Teaching sustainable planning of show caves

Tourist caves are among the most important geotourism resources in the world, attracting nearly 80 million visitors a year to more than 1200 sites. Some estimates of their economic importance report revenue of around 2 billion euros. Among the 50,000 natural Italian caves, several are suitable for touristic use and today over sixty natural cavities can be visited, attracting more than 2 million visitors every year. Despite these numbers, the management of tourist caves is currently not regulated and for this reason the International Union of Speleology (UIS) and the International Show Cave Association (ISCA) have drawn up guidelines on appropriate standards for the sustainable development of show caves. However, small local communities and public and private caves’ managers have difficulty in applying these good practices. Aware of this limitation, the training of qualified planners was tested within the doctoral school in Architecture and Environment of the University of Sassari with a course in "Tourist management of underground environments" offered to students of the master's degree in Urban, Environmental and Landscape Planning/Policy Development. This educational activity had the objective of providing essential environmental knowledge for the sustainable design and planning of show caves, giving students the opportunity to extend their skills on the cave habitat and its dynamics, as a cognitive tool for correct development of an underground tourist environment. The course lasted 20 hours for 2 CFU divided into theoretical (14 hours in classroom) and field lessons (4 hours in a show cave). The course program discussed topics related to the origin and the physical features of the underground habitat and its ecology to give an environmental background to the students. The anthropic impacts linked to the tourist use of underground environments and how these must be monitored to prevent permanent damages of the landscape were addressed. Particular attention was given to the choice of the materials that must be used for both internal and external infrastructures (lighting systems, pathways, etc) and to the Italian legislation regarding the workers/visitors health in underground environment. Furthermore, the experience in a show cave provided the students with the opportunity to verify their acquired knowledge and to stimulate the in-depth analysis of the topics for the final examination that took place through a written report or slideshow presented for the suitability assessment. This university course pursued the objective of show caves sustainability as educational contribution to the ecological transition in which the conservation of georesources is a necessary and transversal condition for the pursuit of the prosperity and well-being goals identified by the European Green Deal, with which this course shares the strategy aimed at protecting, conserving and improve the EU's Natural Capital.