Geotourism project in Tibagi, Brazil
Location
The project Geotourism in Tibagi town, Brazil, provides high quality information about geology, geography and mining history, translated in easy words, to use in tourism structure. After basic research, the first step consisted of interpretative panels installed on main natural attractions, specific press material made (as 20.000 folders), short-courses done to local teachers, managers and tourism guides, and photo-expositions about the theme. We believe this idea has been able to change the directions of tourism in this small town and as main attributes are: the increase on general knowledge of the people; awakening of geoconservation conscience; increase of residents self-steem. All of the results allow the development of sustainable tourism in the region and strong possibilities to generate new jobs in a intelligent way.
Your idea
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Street Address
Rua Duílio Calderari, 139
City
Curitiba
State/Province
Postal/Zip Code
Country
Brazil
Year innovation began
2006
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
Quality of benefit to the people of the desitination
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Indicate sector in which you principally work
Academia
Geographic location
Rural.
Plot your innovation within the Mosaic of Solutions
Main insight addressed
Education through hands-on experience
Name Your Project
Geotourism project in Tibagi, Brazil
Describe Your Idea
The project Geotourism in Tibagi town, Brazil, provides high quality information about geology, geography and mining history, translated in easy words, to use in tourism structure. After basic research, the first step consisted of interpretative panels installed on main natural attractions, specific press material made (as 20.000 folders), short-courses done to local teachers, managers and tourism guides, and photo-expositions about the theme. We believe this idea has been able to change the directions of tourism in this small town and as main attributes are: the increase on general knowledge of the people; awakening of geoconservation conscience; increase of residents self-steem. All of the results allow the development of sustainable tourism in the region and strong possibilities to generate new jobs in a intelligent way.
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation?
To teach local community to use geological and geographic features as touristic products, enhancing the culture, economy and self-esteem of Tibagi population.
How does your approach support or embody geotourism?
The goal is to enhance people culture initially in a small universe as Tibagi town (18,000 inhabitants and an interesting geodiversity), about geoconservation, applying multiple actions. This kind of enhancement reflects on economy using geotourism structure and strategy. This experience has high potential to be cloned in other cities in the same region.
We made a detailed research about the geological and geographic context in the region and, we translated to a comprehensive words (in portuguese and english). Then we provided this contents in local panels, folders, internet and others. After this, we offered some short courses, teorethical and practice ones, to local teachers and tourism guides, to create efficient multipliers agents of the idea. Now, the idea can survive and evolute by itself in the city, with very few foreign suggestions.
Describe your approach in detail. How is it innovative?
The innovative feature of this project is to offer a very deep, and often unknown, environmental knowledge, as geology, history of mining extraction, geomorphology and geographic informations with easy words as potential touristic attractions. The earth culture has become a very interesting product to add in tourism strategy development. This program of conscientization changes ideas of local people and opens many doors to geoconservation with sustainability. Conceptually, this project is a new approach on places known by people and it can improve and even increase the attractions in the region, enhancing the economy. The knowledge about Earth can support the touristic sustainability and promoves the awakening of conscience of the community.
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
The partnership with local government and MINEROPAR (a government agency to development of geology and mining exploration in Paraná State) has been fundamental until the moment. We believe Tibagi region needs more education in this sense and to develop specific routes or programs to maximize the idea. Partnerships who offer correct touristic strategies and correct technical informations are welcome. As practice features more interpretative panels, more short-courses and more press-releases will be efficient.
Impact
In one sentence describe what kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
Special technical knowledges translated to simple words can be offered as a precious attraction in local tourism economy, creating new jobs and developing environmental conscience at same time.
Describe the degree of success of your approach to date. Clearly define how you measure quantitative and qualitative impact in terms of how your approach contributes to the sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How does your approach minimize negative impacts? 200 words or less
We were able to touch local government, teachers, touristic and similar managers, in a small town. Effects are visible now and is a matter of time to improve the conscience of all the population, because of the size of the town. Hotel owners proposed the installation of more panels, and new places were discovered by them. Places before in risk, as fossilian site, now are protected by own population and presently they are an important place to know. This project expanded the concept of natural heritage to managers in Tibagi town.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
Tibagi town tries to develop its tourism economy based mainly in natural attractions, but in the last two years has had a great distinction in the region because of geotourism emphasis. High quality data offered in tourism turned visitors to partners to geoconservation cause and has led the population very proud of her nature.
Describe how your innovation helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area’s cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues. How do you motivate them to act responsibly in their future travel decisions?
Visitors and residents have access to geological/geographical information troughout seven interpretative panels plotted in main touristic points and/or using one of 20,000 folders published with map and all special context. Canyons, fossils, waterfalls and rupestrian paints are explained in easy words and readers can absorb them in different ways depending on their instruction. Geological time (millions of years), presented in the context as the main factor to bild the landscapes, contrasts with the human action time (some years or decades). Visitors and residents are induced to think about this different time scale and how human action can influence its landscape.
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your innovation, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
After interpretative panels have been installed and short-courses done, teachers and tourism guides use the informations available to transmit to others, mainly children and youngers in elementary and high school. Folders and press materials are offered in hotels, restaurants, museum and public spaces. Artisans association develop specially designed pieces with geological refuses from old diamond mining. We believe we have put the wheel on move.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? What is the potential demand for your innovation?
Untill now the financial support from MINEROPAR and local government has been enough to start the process. This is only the first step, and is the unique in preview. We believe it is worthwhile to intensify the implantation with next steps, mainly to give visibility and transform Tibagi town in example for replicate the process in other places.
How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
This step has been totally financed by MINEROPAR and, in small part by Tibagi town. The data about Tibagi region were achieved between 2006 and 2007 during a regional work in a big touristic program called Rota dos Tropeiros that involves 17 towns. So Tibagi is only the first one. This program costed about 30.000 dollars for the whole region, included some panels installed. Photographies and short courses were volunteers, so zero cost for Tibagi. In this time reports from local tourism bureau detected an increase in number of visitors and even new kinds of touristic event associated to geographic information diffused (as paragliding championship).
What is your plan to expand your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
We find as next step to prepare many short courses in the region, to install more panels and some infra-structure, improve the small local museums with new data and create routes for geotourism. The town offers also the structure and possibility to create a special course for neighbours cities to diffuse this experience, also with local managers version. Tibagi can easily become the capital of geotourism in southern part of Brazil in few years.
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
The main barrier is cultural, more than economic. It was absolutely necessary create the favourable scenery into population and local government before the implant. After this, the plan walked pretty good. Of course it is also necessary now, after initial implantation, increase the actions, mainly to keep alive the idea with more courses to the population, to create new media for divulging and detailing the preliminar strategy. We believe Tibagi town is a good prototype and all right and wrong actions learned will be very useful to replicate in other places. A strong barrier now is spreading all is done and improving the program with new actions for maximize the impact.
The Story
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
ANTONIO LICCARDO is geologist, teacher in Federal University of Paraná and nature photographer. He creates a website about geotourism in 2007 to diffuse the concept, his photos and to have some projects to work (www.geotourismbrazil.com). He has worked with the partner MINEROPAR, specially with a geologist, GIL PIEKARZ, responsible for geotourism/geoconservation development in Paraná since 2003.
Both have dedicated a lot of efforts, attention and experience to develop this idea in Tibagi, and after three years they are very proud of results.
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell your story.
We begin to work in geotourism as a way to diffuse geological knowledge. In 2005 we began the works on Rota dos Tropeiros, a touristic program that involves 17 towns with special history and geography, that at least reveals special geological conditions. Tibagi town attracts our attention among the others because is a small town with really strong intentions to participate in touristic economy. We began our geotourism project at the same moment they began to create some good infra-structure for tourism. We believe it was a magical moment to take the right way, offering the knowledge as the main product and developing a geoconservation conscience.
Please write an overview of your project. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the Google map located on the competition homepage.
The project Geotourism in Tibagi town, Brazil, provides high quality information about geology, geography and mining history, translated in easy words, to use in tourism structure. After basic research, the first step consisted of interpretative panels installed on main natural attractions, specific press material made (as 20.000 folders), short-courses done to local teachers, managers and tourism guides, and photo-expositions about the theme. We believe this idea has been able to change the directions of tourism in this small town and as main attributes are: the increase on general knowledge of the people; awakening of geoconservation conscience; increase of residents self-steem. All of the results allow the development of sustainable tourism in the region and strong possibilities to generate new jobs in a intelligent way.
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 | liccardo said: Hello William Thanks for your comment. I agree about the geotourism as support to citizens improve the economy. Thats our ... about this Competition Entry. - 1355 days ago read more > |
| Willian De Lima said: Parabéns Prof. Liccardo! Este projeto de desenvolvimento do geoturismo na cidade de Tibagi-Pr é muito interessante. Ele fortalece nos ... about this Competition Entry. - 1365 days ago read more > |
| liccardo said: Hi Fabio We agree with you in all suggestions. You know the tourism economy is highly complex and full of subtlenesses. We believe we ... about this Competition Entry. - 1371 days ago read more > |
| liccardo said: Hello Thiago This is a very good question! How to know if we are in the right way? Well...untill the moment no special method was ... about this Competition Entry. - 1371 days ago read more > |
| Thiagobaco said: Does the project include any method in order to measure the improviments on local tourism and the effects on Tibagi inhabitants? about this Competition Entry. - 1371 days ago read more > |
| liccardo said: Hi Yasmin Thanks about your words. The knowledge become conscience when we speak about environment. Many factors contribute to ... about this Competition Entry. - 1372 days ago read more > |
| Fabio said: Apesar de existirem divergências quanto à união harmoniosa entre geoturismo e geoconservação, considero que para preservar um bem ... about this Competition Entry. - 1372 days ago read more > |
| yasmin13 said: Congratulations for this stimulant project, wich is going to associate the propagation fo environmental knowledge, the patrimony´s ... about this Competition Entry. - 1372 days ago read more > |
| liccardo said: Hi Alberto Thank you very much, but is not my merit. The results were caused by local people involvement and Mineropar agency's ... about this Competition Entry. - 1373 days ago read more > |
| AlbertoJr said: Congratulations for its work Mr. Liccardo. We are with you. about this Competition Entry. - 1373 days ago read more > |
