Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia

The Meeting Post

 

Welcome to The Meeting Post

It gives me much pleasure to be introducing the latest edition of The Meeting Post. This will also be our final edition for the year and the staff of Management Solutions Qld and I would like to take this opportunity to send our best wishes to you for the holiday season.

Delegates at the recent Kalgoorlie Boulder Summit identified that well planned, coordinated tourism development strategies were strongly identified as critical to the sustainable economic growth for the Goldfields Esperance region. My experience is that this is a goal identified by, and shared with, many regions. Regional practitioners would also be aware that tourism is not a panacea for regions. Successful tourism requires vision, knowledge and passion that is interpreted and marketed well to reap appropriate benefits.

This edition of The Meeting Post has drawn together a sample of the current research, best practice examples and program initiatives in regional tourism. Regional events have proliferated in recent years and Anna Stewart and Chris Gibson in their article on rural festivals reports on research that has looked at the financial and social benefits derived from festivals and how to maximise benefits and minimize negatives in this expanding development. At the other end of the scale Patrice Braun’s contribution looks at local tourism networks and the Global Marketplace.

Climate change is never far away as an issue and this edition highlights the Northern Territory Outback Offset Program and the Department of Resources Energy and Tourism’s work on assisting the Australian Tourism Industry to respond to climate change. Hitesh Metha looks at sustainable planning and ecodesign in rural and remote Australia.

Tourism is also about communities and this edition includes articles on some innovative local initiatives including The Brolga Project, Operation Rainforest Big Bird and Volunteer Tourism.

Finally, the team from SEGRA are just drawing breath after a very successful conference in Kalgoorlie Boulder. More than 40 proposals for advancing regional Australia were put forward at the conference.  The Post SEGRA 2009 Conference Communiqué is now available at www.segra.com.au/segra.  Over the next months these will be developed further into a number of options to be considered in more depth. The next edition of The Meeting Post will be focused on some of these proposals.

Best Wishes

Kate Charters
Editor

From The Parliamentary Secretary's Desk

The Rudd Government and Regional Australia

The Hon Maxine McKew MP

The Rudd Government is acutely aware of the importance of Australia’s regional wellbeing. Events such as the current global recession, theextended drought and flooding that have occurred in Australia’s regions underscore how crucial the engagement of the federal government is in Australia’s regional development. In my role as the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, I have been focussed on community infrastructure and regional development.

The Rudd Government has worn its commitment to regional development on its sleeve. In our response to the global financial crisis, our main stimulus measure in community infrastructure the Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program (RLCIP) sowed the seeds of recovery in all 565 councils across Australia. It is a truly universal program which is spreading more than $1 billion in funding across regional communities.

The Rudd Government also has an eye for the long term. We know that a more integrated approach to Australia’s regional development is required, not just at the federal level but from all tiers of government as well as business and community organisations. As a consequence the Government has created the Regional Development Australia (RDA) network, comprising business, community and local government representatives who will work with stakeholders to strengthen their communities.

The regional agenda of the Rudd Government
How we invest in infrastructure going forward is an issue of vital importance for regional Australia. Roads, rail, ports and telecommunications are key drivers of economic growth and ensure sustainability of regional communities. To ensure that investment in infrastructure is effectively targeted the government has established Infrastructure Australia, an independent body which provides advice on nationally significant infrastructure investment and related issues.

Funding has flowed to regional Australia from the Government’s $42 billion Nation Building – Economic Stimulus plan, delivering local jobs, and keeping cash flowing into local communities while leaving a legacy of community infrastructure on-the-ground.
On a broad scale the Rudd Government is providing $17 billion over five years from July 2009 in the national road network as well as investing $43 billion in the National Broadband Network (NBN) and establishing a $12.9 billion water investment program. The extent to which the government supports regional communities is set out in the 2009 Budget Statement: Building our rural and Regional Communities

The Regional Local and Community Infrastructure Program (RLCIP) is our flagship stimulus program for community infrastructure. It includes funding for all councils and shires to address immediate critical community infrastructure needs and strategic projects. Many of the community centres, town halls, parks and playgrounds and pools and sports facilities now under construction would probably have remained on Council drawing boards for many years without federal funding. This funding, delivered through local government is already succeeding in stimulating growth and economic activity in every local government area across Australia.

The Government is also providing funding for cycling infrastructure across the country under the $40 million National Bike Paths Program.
The National Bike Paths Program is a key part of our Economic Stimulus Plan. Around Australia, we are funding more than 170 projects which will support more than 1,900 jobs and traineeships.  Combined with contributions from proponents, this Program will stimulate total investment in cycling infrastructure of around $80 million in the coming year. Better cycling infrastructure will provide more Australians with a greener, healthier way of getting to and from school or work, which over time will help take cars off local roads and reduce carbon emissions. Through our Better Regions Program we are addressing the needs of communities by providing important community infrastructure. The Government is providing $176 million to enhance the liveability of regions and regional towns.

The Regional Development Australia Network
The new collaborative approach to regional development is also on show in the recently completed formation of Regional Development Australia (RDA) committees to replace the former Area Consultative Committee network. RDA is a partnership between the Australian, state, territory and local governments to develop and strengthen the regional communities of Australia. RDA committees are not-for profit organisations comprised of local community champions who will work to strengthen and build their communities. RDA Committees will:

We in the Rudd Government are making a huge investment in regional Australia, one that strengthens communities and helps them to meet the challenges of the 21st century. For additional information on the Rudd government’s commitment to regional Australia please visit here

Professional Perspectives

Reinventing Rural Place
From Elvis impersonators to economic development - rural festivals in Australia

Festival Particpants

Results from a three-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Festivals Project, which show the significant financial and employment benefits from festivals held in rural communities, have been outlined at a seminar at the University of Wollongong.


Rural festivals have proliferated and diversified in recent years from the traditional country show to evermore whacky niches - the Guyra Lamb and Potato Festival, the Wooli Goanna Pulling Festival, the Thoona Latin American and Wheely Bin Festival and Parkes’ Elvis impersonators festival.
Are such festivals significant for rural communities in contrast to their apparent short-lived nature? The ARC festivals project sought to answer this question.

Associate Professor Chris Gibson from UOW’s GeoQuEST Research Centre in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences outlined how rural festivals in the three Australian states they investigated (NSW, Victoria and Tasmania) showed they were worth a $1 billion a year to the rural communities involved, provided 175,000 paid jobs and (based on five volunteers per festival) provided 355,000 days of voluntary labour a year.

The largest ever database of rural festivals in Australia has now been compiled with more than 2,800 participating festivals. And through subsequent postal surveys (with 480 festivals in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania) and collaborative research partnerships for qualitative research with rural festivals in Daylesford (Victoria), Parkes (NSW), Bermagui (NSW) and Inverell (NSW), insights have been gleaned on the ability of festivals to catalyse social and community development, to generate regional income and to challenge or sustain rural cultural identities.

Professor Gibson discussed at the seminar some of the pleasures and contradictions involved in staging – and researching – rural festivals.

For the full report please click here

This article can also be found here

 

Local Tourism Networks and the Global Marketplace
Dr Patrice Braun

 

Today's tourism market is global. This article helps tourism managers understand how the dynamics of their local or regional tourism network fit into the global marketplace.  The growing influence of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), networks and relationships as critical factors in shaping the distribution of economic advantage is relevant to tourism, as it directly impacts on interactions between local and global forces. The realities of global competition require an understanding on the local level of global markets and the complexities of interactions with multiple stakeholders along global supply chains.

Today’s tourism manager is expected to possess the ability to mobilise information and capture knowledge that contributes to the augmentation of product or value along global value chains. Well resourced large and vertically integrated industry players in the tourism sector have been steadily upgrading and globalising their network systems, building on long-established relationships for competitive advantage.

The dynamics are quite different for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in freely assembled destinations, where the benefits of network strategies are less well understood. Tourism networks are complex structures, yet there are relatively few studies on tourism networks, resulting in a limited understanding of tourism networking processes at the destination level.

The paper can be downloaded here

Outback Offsets

 

The Pilot Program
Outback Offsets is a pilot carbon offset program established by the Northern Territory Government’s tourism agency, Tourism NT. Launched in September 2008, Tourism NT supported three tourism businesses in Central Australia to become carbon neutral during 2008/09. The carbon offsets were provided at no cost to the consumer. They selected the touring sector in Central Australia as the basis for the program, particularly because avoiding carbon emissions is a difficult task for tour operators, due to their reliance on fossil fuels for transport. Tourism NT partnered with three Central Australian tour operators to establish this pilot program:

Adventure Tours Australia,
Connections Safaris and
Connections Adventures and
Wayoutback Desert Safaris.

 

Why develop an Offset program
Tourism NT developed the Outback Offsets program in response to growing consumer concern about the impact of climate change. Consumer research conducted by Tourism NT and Tourism Australia in 2007/08 showed a concern about the impacts of climate change and its long term effects on the environment. The research indicated that the potential exists for a large percentage of consumers to change their travel behaviour if they are not satisfied that enough is being done to address the carbon impact of leisure travel.


In line with the changing consumer mindset about the environment and climate change, the number of information sources advising people how to ‘travel green’ has also been increasing. This means the possible beginning of a mindset-change as well as the types of advice given could present a challenge to the Northern Territory as well as other regional areas due to different reasons. The typical advices include tips telling travellers to:

This presents challenges for the Northern Territory as well as other regional areas as they have limited public transport options such as rail and coach travel that cover the vast distances between key destinations, limited number of direct international flights into the area, and only a small number of tourism operators participating in carbon offset programs at present.
The Northern Territory Outback Offset Program
The Northern Territory’s natural environment is fundamental to the visitor experiences and to ensure that it is protected for future generations, the tourism industry must be part of the solution. While there are many actions that businesses can take to reduce their carbon emissions, the touring sector is challenged by its reliance on fossil fuels used to transport visitors. Outback Offsets provided a solution to this challenge as it allowed the participating tour operators to offset the carbon emissions they generated by supporting a project which was reducing emissions elsewhere.
Leading international sustainability management company, PE International (Australia), assisted Tourism NT to develop the Outback Offsets project. They worked with each operator to analyse and identify ways to reduce or avoid emissions, tailored to each business’ operations. Each business invested considerable time and resources towards improving their environmental practices.

The carbon footprint of each operator was measured for 2007/08 to establish benchmark information. Each business maintained records of their electricity and water bills, fuel consumed, volume of waste sent to landfill and other associated areas of their operations which generated carbon emissions for 2008/09. At the end of the financial year, PE International (Australia) developed comprehensive Life Cycle Assessments which summarised the total emissions generated by each operator based on the information they recorded. WWF Australia supported Tourism NT in the development of this pilot carbon offset program. This collaboration between WWF, Government and the tourism industry shows how constructive partnerships can be forged to develop innovative and practical solutions.
The key steps to make the participating tour operators carbon neutral for 2008/09 included:

Monitoring Plans were developed for each business to help them to identify opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint. The Emissions Monitoring Plans included actions such as:

The Life Cycle Assessments were used to analyse the environmental impacts that occurred in the delivery of the tours. They provided information on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the preparation of the tours (the preparation phase) including mainly the back office and supply of fuels, the tours themselves (the use phase of the tour) and the clean up after the tour (the end of life phase).
Sources of greenhouse gas emissions from the three tour operators in each of these phases included:


Preparation Phase

Use Phase

End of Life Phase

  • Business car travel
  • Business air travel
  • Electricity consumption
  • Fuel supply (LPG and diesel production)
  • Delivery of tour vehicles
  • Diesel consumption
  • LPG consumption
  • Municipal solid waste
  • Waste water
  • Dry cleaning (sleeping bags)

To offset the total number of emissions for 2008/09 for each business, carbon credits were purchased from the LMS Generation(LMS) abatement project in the Northern Territory. LMS is an Australian Government approved Greenhouse Friendly™ abatement provider. The LMS abatement project from which these carbon credits were sourced is the Shoal Bay Landfill Gas Generation project in Darwin. This facility produces electricity from methane gas harvested from waste and is the first of its kind in the Northern Territory.

The result of the Outback Offset Program
Overall, the project was very successful. For travellers, Outback Offsets provided assurance that when they booked a tour with one of the participating tour operators, there was no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions as a result of their booking. Results of passenger surveys conducted by participating tour operators indicated that the option to choose tours that were being offset was attractive and for those aware of the program, it was an influencing factor in the decision to travel with the tour operator they chose.
The tourism businesses involved in the project developed an understanding of how to measure, reduce and manage their carbon emissions and ultimately has resulted in improved environmental management and awareness among each of the three operators and their staff.
The objectives that Outback Offsets set out to achieve were:

Crucial elements in the development of Outback Offsets were that it needed to be rigorous, transparent and independently verifiable. The primary reasons for this included:

For more information please visit

People and Parks - a visitor strategy for South Australia's National Parks and Reserves
Department for Environment and Heritage, South Australian Government

South Australia’s National Parks and Reserves provide an extensive network of cultural sites, arid deserts, rugged ranges, untouched beaches and vast seascapes. The People and Parks strategy sets a clear, new vision that will:

Anne Sellar, Director, Visitor Management
Conservation Policy and Programs

While the strategy is primarily focused on visitors, it will also provide opportunities for co-management partners, State and local government, Non-government organizations, as well as recreation and tourism businesses.

National parks and reserves contribute to local, regional and national economies through recreation and tourism.  They help employment and business growth and contribute to the image of the state.  The responsible enjoyment of parks will ensure these benefits are maintained for future generations.

The natural environment, together with food, wine and major events will play an important role in achieving South Australia’s vision for tourism.The State’s parks have over 4 million visits annually, but visitor numbers are relatively static.  Only about half of the population regularly visit parks, and many parks are rarely visited at all.  The following trends will be addressed as part of the People and Parks strategy to help strengthen these figures:

Many of South Australia’s parks contain facilities such as visitor sites, lookouts, toilets, car parks, roads, tracks, trails, visitor information centres, self registration bays, information signs and interpretive signs.  The People and Parks strategy will help ensure we have the right facilities in the right locations.  Some sites have a suite of facilities catering for many people but most will have minimal facilities for lower numbers of self sufficient visitors.

A small number of outstanding park experiences will become drivers for regional visits and will be competitive with other Australian and international destinations.  This will happen at:

Other park destinations would offer more specialized opportunities, focused on the needs of specific target markets.

In South Australia, industry is taking the lead in driving economic growth supported by Government.  This can be achieved by continuing to invest in facilities and services upon which private enterprise can leverage.  Progressive partnerships between Government and the private sector can provide better outcomes for Government, communities and the tourism sector.

Many of South Australia’s parks are vast, remote and logistically difficult to manage.  The South Australian economy has grown rapidly since 2001 but still only represents 6.5% of national GDP.  At the same time, the State manages a considerable portion of Australia’s total protected area.  South Australia’s parks need the support of neighbours, volunteers and other partners.

Park visitors are the ultimate beneficiaries from this strategy; as such the strategy has an outward focus for South Australians, interstate and international visitors and peak recreation bodies and other organised community groups in South Australia.

 

Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism

Assisting the Australian Tourism Industry to respond to Climate Change
Climate change presents significant challenges, particularly for the Australian regional tourism industry. Australia’s tourism industry is vulnerable to the impacts of both the physical effects of climate change and potential changes in traveller behaviour as a result of climate change concerns. The industry will also be affected by national and international policies introduced to reduce emissions.

The importance of ensuring the tourism industry is provided with relevant and practical information on climate change issues has led to the development of the Climate Change Guide: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures for Australian Tourism Operators by the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) in consultation with the Department of Climate Change.

This Guide, developed for RET by Parsons Brinckerhoff, is designed to provide the tourism industry with information on a range of issues including practical advice on how to adapt business practices and behaviours and how to disseminate climate change mitigation message on to consumers. The guide features a series of case studies of tourism businesses which are making meaningful environmentally-based changes to the way they do business. 

In July 2009, a series of workshops were held in each State in conjunction with the release of the Climate Change Guide. RET worked closely with Tourism Australia to create a workshop that was interactive, practical and suitable for small to medium tourism businesses, operators and employees to attend.

The tourism industry must take advantage of the opportunities that implementing carbon reduction strategies will provide in enhancing the reputation of the entire tourism industry. Changing behaviours and adjusting attitudes towards environmental sustainability and climate change issues was a key aim of the workshops. Feedback from the workshops suggested that:

A downloadable copy of the Guide and the Workshop Presentations is available from the website. The Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism will continue to work with the Department of Climate Change to ensure that the tourism industry receives appropriate information and advice, including on specific government initiatives, to meet the challenges of responding to climate change.

The Minister for Tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, will soon be releasing the National Long-Term Tourism Strategy. The Strategy will boost industry resilience by creating a framework for increasing industry productivity, developing better quality product, better research capabilities and improved governance arrangements. The Strategy contains a set of broad based actions which aim to set the foundations for a more resilient and flexible tourism industry that is able to weather external shocks and to take advantage of emerging opportunities.

 

National Landscapes Indigenous Tourism Initiative
On 25 March 2009, the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, announced a one-off grants initiative which provided 150,000 in funding to a range of Indigenous specific tourism projects within the National Landscapes program.


The National Landscapes program is a partnership between Tourism Australia and Parks Australia to identify and promote landscapes which capture the essence of Australia and offer distinctive natural and cultural experiences.  It identifies the very best that Australia has to offer, then brands and markets these areas according to the unique experience each one offers.

The program was launched in December 2006. Australia’s nine current National Landscapes are:

  1. Australia’s Red Centre (NT)
  2. Australian Alps (NSW, VIC, ACT)
  3. Australia’s Coastal Wilderness (NSW, VIC)
  4. Australia’s Green Cauldron (NSW, QLD)
  5. Flinders Ranges (SA)
  6. Greater Blue Mountains (NSW)
  7. Great Ocean Road (VIC)
  8. Kakadu (NT)
  9. Kangaroo Island (SA)

While the primary focus of the National Landscapes program is on promoting Australia’s outstanding natural and cultural experiences, one of the great opportunities that this program also offers is to build Indigenous experiences and messages into the mainstream nature-based tourism offering.

The objective of the National Landscapes Indigenous Tourism Initiative was to support a range of projects which demonstrate and highlight Indigenous specific tourism opportunities within the National Landscapes program. As well as featuring Indigenous experiences centrally in mainstream nature-based tourism, a broader objective is to support greater employment for Indigenous people in the tourism industry.
Seven projects (involving six of the National Landscapes) were provided with funding based on their ability to develop Indigenous tourism within their region through employment initiatives, strategic planning and aspiration building in local communities.  Several of the projects featured cooperation between National Landscapes, with cross border cooperation central to many Landscapes.  

Projects undertaken ranged from training and strategic business planning, business and cultural accreditation, to educating employers on engaging and retaining Indigenous staff. This initiative demonstrates how the National Landscapes program can provide a platform for Government engagement at all levels that supports the National Landscapes program objectives as well as complements broader regional development and employment objectives.  For more information on the National Landscapes program go to the Tourism Australia website

Operation Rainforest Big Bird: Cassowary Habitat

For thousands of years the tropical rainforests of Northern Australia have been tended by a unique gardener, a gardener who has not emanded anything other than to be able to work in peace.  This rainforest gardener is the Southern Cassowary. 

However, in the last 200 years this gardener’s rainforest habitat has been fragmented, cleared and infested with competing species such as wild pigs and feral dogs.  CSIRO now estimate the number of Cassowary to be between 1200 and 1500.

The Australian Rainforest Foundation, in partnership with Tourism Tropical North Queensland, have launched a world wide competition to win the best holiday in the world in-order to raise funds to create a cassowary habitat corridor stretching from Cooktown to Cardwell. 

The aim of this campaign is to establish a continuous habitat corridor along the coast of North Queensland linking together National Parks, State Forest, Freehold (private) land, various leases of public land and World Heritage Listed Areas.  

The Australian Rainforest Foundation seeks to create a sustainable model for habitat protection while fostering and aiding local land owners and businesses to combine profitable activities with best practice habitat management.

The Australian Rainforest foundation has teamed together with over 50 accredited Planet Safe tourism businesses to put together a fantastic competition – “Win the best holiday in the world”. 

This competition is fully supported by the region’s environmentally friendly tourist operators allowing the winners to choose from a wide selection of activities and experiences to suit their interests and have the Best Holiday in the World.

Just $10 per ticket will get you an entry into the competition.  More importantly your $10 is:

For more information and easy entry

 

Sustainable Planning and EcoDesign in Rural and Remote Australia
Hitesh Mehta

Master Physical Planning and Design in this global age of heightened cultural and environmental sensitivity needs to be holistic in nature and sustainable in all aspects of the planning and design process. This article, addresses how Sustainable Planning and EcoDesign can be implemented in Rural and Remote parts of Australia; highlights monetary and social benefits to stakeholders and outlines tangible means of how people can work with the concept of Sustainable Planning and Eco Design.

For the past ten years, I have in my work practiced what I call a “quadruple-bottom’ line planning and design approach – one that balances economic, environmental, social and spiritual issues. Each site plan and building design is a response to the local context: physical, metaphysical and cultural.

Sustainable Planning: Whether initiated privately or by government, developments in rural and remote parts of Australia must practice Sustainable planning. Of all the professions, Landscape Architects and Planners are amongst the best trained to create physical Sustainable Developments plans. They bear a special responsibility for the ecologically and socially friendly design of facilities in rural and remote areas. A new paradigm in sustainable planning is required in the rural and remote areas of Australia: a paradigm that not only respects the ecosystems of the site and the communities that neighbour the development, but also strives to retain and in some cases enhance the sacredness of the site. 

A Master Plan in Rural and Remote Australia must incorporate the main principles of sustainability: planned to ensure that there will be minimum negative impacts on the natural environment and that potential social and economic benefits will be derived to locals. The strategy should be to place a strong emphasis on economic development and environmental conservation within the ten – fifteen year period. Sustainable Projects should support the conservation of the surrounding Flora and Fauna and should also consider the use of local labor and materials thereby helping benefit local communities and economies.

Ecodesign: Internationally, Ecodesign has evolved in leaps and bounds in the past decade. I remember that way back in 1998, there were few green designers in the world. In the US, William Macdonough, an eco-Architect was becoming known for his alternative philosophies of design. I would say that in the last three years, ecodesign has taken a quantum leap because of climate change concerns, rising oil prices and most importantly, heightened awareness amongst people.
Ecodesign makes:

Ecodesign means not only being good to the environment but it also means cost savings which then results to profits. Again, there are many examples of cost-saving around the world, several of which are in the traditional tourism industry eg. Marriot, Intercontinental etc where the use of environmentally friendly technology and passive and active design approaches have resulted in huge profits.

Passive Design is the aspect of design that takes place on the drawing board and before the construction of the facility. It includes actions such as orienting buildings such that they capture the wind and aid convection or block the strong sun. It also means sitting the buildings along the contours rather than against them in order to reduce cut and fill of the earth. Planting concepts take require little or no water is also considered good passive design.

Active Design is the process that takes place during the operations and after the facilities have been built. Provision of solar pv cells, windmills, ceiling fans, HVAC systems, solar water heaters, drip-irrigation are considered active design approaches.
As regards building and landscape materials, I believe strongly in using those with the least energy embodiment. By this I mean materials that have travelled the least distance and those that have little energy used to manufacture them. In most cases I strive to use local natural materials and I carry out research during the site analysis stage to identify local artisans and craftsperson who work well with local materials.


Ecodesigner: The main differences between a traditional designer and an ecodesigner in rural and remote cultural areas of Australia are that an ecodesigner needs to:

Ecotechnologies:  In the past five years, eco-technology has gone to new heights. Every month, new technologies are being introduced into the market. The green technologies in eco building that we will see more of in the coming years are:

Conclusion
Over five years ago, I stated at a keynote presentation in the Blue Mountains that if there is one important thing that Australia has not paid much attention to, it is the local benefits to indigenous communities. It is interesting to note that the feature topic in the previous issue of SEGRA Newsletter is on Indigenous Communities.


Similar to efforts in many African and Latin American countries, the Australian Tourism Ministry, local Tourism Organizations and Private Investors need to do a lot more to include Aboriginal communities right from the beginning stages of the projects and to ensure that there are local benefits. Moreover, long –term assistance needs to be given to local communities to help them develop their own recreational, retail and hospitality facilities. This is not an easy process but necessary to ensure authentic socio-economic sustainable development.

 

The Brolga Project

With a clear goal of encouraging regional economic growth, a 12-month-old initiative is drawing young, enthusiastic, graduating professionals towards regional careers.

The Brolga Project matches final-year university students with host agencies in rural and regional Australia. Its rationale is to offer the students a chance to try life and work in a regional community, in the knowledge that many students will enjoy the experience enough to return to the community when they’ve completed their studies.

Interest from students has been overwhelming, with over 500 coming forward to be part of the project in the first year. They represent a range of more than 40 career choices too, with the most popular being accounting and engineering, although marketing, law, health and tourism studies are also well represented.

The diversification of students studying tourism reflects the diversity across the project. Tourism students range from people already living in country areas keen to promote their local communities, to international students seeking work as translators and field guides.

The Brolga Project is a really simple initiative offering huge-scale benefits to everyone involved and the success stories coming out of the project testify to its strengths.

The first student has been placed into full time employment, and some host agencies are finding the activity so rewarding they are up to taking their third placement, while students themselves are astounded at the range of experiences they can participate in.

The project’s only very new, but there are plenty of prior examples where young people who have moved to country communities early in their career, settle and build their lives in the rich diversity of local life. Managers of the project believe that as it evolves there will be flow-on benefits to towns where the students are placed, as active encouragement will be directed to the students’ friends and family to visit them on placement.

Please visit the website or lodge a non-binding expression of interest online

 

Volunteer Tourism and Community Development
Dr Stephen Wearing

 

The history of host communities and mainstream tourism has been an interesting, if not controversial, one. Many of the ideas that have supported the development of a community based approach to tourism have come about through the enormous impacts that tourism developments in Australia in the 1980's had on host communities. These communities often had little say and control in the development that was occurring. The social impact of unrestrained tourism developments caused upheaval in many communities. Volunteer tourism however may offer regional communities in Australia an alternative way of developing tourism. In looking at approaches to Volunteer tourism, we must examine:

  • The values on which it is developed,
  • The goals of its development, and
  • How it impacts the host community.

In mainstream tourism, we often find an unquestioning acceptance of the effects of unrestrained development of the natural environment, such as the exploitation of natural resources. Numerous critiques by environmentalists and others have attacked this pro-development viewpoint. Volunteer tourism also tries, I believe, to move beyond the more selfish focus on ‘self’ - so apparent in today’s societies (and travel behavior is no exception). Volunteer tourism recognises the effects of visitors on an area and does not hold a naive faith in the so-called benefits of development as unrestrained growth of tourism; but rather, seeks to use tourism to provide other types of resources focusing on community-based projects. It is one thing to talk about the ideas, values, and principles of community and how they fit into the world in which we would like to operate; but it is another to actually do something about it.

Most tourism is self serving in the sense that what it creates in host communities is really to benefit the tourist. Volunteer tourism seeks to provide resources that are directed toward the community and the needs they have identified as important for their development. But, volunteer tourism is not just ideas, values, and aspirations for a better world in a broad sense. In many circumstances it concerns itself with how tourism in destination areas can be used to support and enhance the local community.


How can volunteer tourism operate within this context?


The first aim is to ensure communities in the wider sense have input into what happens with projects that are to occur, be that in a destination or for conservation or scientific reasons. Tourism destinations are often made up of a series of separate `places' such as landscapes, wildlife, or specific activities. The people who best know and understand how these areas function are the people who deal with these places on a regular basis: members of the host community who use the area regularly, rather than the travel agencies or other transient organisations that bring people in and out of the area.

However, rarely are members of the community asked by private operators what their vision is for the area. Nor have members of the host community traditionally been part of the planning process. Likewise, planning decisions have often been made by people who do not understand the intricacies or functions of the destinations and attractions of the region. As a result, the tourism destination created does not suit community needs or use the resources to their best advantage.

This article suggests that volunteer tourism can offer a different outcome in that it is an approach that recognises the inter-dependence of tourism on the host communities culture and ecology:

There is a growing awareness within small communities of the benefits to be derived from developing volunteer tourism as part of their economics. Often this awareness comes on the heels of the declining traditional local industry such as agriculture or manufacturing. To be a truly successful part of a community's economy, tourism must be sustainable, even if only on a seasonal basis. To be sustainable, it must be properly planned and managed to ensure a continuing high quality experience for the visitor.

Not every community is suited for tourism development, nor is tourism suitable for every community.

Volunteer tourism offers a means to support community based projects without having to enter into the infrastructure required for more mainstream tourism. Volunteer tourism can play a valuable role in the development of community, particularly in rural and under-developed areas. Its ability to empower and involve all members of host communities through acknowledging the valuable contribution they make can enable more effective and equitable planning for community. Volunteers can provide the resources to sustain community projects that are not tourism-related and assist communities as they explore other types of development.
stephen wearing

For more information on Voluntourism please click here

 

Voluntourism - Travelling to make a difference

The ‘voluntourist’ is an experience seeker looking for a holiday which is engaging, enriching and informative.  They are an active rather than passive traveller and people who have a desire to interact with the local environment and communities to make a meaningful difference.

Combining a vacation with volunteering on local projects is one way many travellers feel a world away from their daily routines and get to make a difference.  Volunteers donate time and money to be hands on in everything from rolling baits to setting traps and collecting data from the animals, planting trees, clearing marine debri from remote coastline, restoring seabird habitat, building walking tracks in National Parks, participating in turtle research, removing weeds to restore native habitat,  assisting with erosion control and fencing.

In 1982, the first conservation volunteers came together in Australia to revive severely degraded farmland surrounding the regional township of Ballarat in Western Victoria. Today, 27 years on, this small community group is now one of Australia’s leading, multi-award winning, non-profit conservation and volunteer tourism organisations, Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA).

 In fulfilling their mission, “to manage a force volunteers to complete practical conservation projects for the betterment of the environment”, CVA created volunteer tourism experiences that embrace the principles of sustainability, engaging volunteers from Australia and abroad to conserve the environment.

Each year CVA attracts and manages over 15,000 enthusiastic volunteers on conservation projects from 25 offices located in city and regional areas of Australia. The organisation occupies a unique position within the tourism market providing tourism experiences based purely on giving back to the environment.  CVA has for many years addressed the environmental problems Australia faces such as past practices of large scale land clearing of native vegetation, threatened water quality, increased residential impacts on flora and fauna habitats, protection of biodiversity and the effects of salinity.

Since the organisation’s inception, across Australia CVA has planted over 15 million trees and completed more than 2 million volunteer days on conservation projects.  In addition to the considerable conservation outcomes CVA’s programs support regional economic development by providing local employment opportunities, increasing domestic and international visitation and reinvesting revenue earned through CVA’s tourism operations back into conservation projects.

CVA is well recognised as a business leader including multiple state and national tourism award wins and the 2009 Environment & Sustainability Award Winner, Regional Achievement and Community Awards Victoria. A focus of the awards is community groups enhancing the social, economic, commercial and environmental prosperity of their region. 

 


For more information on Conservation Volunteers Australia, or how your regional area can get involved in voluntourism, contact Conservation Volunteers Australia
Joanne Davies
Phone 03 5330 2600
jdavies@conservationvolunteers.com.au


Papers Available - Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference 2009

 
 

Costas Christ
National Geographic

An international delegation of over 220 leaders in sustainability gathered in Alice Springs, Australia recently to discuss the latest issues and opportunities across sustainability, ecotourism, tourism in protected areas and climate change response. These were further discussed during the Theme Stream Workshops on Day Two providing further discussion and tangible outcomes for delegates to implement in their organisations and operations.  Over 60 papers from Keynote and Theme Stream presenters provided delegates with an outstanding array of the latest approaches to sustainable tourism. The proceedings of the Global Eco Asia-Pacific Tourism Conference 2009 will be available online from Friday 4th of December 2009.

Proceedings will be available for delegates with password access and a CD Rom of the proceedings will be available for purchase and will include PowerPoint presentations of the national and international keynote speakers featured during the two plenary days as well as presentations from the various Theme Stream Workshops.

For further information on Global Eco

SEGRA 2009 - Post Conference Communiqué is now available

The SEGRA 2009 Communiqué including more than 40 proposals for advancing regional Australia put forward at the conference is now available at the website.  The next edition of the Meeting Post will feature some key learnings and initiatives of SEGRA.

 

The destination for SEGRA 2010 is still under consideration

If you would like to find out more about hosting SEGRA next year or in the future, please contact Kate Charters at 07 3210 0021 or by email

 

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