Geotourism project in Tibagi, Brazil
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
This will be the address used to plot your entry on the map.
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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Comments
Agradeceríamos comentários, que podem ser enviados em português, inglês, francês, italiano ou espanhol.
We thank comments, even in other languages as portuguese, spanish, italian or french.
Este projeto para mim expressa de forma completa a essência do termo Geoturismo.
Com a geodiversidade do local está sendo possível promover o conhecimento a cerca de temas ligados as geociências, valorização destes e conservação do patrimônio geológico. Associando tudo isso com a prática do geoturismo, também está sendo possível observar a participação da comunidade. Esta entendendo o real significado e importância do patrimônio geológico permitirá a conservação deste e promoverá seu uso racional, evitando a degradação e total desaparecimento das belezas esculpidas pela natureza.
O Projeto Geoturismo em Tibagi/PR/Brasil é um exemplo de sucesso com o Geoturismo que precisa ser levado para vários outros locais, não só do Brasil, mas do Mundo.
Parabéns a todos que fazem e contribuem com este Projeto.
The project Geotourism in Tibagi town is very important for the development of sustainable tourism in Brazil. Congratulations for MINEROPAR (Agency to Development of Geology in Paraná, Brazil) and Federal University of Paraná in to start the process on the geoconservation.
Hello Alethéa
Thanks for your comment. I found very important the fact you touch in geoconservation point. At least, the main objective of this project is to turn people in geoconservation agents. The project proposes a local economy enhancement we believe will help a fast development of conscience.
Best wishes
Antonio Liccardo
Thank you, Marcos, about your words. Indeed we work in a different way to arrive in same objective: sustainable development of local communities. We used our tools for that, i.e. the geology and geography knowledge and its popularization. We believe this was the main point to participate in this Changemakers-challenge. Of course, as geologist,I trust this knowledge in comprehensive context is very important to make differences.
I hope you keep visiting our discussion and fell free to send us more comments.
Best wishes
Antonio Liccardo
Very interesting article, this area of southern Brazil has not only fantastic natural attractions including many geosites but also the privilege of easy access to the southeast of Brazil which is the main industrialized and developed region in the country.
By installing panels in the region, Mineropar is promoting geotourism as well as educating the local residents.In my opinion, the panels are vital for the local community as they are helping people to gain more information and consequently change their attitude towards tourism.
Congratulations for those involved in the project and hopefully the town of Tibagi will see a geotourism boom in a near future.
Thanks Alex for your words. You touch in a very important point for tourism: the logistic. Yes, Tibagi town is into the more developed part of Brazil, but social problems are incredibles. In this zone the agriculture is fantastic but almost totally mechanized and people have no jobs! The tourism way in development is the best option as job offering, but also to develop the environment conscience. Don't forget the great impact of agriculture on environment, and tourism activities, specially geotourism as we presented, have power to change the culture about environment's uses. We think in practical actions to tourism, but with this paradigma: original environment is better to business.
Ok... feel free to send us more comments.
Thank you again.
Antonio Liccardo
Tibagi diamond of Paraná.
A cidade de Tibagi localizada no Segundo Planalto paranaense, possui características notáveis de paisagens e cultura. O município possui uma grande variedade litológica influenciada por estruturas tectônicas, que possibilitam a formação de feições geomorfológicas distintas de grande interesse turístico. Suas cachoeiras, canyons, escarpas, marmitas, morros testemunhos,juntamente com a vegetação de campo, cerrado e mata ombrófila mista se tornam um convite a interpretação da natureza. Sua colonização pode contar com nomes ilustres de aventureiros e estudiosos como Cabeza de Vaca e Saint Hilaire. Pessoas que não apenas compõe a história local, mas a do Brasil. Tibagi retrata o conflito de um Paraná que primeiramente era Espanhol depois passou a ser Português.
Sua geologia aguça a busca incessante, por ouro e diamante.
E continua ainda a encantando e indagando turistas e visitantes. Tibagi já foi mar, teve lava, presenciou geleiras, tem campo, cerrado, araucária, tem índio, garimpeiro, sesmeiro, tropeiro e imigrante. Tibagi tem História e tem geologia. Tudo isso merece ser contado e divulgado. Para que a sociedade valorize cada vez mais sua cultura. Tibagi é o retrato de 300 anos de Brasil, é o diamante do Paraná. Parabéns a MINEROPAR e todos os pesquisadores que estão auxiliando a lapidar e dar mais brilho ao município.
Hello Karin.
You had been remember an important view to the success of this project. Rescue the local history show us the total interaction of human ocupation in Paraná and its geology/geography. The small Tibagi was an important place to paleolithic and neolithic cultures, evidenced by rupestrian paints; to spanish conquerors, first european arrived there, evidenced by old maps and old routes; to first portuguese settlers looking for gold and diamond; very important to first nature scientists coming in XIXth century, by they records; and finally important in this age because its revolutionary acceptation of this new way for tourism economy.
Your comment shows the close relationship between nature and history. Thanks a lot.
Antonio Liccardo
Congratulations for the project. Providing knowledge is a good way to begin changing lives but if you join knowledge and work... this is the formula of sustainable development- THE BEST way to change lives.
Once more, congratulations!!!
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