The director of the Chair of New Green Transition at the University of Valencia, Aurora Pedro, was invited to participate as a lecturer at the International Symposium on Sociocultural, Environmental and Research Strategies for the Promotion of Community Ecotourism, Environmental Education and Culture. It was held on 2, 3 and 4 June 2021 in online format, and it was organised by the Doctorate in Environmental Education and Culture of the Faculty of Education Sciences of this University.
The conference dealt with the “Socio-cultural and social-environmental dimensions of community-based ecotourism. Perspectives and Challenges”. The aim of this was to highlight the most critical aspects to be taken into account in the development of this type of tourism for the vulnerable communities involved: the indigenous communities. In order to incorporate them into the tourist activity without harming them, the available instruments must be adapted to their characteristics.
These communities represent an extremely important asset for the conservation of biodiversity and natural areas, as well as having cultural, linguistic and governance traditions that define their identity and attractiveness. It is precisely these resources that are put at risk when tourism development processes are generated with conceptual frameworks that are external to the communities. The participation and protagonism of the communities themselves must be a necessary principle in these processes.
Different Colombian universities (University del Quindío, National University of Colombia Bogota and Manizales Headquarters, University of Antioquia, etc.) as well as from other countries such as the University of Valencia (Spain), the Sunshine Coast University (Australia), the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) or the University of Pedagogical Sciences Enrique Varona (Cuba) participated in the Symposium.