Keynote Session 1
Environmental sustainability and the place of leisure and tourism

Chaired by Dr Tim Gale, University of the West of England, this keynote session will focus on local planning and impacts of developments in leisure and tourism within urban and rural environments. The session will explore the impacts of tourism on local communities in less developed countries, offer critiques of unsustainable tourism and illustrate examples of policies and practices that have achieved environmental sustainability within the wider context of fair trade. Focusing on the UK the second paper will offer an evaluation of the role of leisure-related developments in maintaining green space and vibrant communities within our cities.

· Tricia Barnett, Director of Tourism Concern. As Director of Tourism Concern for over a decade Tricia Barnett has made an internationally significant contribution to increasing awareness of the negative impacts of tourism and to addressing these impacts through the development of fair trade and ethical consumption initiatives.

· Julia Thrift, Director Cabe Space, Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Through wide ranging initiatives Julia Thrift has demonstrated the importance of maintaining and developing green spaces within urban areas and this session draws together the evidence linking environmental regeneration, neighbourhood renewal and community and individual well-being.

Keynote Session 2
Social and cultural spaces of leisure and tourism

Chaired by Dr Fiona Jordan, University of the West of England, this keynote session will focus on the ways in which leisure and tourism, in addition to being social and cultural practices, play a role in creating and recreating urban social and cultural spaces as both inclusive and exclusive environments for local communities and tourist visitors.

· John McCarthy, Herriott Watt University, Edinburgh. Through extensive research, John McCarthy has explored the creation of urban 'cultural quarters' and critically assessed their impact on local economies, environments and communities.

· Professor Gill Valentine, Department of Geography, University of Leeds. With a well-established international profile for her social and cultural research of marginalized groups, Professor Valentine reports on her recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation research of 'binge drinking' in urban centres to explore how this leisure activity both includes and excludes people from urban spaces and places.

Keynote Session 3 Panel Discussion
Academic renewal in leisure and tourism studies

Chaired by Professor Cara Aitchison, University of the West of England, this session will focus on recent theoretical, methodological and pedagogical developments within the subject field of leisure studies broadly defined to include sport and tourism. The session will be introduced with a brief overview of processes of research assessment in the UK. This introduction will be made by Cara Aitchison, sub-panel member of Sport Related Studies for RAE 2008 and the presentations will be followed by discussion.

· Professor John Tribe, University of Surrey, Chair of the Association of Tourism in Higher Education and Editor of the Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, with a background in the economics of tourism and epistemological and pedagogical research in tourism studies

· Dr Annette Pritchard, Director of the Welsh Centre for Tourism Research, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, a member of the Leisure Studies (Journal) Editorial Board, with a background in tourism management and gender studies in tourism

· Dr Mike Weed from Loughborough University, Editor of the Journal of Sport and Tourism

· Professor Neil Ravenscroft, University of Brighton, Managing Editor of the journal of the Leisure Studies Association, Leisure Studies.

Keynote Session 4
Economic regeneration through leisure, sport and tourism

Chaired by Dr Scott Fleming, Chair of the Leisure Studies Association, this session will focus on the changing role of leisure, sport and tourism in promoting economic development and wider changes related to both urban and rural regeneration. In particular, the session will explore the role of sport tourism in contributing to economic and social regeneration.

· Professor Chris Gratton. As Co-Director of the Sport Industries Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, Professor Gratton has conducted extensive research into the impact of sport-related regeneration and is well positioned to provide a thorough international summary of the successes and failures of using sport as a means of promoting economic regeneration.

· Dr Heather Gibson, Department of Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management, University of Florida. Having recently published what is sure to become a seminal text in sport tourism, Dr Heather Gibson extends our analysis of sport beyond both its sectoral confines and economic impacts to explore sport's relationship with tourism and its wider potential for renewal.