuses located in Australia, Malaysia and South Africa. It is Australia's largest university with about 55,000 students. Monash consistently ranks amongst the top universities in Australia and the world.^[11]

The University has a total of eight campuses, and also a centre in Prato, Italy. This makes it by far Australia's most internationalised university. Indeed, it is arguable that Monash has the greatest international presence of any research-intensive university in the world.^[12] It was recently ranked by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) at number 43 in its annual ranking of the world's top 200 universities for 2007.

• Murdoch University

Murdoch University is located in Perth, Western Australia and has three campuses at Murdoch, Rockingham and Peel. It currently has a student population of over 15,000 students including 3,000 international students. Murdoch is a modern Australian university with a national reputation for excellence in teaching and research.

• Southern Cross University

Southern Cross University (SCU)' is a university based on the Mid North and North coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is a regional University with more than 14,000 students. The University is the country's seventh largest provider of distance education. It also has international students from more than 50 countries. More than 700 students are enrolled on-campus and with on-shore partners in Australia, with a further 1300 enrolled in overseas programs.

• University of New South Wales

University of New South Wales (UNSW) is one of Australia's largest and most prestigious research institutions, the UNSW has over 40,000 students including 8,800 international students from 90 different countries.

It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" lobby group, and is also a founding member of Universitas 21, an international network of leading research-intensive universities. UNSW ranks third for both total funds allocated and the number of grants from the Australian Research Council among Australian universities following University of Sydney and Australian National University, by securing more than $26 million^[13] in Discovery Project grants. The University also gains the highest number of Linkage Project grants of any university.^[14]

• University of Canberra

The University of Canberra is an Australian university, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the second largest university in Canberra. The University was one of nine Australian universities recognised by the Australian government in 2006 for high achievement in learning and teaching.^[15][16][16] In a 2005 ranking of the international standing of Australian universities, University of Canberra received 44% and ranked approximately two-thirds down the list of Australian universities.^[16] Presently it has over 10,000 students, from over 80 different countries and more than 1,000 staff.

• University of Queensland

The University of Queensland is Queensland's first university, being founded in 1909. Presently it has over 37,000 enrolled students.^[17] The University of Queensland also prides itself on being one of Australia's foremest research institutions, the University is a founding member of the Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong "sandstone" universities in Australia.

UQ remains the most successful Australian university in winning and being shortlisted for Australian Awards for University Teaching since they were established in 1997. On a variety of measures it is one of the top three or four research universities in the country.^[18]

• University of South Australia

The University of South Australia is a public university in the Australian state of South Australia. It was formed in 1991 with the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and Colleges of Advanced Education. The university is a leading expert in technical education and applied research, as well being a founding member of the Australian Technology Network.

University of South Australia is ranked as the 291st university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement Top 400 Universities list.^[19] The University has nearly 32,000 enrolled students as of 2008.

• University of Tasmania

The University of Tasmania is an Australian university, with three campuses in Tasmania. A 'sandstone university', it is the fourth-oldest university in Australia, and was established over a century ago. It was founded on 1 January 1890, and is a member of the international Association of Commonwealth Universities. The university works with overseas universities to offer students an international experience, with exchange arrangements in place with over 40 institutions throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

The university has a particularly notable and long-standing reputation in examining the practical and theoretical challenges involved in addressing social and environmental concerns.

• University of Technology, Sydney

The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) is part of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the third largest university in Sydney in terms of enrolment. Founded in its current form in 1988, it is also the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD. UTS has been ranked in the World's Top 100 universities by the Times Higher Education Supplement and was given A1 ratings across all major disciplines in 2007 by the Federal Government Education department.

• Victoria University

The Victoria University is a University in Melbourne. The University offers both Higher Education and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) courses. Presently there are over 45,000 enrolled students, including over 8,500 international students. Founded in 1916, it is one of Australia's older universities, with a rich history and many successful students.

See also

• EarthCheck Assessed
• Green Globe Lite

References