Pilot-Based Tourism



The Kaospilots Experience
with Community-Based Tourism
in Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil

~ May 2007 ~

 Remanso-Group-733266

Summary

For pictures, look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/vedana/sets/72157594271521071/

For the video-documentary, check on http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=356936818306540248

The Project

Four students from the school of entrepreneurship and social innovation The Kaos Pilots spent 25 days in the municipality of Porto Seguro, Northeast Brazil, investigating possibilities of implementation of Community-Based Tourism in the rural districts located around the Pau Brasil National Park. The project realized in May 2007 identified the potential of the district of Vale Verde, started the dialogue with the community, and tried to connect different actors in the region, from public and private sector, in order to ensure the continuity of the process.

The Kaos Pilots

International School on Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, located in Århus, Denmark. The 3-year program prepares young creative people in Project design, process design and business design.

Website: www.kaospilot.dk

The Team

Amalie Villesen amalie@kaospilot.dk +45 3011-2017

Danish, 22 years old. I'm crazy about people, especially when they are not like me, it's always a great learning experience. I believe it is very important when doing any kind of project with people to maintain cultural integrity and in all possible situations to keep a holistic approach that will ensure sustainable and lasting solutions. I'm very keen on environmental development and creating opportunities.

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Fridda Flensted-Jensen fridda@kaospilot.dk +45 2682-1773

Danish, 24 years old. I'm interested in sustainable solutions, I have an interest in nature, animals and people. On top of that I love to travel and experience - the for me unknown. I am eager, consistent and passionate.

Henrique Vedana henrique@kaospilot.dk +45 2653-4487

Brazilian, 28 years old. I'm passionate about issues regarding Sustainability, Education and the Environment. I want to make a difference in this world and I'm currently exploring how I can do that. I believe that we (Humans) belong to the world and not the opposite, and we (civilized humans) have to un-learn some things before we are able to live peacefully in this planet.

Nana G. Dall nanadall@kaospilot.dk +45 2277-8462

Danish, 23 years old. I have a true passion for other cultures. I have been working in Tanzania, traveling all over Central America, working with foreign children, and been almost everywhere in Europe (I want to see the whole world). I believe that the most valuable knowledge you can gain in this world, is by reflecting your own culture in others and stay open minded.

The Client and The Partners

IBAMA, The Brazilian Environmental Agency, through the Pau Brasil National Park Administration Office
As clients of the project, they were searching for alternative sustainable economical solutions for the inhabitants of the areas surrounding the Park, in a way that protects fauna and flora inside the park and around it.

Municipality of Porto Seguro
Our hosts were interested in developing the city and offering good opportunities for the disprivilegied part of the community that currently doesn't benefit from the mass tourists.

Projeto Bagagem
NGO aiming in creating a network of community-based destinations in Brazil.

The Process

Visits to the community, exploration and observations

Meetings with local leaders, conversations with local inhabitants, in order to understand the local reality and build hypotheses, and decide the next steps, which solutions would be more appropriate for the particular context.

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Visit to Projeto Bagagem in Lencóis, Bahia

Understanding and experimentation of Community-Based Tourism in Lencóis, city also located in the State of Bahia, about 6 hours from Salvador, together with NGO Grãos de Luz e Grió in the community of Remanso. Conversations with the local youth about their challenges successes.

Gathering in Vale Verde

A big meeting where individuals from the whole area were invited, and had over 40 people attending. The idea of the project was explained to the locals and we explored the rituals, culture, artifacts and music from the inhabitants, that could be attractive for visitors in the future. Local problems were discussed as well and the individuals who got more interested in the project were invited for the next two phases of the process: pilot-visit and planning workshop.

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Local inhabitants experimenting community-based tourism, as hosts

To better explain the concepts and make the community understand what community-based tourism can be, in opposition to conventional mass tourism, the group of Kaospilots was "pilot" of a 24-hour immersion visit in the district of Vale Verde. It included boat tour in the Buranhém river, cultural evening with locals and local music (forró and sanfona), learning about the traditional way of building fishing traps and fishing nets, discussions about problems the local agriculture suffers, and finalizing with a visit to the local cachaca destillary (alambique). The visit also included a night spent with the community, sleeping at one of the houses.

Local inhabitants experimenting community-based tourism, as tourists

Some locals were invited to visit the farm called "Três Irmãos", near Vale Verde. The owner have experience of receiving tourists in his property for two years, and their philosophy was very similar to what the group intended to introduce in Vale Verde. By being tourists themselves, for some of them for the first time in their lives, the visit was intended to help them to realize and see the potential the region offers. The 3-hours trip was followed by a workshop and debates among the participants. National Park officers and local partners were also present this afternoon.

Workshop with local leaders and planning of next steps

After experimenting community-based tourism being tourists, the local inhabitants could share their experiences, and work together and create (drawing in the paper) future itineraries in their region, showing the potential to receive tourists. At the end, the agreement reached among themselves that the first steps need to be taken, as a local iniciative, without waiting for the Government or external help. The group of inhabitants made a list of priorities to work as next steps.

Mobilization and partnership with local organizations

To ensure that the meeting and the agreement among the local inhabitants would be realized, the group of Kaospilots worked with local organizations that could support this initiative after their return to Denmark. The partners include the Tourism Board of the Municipality of Porto Seguro, IBAMA, through the Pau Brasil National Park, the NGO Macunaíma of Cultural Valorization, and Portomondo, a local travel agency focused on environmental and social sustainability of the region of Porto Seguro.

Production and exhibition of documentary "Vale Verde: Mudancas à Frente" in Vale Verde

During the pilot-visit in Vale Verde and the workshop realized with the local inhabitants, the group of Kaospilots filmed a short documentary of 12 minutes, showing the potential and the threats related to tourism in Vale Verde, showing a little bit of the local reality. The video can be used by the partners to promote the initiative and it serves as a recuperation tool of the self-esteem of the local population.

Watch the documentary on GoogleVideo.

The Results

As a Kaospilot project, it was hard to measure results. The project could be considered a "social development process", therefore a better evaluation of the impact would only be possible after months have passed. Its success depends more on the local actors than on the group of students.

  1. Community of Vale Verde: people who got involved somehow with the group of Kaospilots (among 14-20 people) are motivated and understand what community-based tourism means. A group of 5-8 individuals in the community took certain informal leadership of this initiative. Besides the motivation regarding the initiative, these people showed a wakening of consciousness, when they started to understand that in order to solve the problems in the community, it's necessary to act instead of waiting that a solution comes from "outside".
  2. Partners: a network of individuals and local organizations put themselves available to help the community to get organized, taking the initiative if necessary.
  3. The documentary produced, as described above.
  4. Relationship between the National Park and the inhabitants around the park area: all people who got involved in the project now see IBAMA and the National Park as their allies, and the group expects that this positive image gets translated in a better relationship between both sides from now on.

Links for research (used before the trip)

Preparation package on Brazil:

Preparation for our project:

International Funds:

Potential Partners (NGOs):

Potential Partners/Sponsors (Private):

Other links:

The group, picture taken early April 2007

Homebase: PauBrasil (last edited 2009-04-13 00:59:04 by HenriqueVedana)