//Deadline for Submission: 25 April//
An intensive course - at postgraduate level - will be organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven(Belgium) from 13-19 September 2009. The main objective of this project is to discuss - in an international forum- strategies to valorize local cultural heritage resources for local development. The opportunity exists to invite, with the support of the Flemish Interuniversity Council, 20 participants with a genuine involvement in the interactive field of cultural heritage, local development and cultural tourism.
Creating awareness about the cultural capital of communities and territories among policy makers is a first step in the process of supporting economic programs and eventually empowerment of local stakeholders. Sometimes it takes external incentives to (re)define cultural identity and stimuli from ‘outsiders‘ to start a process of commoditization of cultural assets. Building know-how on the ways to connect local initiatives with global networks and markets is an important challenge.
These objectives require a multidisciplinary approach and interpretation. Current ‘trial and error’strategies to revalorize cultural assets need to be replaced by knowledge about the interaction of communities, territories, different stakeholders and the step by step process of establishing a new
sustainable base. The state of the art in cultural heritage management and in sustainable models for cultural tourism to destinations in development areas will be introduced and discussed as a theoretical framework for the course. The emphasis of the course however will be on the application of models and ideas in
specific case studies, taking into account the quantity and quality of cultural assets (tangible and intangible) in a territory but also and, above all the range of preconditions to develop tourism activities in a competitive and sustainable way. There is no blue print for an optimal and successful development model, but there are many lessons to be learnt from good and bad examples worldwide.
The organizing team of the course will initiate and facilitate an interactive debate in which all participants will contribute with their own experiences and background. The introduction to key issues will be given by experts with various disciplinary backgrounds; experts in heritage conservation and management, experts in tourism development planning (issues such as destination
management, marketing and branding, organization and participation of stakeholders, etc).
Participants will be requested to present their research work and to share their case studies with the other participants.
Thanks to the support of the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR-UOS) we have the opportunity to invite 20 participants with a genuine involvement in the interactive field of cultural heritage, local development and cultural tourism. Participation in this scientific course should be a source of inspiration for their current work, and have an actual impact on their future research, whether this is in policymaking or management tasks, teaching assignment or other professional involvement in this field of study.
The funding will cover all costs for travel and accommodation, participation fee and study material, and in addition a daily allowance during the time of the course. A one-day field trip to cultural heritage sites in Flanders will be included in the program.
There will be a selection procedure since the funding is limited to 20 participants. Written applications must be submitted to the organizers before the 25th of April 2009 (see instructions
below). Applicants are advised to take carefully note of the selection criteria and the required documents to be included for the selection procedure.
The course is organized by KULeuven:
- Koen Van Balen, RLICC – koen.vanbalen@bwk.kuleuven.be
- Myriam Jansen-Verbeke, Tourism and Development - jansen.verbeke@skynet.be
In collaboration with:
- Living Stone Dialoog, Manuel Minne – manuel.minne@lsdialoog.com
- University of Wageningen (Netherlands)
o Socio-spatial analysis, Jaap Lengkeek,
o Sustainable Tourism, René van der duim - Rene.vanderDuim@wur.nl
Supported by:
- VLIR-UOS, Flemish Interuniversity Council, University Development Cooperation
Eligible applicants need to:
• Be a national resident of one of the countries listed by DGOS (see annex 1 below)
(If not, they can participate at their own expense, if they are selected based on the criteria mentioned
hereafter. Participation fee is 900€; it includes participation to the courses, the study trip, and the
lunches but not travel and lodging, they will have to arrange that themselves)
• Prove their university degree (at least Master level) in a relevant area of study
• Write a letter of personal motivation
• Include a short CV with diploma/ degree transcripts, and if relevant publications
• Explain clearly how the topic of the course is related to the current work.
• Make a well thought written proposal for a collective case study within the context of this
course. This can be short (strict max 1000 words), but should be clear in terms of study area,
focus, research questions, points of discussion.
• Prove their English language skills
• Furthermore all applicants need to fill in an ENTRY FORM (please find attached - deadline is the 25 April 2009)
Further info:
http://sprecomah.eu/rlicc/index.php option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=29
List of eligible countries in Africa (22):
Algeria
Benin
Burkina Faso
Burundi
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Guinea
Ivory Coast
Cameroon
Kenya
Madagascar
Mali
Morocco
Mozambique
Niger
Rwanda
Senegal
Tanzania
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
South Africa
