Empowering Communities to Drive Sustainable Development …
535
After going through the workshop, and with due consideration of their inherent
social, human, economic and environmental assets, the participants from Koffiekraal
and Brakkuil identified a number of entrepreneurial opportunities that could stem
the high unemployment rates and lay the foundation to facilitate community-driven
high impact sustainable change in their communities. The community identified a
number of opportunities to empower themselves and to drive their own sustainable
development. Two of these opportunities were entrepreneurial in nature (namely
community-based tourism and handicraft) and presented in this chapter.
3.3 The Tourism Project
The project trigger was the interest expressed by participants during the initial CAMP
workshop to form a community-based tourism group to create self-employment
opportunities. Table 1 provides the action plan developed by them during the last
day of the workshop (Fig. 1). Staff of the Department of Geography (Unisa) then
developed and implemented a training intervention in 2013 that aimed at transferring
knowledge and raising the awareness amongst the group of interested community
members of the potential of their local area for community-based tourism. Thereafter
two smaller groups emerged, one for each of Koffiekraal and Brakkuil that had the
opportunity in 2014–2015 to test the village tours they developed from the knowledge gained during their initial training. These groups merged in 2015 to form the
BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum.
Table 1 Action plan—Koffiekraal/Brakkuil community-based tourism group
Future change
project
Action steps
required
Local assets
available
Outside
assistance
needed
How will the
group measure
their own
success
Create
employment
opportunities by
creating a
community
based tourism
company
Develop a
business plan
and learn about
tourism
• Local culture
• Local food
• Seleke park
• Old buildings
• Historical
cemetery
• Game farms
• Surrounding
area
(Madikwe) is
a tourist
destination
• Training as
tour guides
• Help to
establish a
business
• Open a bank
account
Tour guide
company that
employs local
people. Tourists
will visit the
village and
spend money in
the village to
help the
community
become wealthy
Source Developed by participants of the CAMP Workshop in Koffiekraal on 14 August 2012
535
After going through the workshop, and with due consideration of their inherent
social, human, economic and environmental assets, the participants from Koffiekraal
and Brakkuil identified a number of entrepreneurial opportunities that could stem
the high unemployment rates and lay the foundation to facilitate community-driven
high impact sustainable change in their communities. The community identified a
number of opportunities to empower themselves and to drive their own sustainable
development. Two of these opportunities were entrepreneurial in nature (namely
community-based tourism and handicraft) and presented in this chapter.
3.3 The Tourism Project
The project trigger was the interest expressed by participants during the initial CAMP
workshop to form a community-based tourism group to create self-employment
opportunities. Table 1 provides the action plan developed by them during the last
day of the workshop (Fig. 1). Staff of the Department of Geography (Unisa) then
developed and implemented a training intervention in 2013 that aimed at transferring
knowledge and raising the awareness amongst the group of interested community
members of the potential of their local area for community-based tourism. Thereafter
two smaller groups emerged, one for each of Koffiekraal and Brakkuil that had the
opportunity in 2014–2015 to test the village tours they developed from the knowledge gained during their initial training. These groups merged in 2015 to form the
BIG 5 Community Tourism Forum.
Table 1 Action plan—Koffiekraal/Brakkuil community-based tourism group
Future change
project
Action steps
required
Local assets
available
Outside
assistance
needed
How will the
group measure
their own
success
Create
employment
opportunities by
creating a
community
based tourism
company
Develop a
business plan
and learn about
tourism
• Local culture
• Local food
• Seleke park
• Old buildings
• Historical
cemetery
• Game farms
• Surrounding
area
(Madikwe) is
a tourist
destination
• Training as
tour guides
• Help to
establish a
business
• Open a bank
account
Tour guide
company that
employs local
people. Tourists
will visit the
village and
spend money in
the village to
help the
community
become wealthy
Source Developed by participants of the CAMP Workshop in Koffiekraal on 14 August 2012