Abstract
During a community asset mapping (CAMP) workshop in 2012 in the villages of Koffiekraal/Brakkuil (Northwest Province, South Africa), tourism was identified as a potential asset for community empowerment, development and poverty alleviation. As a result, a learning strategy was designed and implemented to create an awareness of the tourism resource potential of the local area. This strategy intended to empower community members to develop and successfully implement an authentic, local tourism product in sync with a sustainability agenda. The approach so far, and foreseen for subsequent phases, is in line with the post-development ethos of community development that is characteristic of CAMP. The idea is not to enforce pre-set conceptualisations of tourism on community members, but to lead them by self-discovery to awareness of resources for tourism at their disposal within the local context. This paper reviews the progress achieved so far with this project and critically reflects on the initial formal classroom sessions, transect walks through the village to identify possible attractions and the trail runs of a day tour that has subsequently been designed by community members. Despite the numerous challenges involved to translate the classroom theory to the reality of a grassroots designed and driven tourism tour, feedback by community members confirms that the process thus far triggered significant host awareness and learning, with notable gains for sustainable development in the local context and community context.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Lefty Mabotse, Abueng Mokale, Veronica Mokale, Maria Motihwe and Atlhohang Solly Mphatoe of BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum. Appreciation is extended to Hellene Steenkamp (Unisa), Christine Delport and Bonolo Mmokele (Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation—GRCF) for logistical and academic support during the community engagement of the authors.
The authors acknowledge the financial resources received from Unisa, where the ethical clearance for this project was also obtained (REF: 2013/CAES/108).
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Nicolau, M.D., Pretorius, R.W., de Jager, A.E., Lombard, A. (2018). Empowerment for Sustainability in a Community Context: Lifelong Learning and the Story of the BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum, Koffiekraal/Brakkuil (South Africa). In: Leal Filho, W., Mifsud, M., Pace, P. (eds) Handbook of Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63534-7_3
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