7th International Gran Canaria Spring Symposium in Tourism Development (VII SSTD 2025)
Last June 20, 2025 the UNESCO Chair on Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) celebrated the workshop “Gender, community, and everyday challenges: A dialogue around the work of five women researchers¨ within the framework of the seventh edition of the International Gran Canaria Spring Symposium in Tourism Development (VII SSTD 2025).
The online workshop was chaired by Yen E. Lam González (Research Director) and Eugenio Díaz Fariña (Secretary of the UNESCO Chair) and saw the participation of five invited experts from Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Panama and Spain who reflected on the tensions between academic frameworks and community realities through their experiences. The five panellists are specialised in gender, social psychology, tourism, urbanism, environmental chemistry and community-based research, and addressed key topics:
- Gender and professional development: how being a woman has shaped their research trajectories or added meaning to their involvement in research areas, such as tourism which is also considered an undervalued topic at the academic level.
- Social construction of gender: how they have analysed the social construction of gender stereotypes in diverse communities and cultural environments. They also advocate for addressing the often-overlooked “problematic of masculinity” with the same seriousness as women’s issues.
- Gender disparity: their concerns about non-eradication of gender wage gaps, male-dominated sectors and poor leadership access of women in the tourism labour market, because of systemic bias, geography and cultural factors—not lack of merit—.
- Work-life balance: the extra effort of conducting fieldworks while managing family responsibilities. Reflections arisen on how women are still subjected to societal doubts about their ability to balance professional research and motherhood.
- Field and community work: highlighting that women often engage in with a distinct, deep level of ethical, human commitment, and emotional responsibility when supporting vulnerable communities.
Among their main professional achievements, they mentioned special pride that their academic work has transcended the publication of scientific journals or books. They highlighted having promoted and successfully incorporated gender perspectives into official tourism studies; the integration of care infrastructures in tourist destinations benefiting both tourists and workers; the gender-focused design of sanitary modules for refugee camps to ensure women’s safety and dignity; the design of easily transportable toilet prototypes for crisis zones; the work with Zenú and Arhuaca indigenous communities to document the voices of female leaders, the practical adaptation of the ProCC methodology of Community Corrective Processes in several Spanish and Argentine communities; the discovery of new plants with potential neurological health benefits to support local economies and foster new patents; the effective integration of ancestral knowledge in new eco-tourism products.
To see the full video use the following link: https://youtu.be/N97TntfouJ0
