Cultural Tourism for Sustainable Urban Development in the Asia-Pacific Region Jeju-do, Republic of Korea, May 10~13, 2017 I. Background"Culture is key to what makes cities attractive, creative and sustainable. History shows that culture is at the heart of urban development, evidenced through cultural landmarks, heritage and traditions. Without culture, cities as vibrant life-spaces do not exist; they are merely concrete and steel constructions, prone to social degradation and fracture. It is culture that makes the difference." (UNESCO, 2016) [1] . Culture which widely refers to values, beliefs, knowledge and wisdom [2] has become recognized as a powerful source of sustainable development. Considerations for culture in sustainable development are indispensable for respecting and satisfying people before and after policy development and implementation processes. Culture and tourism can complementarily interact with each other as tourist destinations inevitably involve the interface of their rich and diverse heritage, art, religion and other elements that represent the unique characteristics of their daily lives. With its close-knit relation of culture to our daily life, culture not only reduces barriers to economic development for local communities through tourism, but also provides easier access to cultural differences for tourists. In 2004, UNCTAD read this trend, stating "if the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are taken together, tourism is the single most important source of foreign exchange earnings" [3] . Utilizing the unique culture of a community, which is the great resource of tourism, can be a cost-effective measure of economic development with its less invested infrastructure compared to other industries. Despite the economic benefits brought by tourism, however, many countries have been experiencing the negative consequences of reckless development, including the degradation of cultural and natural heritage, loss of cultural features and unequal distributions of economic gains. The need for well-designed plans for sustainable tourism has been highlighted to ensure the long-term economic, environmental and social benefits through tourism. Cities, in particular, which have been dramatically transformed amid global urbanization, need to recover its own characteristics, placing culture in the center of urban planning as well as tourism management, in order to achieve balanced development in the long term. This workshop, therefore, provides a venue for participants to understand the complex relation between culture and tourism through various lectures and group activities. Best practices on cultural tourism will be presented, offering opportunities to explore well-designed tourism development cases around the world. There will be sessions to discuss good policies and practical cultural projects in line with the UN SDGs. Finally, the workshop will help local actors effectively develop relevant policies, promoting and enhancing their cultural advantages and diversification for the social, environmental and economic benefits in the long term. II. Event objectives
The workshop aims to build capacity of participants on cultural tourism policy, whilst promoting awareness and recognition on the importance of culture and sustainable tourism development. For the capacity building, this event will; · Provide an opportunity for the local governments and cities in the Asia-Pacific region to exchange cultural tourism policies and best practices through city-to-city cooperation. · Promote a learning atmosphere between cities and establish a strong network which can be utilized after the workshop. · Offer a venue for knowledge sharing and discussion and motivate participants to implement sustainable tourism policies, placing culture in the center of the policy. III. Learning objectives
At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to: · Understand the cultural tourism trends and policy development in the context of 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. · Utilize the lessons learned from the cases of cultural tourism policy implementation in various regions. · Have a basic understanding of cultural tourism and deepen the ideas of sustainable practices for regional/city/local development through local people’s participation. · Share the best practices of the community/local government-driven tourism projects · Understand the economic impacts of cultural tourism on the regional development, recognizing the importance of environmental and cultural conservation for sustainable tourism. · Coordinate partnerships to effectively promote the benefits of cultural tourism policies with civil societies, government and local entrepreneurs.
IV. Content and structure
The training will be composed of the following sessions: [Session 1-1] Implementing Culture 21 Actions [Session 1-2] Overview of Cultural Tourism Development under the framework of the UN SDGs [Session 2-1] Cultural Tourism as an Economic Development Tool [Session 2-2] Which is the priority?: Development vs Conservation [Session 2-3] Cultural Tourism Development for Inclusive and Equal Society [Session 3] Monitoring and Evaluation of Cultural Tourism [Session 4] Cultural Tourism: Case studies [Session 5] UNITAR-Developed City-Share Methodology ** Sessions are flexible to changes. ** V. Methodology
The training will be comprised of: · Lectures and presentations by experts · Self-assessment exercise · Group work and discussion · Action plan presentation · Field visit to cultural tourism sites VI. Target audience
Central/local authorities and Representatives from NGOs, regional and community-based organizations, academic and training institutions and other local actors, who are working in the field of cultural tourism within the Asia-Pacific region. ** Participants should have sufficient command of both written and spoken English. VII. Event detail· Event type Workshop (training program) · Date 10 - 13 May 2017 · Venue Jeju Folklore & Natural Museum, Jeju-do, ROK · Organizers - UNITAR - UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC - Jeju Special Self-Governing Province - United Cities and Local Governments Asia and Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) · Collaboration Jeju Tourism Organization · Certificate UNITAR and UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC will jointly issue a certificate upon the completion of the training ** This event will be held in parallel with the 2nd UCLG Culture Summit, providing opportunities to network with multiple stakeholders all around the world. VIII. Requirements
Applicants are required to: · Submit necessary documents on time, i.e., application forms etc. · Complete and submit pre-training assignment, i.e., case study description etc. · Actively participate in the training program. · Be fluent in written and spoken English.
IX. Application and deadline
Send the following documents to cifaljeju.tdev@gmail.com by 19 March 2017 (Sunday):
** Late application will not be accepted. X. Note· Application without the required documents will NOT be considered. · Participation is subject to approval of the application by UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC. · Selected applicants will be notified individually. XI. Assistance with travel expenses· UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC provides partial airfare to Jeju, Republic of Korea according to the Cifal Jeju's travel reimbursement policy below. · Local expenses (transportation, accommodation and meals) during the workshop will be covered by UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/JITC. · All other expenses (local transportation in their country, visa fees) are the responsibility of the participants. ?
? [1] UNESCO (2016) Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Development. Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002459/245999e.pdf [Accessed on 24 Feb, 2017] [2] UCLG (2015), Culture 21: Agenda 21 for Culture, Committee on Culture UCLG, Barcelona [3] UNCTAD (2004), World Investment Report 2004. The Shift Towards Services. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva. [4] The UNITAR-developed CityShare methodology aims at optimizing peer learning between local officials. It consists of various processes of self-assessment, distillation and transmission of experiences and good practices. It is also composed of several tools which provide a common framework for the evaluation of experiences made by the participating cities and countries and offer a common language for the exchange and assimilation of contextualised experiences, as well as a roadmap for action and progress. [5] China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Taiwan [6] Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam [7] Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka [8] Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu, Vanuatu |