Post on 22-Dec-2015
transcript
Integrating ICTs into ecotourism and sustainable
community development
Martin Franklin and Roger Hosein
Department of Economics
UWI, St. Augustine
1
Format of this Presentation
Introductory remarks on Sustainable development and Ecotourism
Challenges to our communities Possible causes of non-sustainable
development Priorities for ICT in development Knowledge, ICT & Development ICT in Sustainable Development &
Ecotourism
2
Community Development (CD)
A process (SCCD, 2001 ) building active communities based on social justice and
mutual respect changing power structures, in order to remove the barriers
that prevent people from participating in the issues that affect their lives
changing existing organizations so that their practices and culture embrace the empowerment of their communities.
Frazer (2005) Some of these barriers are poverty, lack of access to
resources, rights, goods and services, discrimination, and the economic, social and digital divides.
3
Community Development (CD)
A multi-disciplinary process (IACD, 2003)
focuses on building solidarity among groups of people who share common interests
concerned with building the capacity of people to define and address their problems and visions within the context of their own culture.
4
Sustainable Community Development
(Swisher, Rezola & Steins 2006)
CD becomes sustainable when it results in a community that is
environmentally sound, economically productive, and socially just.
Sustainable communities recognise that their economic and social
structures as well as the health of their local environment are
intertwined.
Sustainable communities understand that programs and policies that
foster only one aspect of development, be it economic growth, social
gain, or environmental protection, to the exclusion of the other two
aspects will not promote sustained progress for the community. 5
Sub-Processes, Components and Measurable Outcomes of Sustainable Community
Development (SCCD 2001)Sub Process Component Outcome
Community Empowerment Personal empowerment A learning community
Positive action A fair and just community
Community organizing & volunteer support
An active and organized community
Participation and involvement
An influential community
Enhancing the Quality of Life Community economic development
A shared wealth
Social and service development
A caring community
Community environmental action
A safe and healthy community
Community arts and cultural development
A creative community
Governance and development
A citizens’ community 6
Ecotourism (Honey 2008)
7
travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and (often) small scale
typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions
a conceptual experience, enriching those who delve into understanding the environment around them
gives visitors an insight into their impact as human beings and also a greater appreciation of natural habitats
provides funds for conservation directly benefits the economic development and political
empowerment of local communities fosters respect for different cultures and for human rights.
Ecotourism (Harris & Vogel, 2005)
8
In the context of sustainable community development, ecotourism is closely associated with community-based tourism (CBT).
CBT is a mechanism for fostering natural and cultural resource conservation and community development.
CBT is often implemented in support of wildlifemanagement, environmental protection and/or development for indigenous peoples.
Ecotourism(Tisdell & Wilson, 2002)
9
In the context of sea turtles, ecotourism can have direct benefits for the
conservation of nature as well as indirect benefits.
The direct benefits are the protection of breeding sites of turtles,
investments that assist in increasing the likely survival of baby turtles,
scientific data collection, and stimulus to programmes aimed at
controlling poachers.
The indirect benefits occur because tourists, as a result of their turtle
experience, become more aware of threats to populations of marine
turtles, show greater appreciation for the value of turtles, develop greater
empathy for them and learn ways in which they can foster turtle
conservation.
Challenges to Communities
The challenge facing communities is to integrate environmental, economic
development and the well-being of all people, not just for today, but for countless
generations to come so that development be sustained (IISD 2005).
Communities are also challenged to ensure that the following requirements are
met in implementing any strategy for sustainable community development:
members of the community believe that they have the capacity to resolve their
own problems and shape their own future;
community development initiatives are geared towards developing the
community’s capacity to deal with global issues e.g. HIV/AIDS, Climate Change
at the local level. (Swisher, Rezola & Steins 2006).
10
Challenges to CommunitiesFranklin & Hosein (2009)
Communities are also challenged by the globalization and
technological shifts that have stimulated a revolution in the
information and communication industry.
The centre of this technological revolution is the Internet with
its significant potential for accessing and transferring
information, computer-based communication and innovative
teaching strategies, all at a global level.
Communities must chart a course towards their sustainable
development and in so doing, adopt/integrate the new information
and communication technologies (ICT).11
Possible causes of non-sustainable development.
(AlKutbi & Ahmed 2006)
Strategy - The practice of strategic planners in the
fields of ICT and Development to (a) work separately
and (b) adopt ICT applications that are replicated
from the developed countries notwithstanding the
differences in culture as well as the social,
economic, infrastructure and institutional structures;
ICT - Low penetration of ICT;
Human - Lower human knowledge and varying
levels of culture resistance.12
Moving forward to SCD (AlKutbi & Ahmed 2006)
Recognition be given to:
the Internet is a powerful tool for the promotion of knowledge acquisition and creation;
building human capacity of individuals through knowledge creation and acquisition is an influential factor in sustainable development that should not be overlooked;
the low penetration of ICT is related to either poor infrastructure and/or the cost of services;
the number of Internet users increases significantly as the cost of Internet connection decreases;
the issue of culture resistance to the sharing of tacit knowledge is complex and difficult to measure since it involves social and physiological elements.
13
Priorities for ICTs in development (Heeks 2005)
ICT for development can be decomposed into two parts, namely:
ICT consumption i.e. the use of technology in applications such as e-commerce e.g. ATM and e-government e.g. online drivers licence renewal;
ICT production i.e. the creation of hardware, software and other components of the ICT infrastructure.
Empirical evidence suggests that the developmental gains from investing in ICT production are greater than for investment in ICT consumption.
14
Integrating ICTs into SCD (OECD 2003)
SCD requires co-operation at the local, regional and international levels. Principles
proposed by DAC members for integrating ICTs into development co-operation are:
Sustainable ICT projects should be locally owned and accompanied by human capacity development (CIDA, Japan, Netherlands).
Capacity in effectively using ICTs for development is often the main constraint, not
equipment (majority of donors).
The private sector is instrumental in expanding ICTs for development access and
applications (USAID).
Governments play a key role in establishing a well-regulated, competitive enabling
environment for ICTs to flourish (CIDA, EC and majority of donors).
For ICTs to have a positive development impact, the various social groups must have equal access to them, particularly disadvantaged groups such as the poor, children and indigenous people (CIDA).
Many important aspects of ICT infrastructure are cross-border in nature, and therefore require international/regional co-operation (World Bank).
15
Knowledge
Knowledge resides in each community. It can be created, shared and utilized in each community.
Analytical models demonstrate that knowledge is the main engine of economic development.
The Internet is a powerful and enabling tool to promote knowledge acquisition (education and lifelong learning) and knowledge creation (R&D).
ICT can be used as technologies for facilitating knowledge acquisition, sharing and utilisation in communities.
16
Knowledge Framework for Sustainable Development
(AlKutbi & Ahmed 2006)
Recognising the imperative of human knowledge in SD, the framework involves:
Online Learning Continuous Learning Exchange of tacit and explicit knowledge Knowledge Creation, Sharing & Utilization Human Capital Accumulation Sustainable Development.
This framework must however be supported by the synergy between ICT and Development Strategies aswell as flourishing ICTs.
17
Examples of ICT used as online technologies for knowledge acquisition (AlKutbi & Ahmed 2006)
Technology Application(s)
Portal One-stop Online Curriculum Portals
Streaming Audio/Video Pre-recorded Lecture, Classroom Interaction, Hands-on
Chat, VoIP, Blog Interactive Discussions, Foreign Language Practice, Audio-graphic Teleconferencing
Web Whiteboard
(Combined Graphic Conferencing & VoIP)
Emulsion of Classroom Lessons.
Real time Teacher-Student Collaboration of graphic information , Brainstorming
Instant Messaging Immediate contact with teachers, students, tutors
Internet in wireless handheld 3G devices Graphics & Video to rural communities on palm devices
Semantic Web Machine-understandable reasoning and inference of data on the Web
18
ICTs and Development
The potential and role of ICT as a tool for contributing to development has received much attention in the literature e.g.
Digital Opportunity Initiative (2000)UNDP et al. (2001) Sandro M. R. (2002)Arunachalam (2002)Quibria et al (2002)Harris (2004)Lallana (2004)Willard & Andjelkonic (2005)
19
A sample of ICT Interventions that have the capacity to contribute to SCD and Ecotourism
Component ICT Intervention OutcomePersonal empowerment Distance Learning; Blended Learning; Online
Learning; Flexible Education; Multipurpose Community Telecentres (MCTs);
A learning community
Positive action Social Networks; Free Press; Visual Broadcasting of working conditions; Voice for marginalised communities;
A fair and just community
Community organizing & volunteer support
Social Networks; MCTs An active and organized community
Participation and involvement Community Multimedia Centers (CMCs); Mobile Communications; Flexible Education
An influential community
Community economic development
MCTs; ICT applications in Flow of Remittances, Ecotourism e.g. e-CBT, Small & Micro Enterprises (SMEs), Medium Enterprises & Agriculture; Hardware and Software Enterprises; Virtual business clusters; Incubator Programmes
A shared wealth
Social and service development Social Web; Tele-Health/Telemedicine; Flexible Education; MCTs; Flow of Remittances; Dissemination of HIV/AIDS Messages;
A caring community
Community environmental action MCTs; ICTs for Energy efficiency/ Eco-ICTs; A safe and healthy community
Community arts and cultural development
ICTs for Local Content; Community Radio; VoIP; MCTs; CMCs
A creative community
Governance and development Social Networks; Flexible Education; MCTs; e-government
A citizens’ community20
ICTs & Rural Communities (Harris & Vogel, 2005)
There is a need for pro-poor policies that ensure the
ICT sector covers rural areas.
E-commerce for community-based tourism, or e-CBT,
can become a pump-primer for introducing the
telecentres into rural communities.
Telecentres can subsequently be used to foster the
other forms of development that ICTs make possible.
Telecentres that target income-generating
opportunities from the outset are more likely to
survive after the initial start-up funding dries up.
21
Thank You
22