AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION
PROGRAM
03 PROGRAM OVERVIEW 05 AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM 06 PAT´S MISSION AND VISION 07 BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM 08 COSTS 09 REQUIREMENTS 10 ACTIVITIES IN ECUADORIAN COMMUNITIES 11 PROCEDURES 12 CONDITIONS 18 BEYOND CHACAY FOUNDATION 19 THEORY AND IDEOLOGY 21 STAFF 22 CONTACT INFORMATION
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of nt n e o i g t a a an orm e f s B n a tr Latin America is famous for its paradoxes: It is wealthy in natural resources, but few countries manage to keep the wealth at home with its own people. It has unusually high levels of entrepreneurial initiatives among ordinary citizens, yet this does not translate into sustained economic growth. It is renowned both for its natural beauty as well as for its extreme levels of environmental degradation. It is rich in diversity of cultures, yet inequality and poverty rates rank consistently high. For these reasons, Latin America has long been an important focus of international development efforts.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW Sponsored by Smart Destination
Yet old development paradigms have proven largely ineffective. Development strategies often approach problems from only one or a few disciplines, and do not account for all the dimensions necessary to develop a holistic understanding and design a complete solution. As a result, development strategies often create an unwanted trade-off between economic opportunity and locally-based culture, values and lifestyles. The Beyond Chacay Foundation (BCF) demystifies and redefines Latin America's paradoxes, and proposes dynamic and sustainable alternatives. The initiatives are located in Ecuador, the most biodiverse country per square meter in the world, but could serve as a blueprint for alternative development strategies throughout Latin America, and in emerging market economies around the world. BCF initiates change with a heuristic based on the Quintuple Helix, a powerful metaphor that mobilizes multiple stakeholders in multiple sectors (public, private, civic, academia and media) to analyze the unique context of local communities, then employs a strategy based on the communities’ strengths to promote entrepreneurship and economic development. The focus lies on ecotourism as a driver for change. By mobilizing education and technology, BCF creates Smart Communities in regions that are or could be important tourist destinations – so called Smart Destinations, where hosts and tourists collaborate as stewards to conserve the environment and at the same time, enabling the communities to benefit from economic development based on reciprocity and 3 entrepreneurship.
The Smart Destination concept focuses on ecotourism and therefore prioritizes both environmental stewardship and local economic opportunities. On a small scale, such as in Bonito, Brazil, and at a national level, such as in Costa Rica, ecotourism has allowed destination hosts to gain economic benefits while fortifying their natural resources and cultural heritage. In rural areas, it promotes a local economy strong enough to keep young talent from moving to cities. On a national scale, it is a viable alternative to natural resource extraction and thus a viable sustainable development strategy. BCF seeks to develop ecotourism-based entrepreneurship in the four regions of Ecuador (Amazon, Highlands, Coast and Galapagos) in order to prevent mismanagement of natural resources and environmental degradation.
Ecotourists play a special role in the BCF Model. Each tourist has a skill-set to offer based on their professional or personal background. BCF believes these tourists can be mobilized as agents of transformation who, given the opportunity, would be willing to invest their unique abilities in ecotourismbased development solutions. In this context the term tourist is used for all visitors to the Smart Destinations, including national and foreign interns and volunteers. The BCF model thus challenges existing development paradigms, replacing them with an alternative approach governed by efficiency, self-efficacy, reciprocity and collaboration. Â
PAT features a broad array of innovative and careeroriented workshops and field trips in sustainability, social justice, leadership training, and hands-on skill-building. 4
Agents of Transformation Program (PAT) One of BCF’s emblematic initiatives is the Agents of Transformation Program (in Spanish: Programa Agentes de Transformación or PAT), where foreign university students are introduced to Smart Destinations applying their theoretical knowledge in collaboration with local stakeholders to implement projects related to ecotourism. The program offers university students the chance to apply their academic knowledge to carefully researched projects and thus amplify their professional skill set while having a positive impact on local communities in Ecuador. BCF will organize the projects in constant collaboration with the local stakeholders to realize the BCF’s goal: community transformation focused on improving quality of life (“Sumak Kawsay” or “Buen Vivir”). Furthermore, we prepare incoming students before the start of the projects, offer Spanish lessons, arrange accommodation, meals and transportation in Ecuador, and accompany the students during their stay. BCF organizes and personalizes PAT internships according to the interests and needs of the incoming (groups of) students, while offering high quality at the most reasonable price. A local coordinator in each community is directly responsible for and supervises all local projects in Ecuador. BCF staff prepare participants for the trip so that they know what to expect of the culture, living environment and work context. In addition, we will coordinate all the necessary arrangements prior to participants’ departure. BCF staff and the local project coordinator work closely with interns and their universities to organize projects that not only benefit the local people in Smart Destinations, but also enable participants to achieve concrete goals related to their field of studies. These projects could take the form of hands-on interventions focused on the students’ knowledge and skills as well as research programs with the objective of generating valuable data for the local communities, the students’ academic career and the sending universities.
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n o i iss M PAT is a community development internship and volunteer program designed to build bridges and touch lives in Smart Destinations. Qualified professionals from around the world apply their knowledge, skills and passion to local community projects in any region in Ecuador. In a process of mutual learning the foreign visitors broaden their professional skills and improve their cultural understanding through the work with the communities, while passing on their academic knowledge to local stakeholders, in order to ensure a long term impact of the interventions.
n o i Vis PAT provides quality internships and volunteering opportunities to promote community collaboration and the creation of sustainable development solutions. The programs are tailored to each communities strengths and needs, as well as each participants individual interest and skill set. The interventions contribute to the improvement of living conditions in the communities, using education and technology.
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BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM QUALITY OF SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE BCF will guide and mentor participants, based on their individual preferences, priorities, work plans and research interests. If any questions or concerns arise during the course of the visit, we respond immediately and act as a mediator between participants and the local stakeholders and authorities.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES PAT internships offer students from all over the world the chance to gain valuable cultural knowledge and apply their academic expertise in a developing country context, thus broadening their professional skill set. BCF will prepare the students before their arrival and assist them throughout the project, to make their experience as enjoyable and enriching as possible. Before the start of the program we also offer Spanish lessons and workshops about the cultural uniqueness of Ecuador, in order to assure a fruitful collaboration with the local stakeholders.
MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTIONS Students with a significant educational background complete research projects, design and implement programs, write reports, create workshops for locals suggesting best practices and assist community members. Applying a “train the trainer� approach, participants educate local stakeholders, working in particular with high school youth and university peers, to help them become agents of transformation and thus provide continuity to the initiative. All interventions have a common goal: Developing ecotourism (Smart Destinations) and improving living conditions for locals.
REASONABLE PRICE With the exception of a minimal overhead, the fee paid by each participant covers the costs of the project. This includes the preparation of local stakeholders, preparation of the incoming participants (Spanish lessons, etc.), accommodation, meals, transportation, spare time activities and permanent support for participants (translation, help with contacts, etc.). 7
Costs 8 weeks = 3600 USD 5 weeks = 2745 USD 3 weeks = 1900 USD 3 months is the maximum timeframe possible given current Ecuadorian visa permits.
Included in the price: ♣ Spanish Lessons prior to (online) and after (one week intensive course) the arrival of the participant in Ecuador ♣ Preparation of participants (prior to departure and including the first week of orientation in Ecuador) ♣ Airport pick-up and delivery at the end of the program ♣ Transport to the project site ♣ Accommodation at the project site ♣ 3 meals per day (special diet needs should be communicated prior to the start of the program) ♣ Support and guidance from the moment of registration until the return back home (coordination, organization, translation, individual help, etc.) ♣ Spare time/tourist activities to get to know the natural and cultural diversity of Ecuador ♣ Access to the Internet in order to create daily Community Blog ♣ Certificate as an Agent of Transformation
Not included in the price ♣ Airplane ticket ♣ Visa for more than 90 days ♣ Vaccinations ♣ Health-/travel insurance ♣ Phone costs ♣ Other personal costs for additional meals, spare time activities and gifts
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PAT
Experiential Education
REQUIREMENTS Participants must be enrolled in a university undergraduate or graduate program in one of the following areas:
• Ecotourism • Sustainable Development • Renewable Energy • Water and Waste Management • Biology/Ecology • Marketing/Administration/Entrepreneurship • Social Sciences addressing Community Development • Teaching/Languages • Computer Science/Information Technology • Social Entrepreneurship
There are no strict requirements regarding educational background, but your Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) will be carefully reviewed to determine what the best fit would be for one of our local projects. Crucial prerequisites are openness, interest in other cultures, innovation, and a passion for sustainable development.
People, Ecology, Culture, Tourism and Development
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PAT interns and their activities in Ecuadorian communities Concrete tasks the PAT interns will realize during their work in the communities could include the following: Collect and analyze data that are helpful to the local community and the sending university (could be within a concrete research project by the sending university, or part of a thesis) Plan and propose short, medium and long term projects according to the local community’s interests Provide consultancy to local businesses and other stakeholders Create consciousness about sustainable development and its challenges within the local community Offer concrete training through workshops for local actors (language/English, marketing, finance, business development, etc.) Provide practical support, educational, managerial and financial assistance to local projects Build bridges with and between all relevant stakeholders to collaborate for a community goal Identify and recommend best practices to be implemented in the areas of economic development and conservation Propose a plan of action for community transformation based on the Smart Destination priorities 10
Procedures
PILOT PROJECT - SEDV INTERNSHIP IN SEPTEMBER 2016
After reading the Information Guide, we invite you to fill out the PAT registration form. This could be done by individual participants as well as groups of students. BCF staff will then contact you to get your Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) and your personal preferences regarding the project and site. The project coordinator will start creating a program according to the preferences of the incoming student(s) and the local community at the project site. Everything will be reviewed and discussed with you well before the start of the project, in order to make the necessary adjustments. Every student has to pay a deposit of 25% of the total costs at least 2 months prior to their departure for Ecuador. The remainder has to be paid before the end of the program. All questions and concerns regarding preparations and arrangements before departure will be addressed by BCF staff members. After arrival, the local project coordinator together with the staff members of the local project will be the primary contact and will accompany participants throughout their stay in Ecuador. They will also lead the orientation phase (first week after arrival), including Spanish lessons, individual preparation and tourist activities, to make sure participants feel welcome, safe and comfortable throughout theirs stay. One of our priorities is to work with interested participants to raise funds to help pay for their internship in Ecuador. We believe that every individual should, ideally, recruit a support network that would include family, friends and local contacts including businesses, church groups and other organization. Another possibility to raise funds for the PAT programs includes scholarships offered by many universities, public entities and NGOs in many countries. Participants should get informed and use every chance they have, to secure funding. Furthermore, BCF offers discounts for bigger groups of students. As a foundation, we will work closely with potential donors to help secure funding for the internships.
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Conditions: 1. Participants are responsible for all the necessary arrangements before departure (passport, visa, vaccinations, ticket, health and travel insurance, credit card, cash, etc.), but of course we can assist them with these arrangements. 2. Participants will pay a pre-registration fee of 25% of the total cost in order for us to start the process of arranging and preparing the project with the local stakeholders, according to individual expectations and wishes. 3. Participants will sign a contract stating that neither BCF (including the project coordinator) nor the local working group are responsible, if anything happens to them during their stay at the project site, as well as if they expose themselves to dangerous activities. Of course the project coordinator will help participants avoid unnecessary risks and will take care of them throughout your stay. 12 NOMADIC
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Project sites Most of BCF’s work is currently concentrated in five communities – Porto Ayora on Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands; Mindo in the Andean cloud forest; Archidona in the Amazon Rain Forest; Oyacachi and Salasaca in the Andean highlands (Sierra). Nevertheless, we are continuously expanding and trying to apply our concept of a Smart Destination (see below) to more places around the country, in order to promote ecotourism and improve living conditions for the local communities.
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Puerto Ayora (Galapagos) The enchanted islands are not only one of the top tourist destinations worldwide, they are also extremely threatened by the negative impacts of mass tourism and climate change. Therefore, promoting sustainable ecotourism is imperative to protect the ecosystem, in order to conserve the islands as an attractive tourist destination, and thus support the local economy that heavily depends on the income generated in the tourism sector. BCF and PAT interns work closely with local businesses, high schools and conservation organizations to create environmental awareness and identify sustainable solutions on the Galapagos.
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Mindo Mindo is located in the Andean cloud forest, about two hour (by car or bus) from the nation’s capital Quito. Its natural beauty and diverse wildlife, as well as various adventure activities make it a very popular destination for travelers from all over the world – especially bird watchers. Yet the small village has not tapped its full ecotourism potential. The local community is very aware of the importance of environmental sustainability in order to conserve the unique ecosystem and make it a driver for development in and around Mindo. The very active local stakeholders are valuable allies for BCF and the PAT interns.
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Archidona
Archidona is located on the brink on the amazon jungle in the Napo province. It has a great potential to attract tourists, who want to explore the vast flora and fauna of the biggest rainforest on earth or enjoy the great possibility for white water adventures. BCF works with businesses in the still infantile tourism sector, with local high schools and the cacao cooperative WiĂąak, which helps create dignified employment for locals (especially indigenous people and women) and create sustainable growth through organic cultivation and local chocolate production.
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Oyacachi Oyacachi sits in the middle of the national park Cayambe Coca. The mostly indigenous Kichwa community lies on the outskirts of the Cayambe Volcano, with around 19.000 ft (5.800 m) one of the highest and most spectacular mountains in Ecuador. Oyacachi’s tourism sector is mostly known for the thermal springs, the natural beauty and the wonderful hikes around the village. Promoting tourism here is one of BCF’s main priorities, in order to trigger the economic development of the community and improve living conditions for the mostly indigenous population.
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ABOUT
BEYOND CHACAY FOUNDATION
Beyond Chacay Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Vermont, USA. The name Chacay comes from the word “chaca”, meaning bridge in the local indigenous language Kichwa. BCF and its precursor organizations have been working in Ecuador for more than ten years, with the overarching objective of promoting alternative and sustainable development solutions for communities all over the country. The BCF slogan of “building bridges, touching lives” addresses the opportunities that intercultural exchange programs provide. International actors and local stakeholders work together to learn from each other, design and implement concrete projects according to the needs and strengths of each community. The PAT programs are fundamental in this process.
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In general BCF sees development as a holistic process. This is why our work doesn’t focus merely on the financial or material aspects of progress, which are often overemphasized in mainstream development practices. In our opinion, sustainable development can only be achieved if there is a healthy balance between the five capitals: human, social, cultural, physical and financial. Even though the improvement of the monetary situation of locals is a very important aspect of overall wellbeing and easy to measure, it has to be accompanied by progress in the other four areas, in order to assure that the development is ecologically and socially sustainable.
THEORY OF TRANSFORMATION
BCF follows the concept of Developing Communities from the Inside Out, made famous by John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight. The distinctive advantage of this approach is that it focuses on the assets a community has, in order to identify possible interventions using the strengths of the local people to reach development goals. Other than most conventional development practices BCF therefore doesn’t focus primarily on the problems and shortcomings that occur in a community but on the positive assets, that could help to improve living conditions of the local people. By doing so we try to not commit the same mistakes as many other NGOs, of only focusing on negative aspects and then tackle these conceived problems by bringing in expertise and resources from outside, thus stabilizing the communities dependence and avoiding the creation of an economic dynamic coming from the community itself. The theoretical framework that guides BCF’s interventions is complemented by John Kotter’s Theory of Change, which identifies eight steps to achieve sustainable change in a society: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency; 2. creating a guiding coalition; 3. developing a clear vision and strategy; 4. communicating this vision; 5. empowering employees for broad-based action; 6. generating short term wins; 7. consolidating gains and producing more change; 8. anchoring new approaches in the culture. Kotter’s approach therefore seeks to find participatory solutions for a community’s problems, thus empowering local stakeholders. One of the main goals of this development strategy is not only to tackle prevailing problems but also to change participation patterns, common beliefs and behavior structures in a society, in order to make further progress possible in the future.
Consequently BCF has an understanding of poverty that goes way beyond the analysis of income. Based on Amartya Sen’s theory poverty is considered a lack of opportunities, rather than merely a lack of money. Discrimination, a lack of participation or sanitary facilities can also significantly limit people’s opportunities, even though they might have an income above the official poverty line. Therefore, the fight against poverty (and poverties) has to be committed to improving people’s overall opportunities, instead of just augmenting their monetary income to statistically leave behind economic poverty. Poverty is a phenomenon with many facets and it has to be combatted holistically. BCF considers itself a Learning Organization – a concept shaped by Peter Senge. Learning therefore not only plays a key role in the concrete interventions, where foreign visitors and local stakeholders enter in a process of mutual knowledge exchange. It is also a core concept guiding the foundation’s business culture. Through permanent critical reflection about our own work, BCF as an organization tries to learn from its own mistakes and experiences. Evaluation surveys handed out to all of the participating actors (local stakeholders, volunteers, interns, etc.). Moreover BCF offers an environment, where all of the employees have the chance to contribute their knowledge to improve the organization’s performance. The employees are also encouraged to educate themselves, tackle their personal weaknesses and build on their strengths. Transformational Leadership is another important concept constituting the basis of BCF’s focus on learning. BCF employees should grow to be leaders in order to promote the changes the organization is looking for. Thereby, their role exceeds the one of a transaction
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BCF’s objective is to turn participating communities into Smart Destinations (SD). The idea builds upon the concepts of Smart Villages (SV) and Smart Communities (SC). Its success depends on the Community Learning Activation (CLA) which is based on self-identification of the community members with the local culture; the creation of local development strategies; and the improvement of the local economy through innovative business strategies. Education and technology are crucial aspects in this regard. The underlying core concept of the Smart Destination interventions is the adaptation of SV and SC to places that are or could be important tourist destinations. The aim therefore is not only to empower local businesses as well as students and authorities by providing technical infrastructure and by closing the digital gap through training. Another important objective of the SD is to involve the incoming tourists as stewards of progressive and sustainable development in the communities. In this context, the term “tourist” refers to any kind of visitor, including interns and volunteers. Part of BCF’s Smart Destination interventions is the online platform EcoHelix. It is thought as a kind of TripAdvisor for, from and by the people with a strong focus on ecotourism. EcoHelix seeks to give small and medium businesses that normally don’t have access to online marketing and sales the chance to benefit from the globalized and digitalized tourism industry. The platform – currently in beta phase – will open new markets for small enterprises and give them the chance to improve their services according to the clients’ wishes and preferences, as the platform will be built on the tourists’ comments and ratings to give local businesses valuable feedback. EcoHelix will furthermore include opportunities for online trainings and workshops for local businesses and incoming tourists focused on environmental sustainability. In addition the platform will include mechanisms, where conscious and passionate tourists will have the chance to fund their favorite green businesses through credits and donations. All this will start a dynamic to reward environmentally sustainable behavior by the local businesses as well as the foreign visitors, thus strengthening ecotourism, saving the unique ecosystems and improving living conditions in the Ecuadorian communities. 20
Staff David Lansdale, Ph.D. President and Founder
David was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece. Graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Analysis. Launched a national program in Geriatrics in Primary Care through the Stanford Faculty Development Program. Was Dean of the General College, and now runs the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Universidad de San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador's leading liberal arts university. He is the president and the founder of Beyond Chacay Foundation (BCF) and also launched the above mentioned responsible social tourism enterprise EcoHelix (currently in beta phase).
Cecilia Guerrero, MBA
Cecilia or Ceci (which she prefers) is originally from Guaranda, Ecuador. She studied at The Central University of Ecuador in Quito and earned her degree in Education specialized in Linguistics. Furthermore, she holds an MBA from Simón Bolívar University. Currently she is enrolled in an MDP program from Regis University (USA) and a candidate to become a Human Development Coach (Transpersonal Coach). Ceci is an expert in social entrepreneurship and has founded different companies, including Millenium Spanish School and AV4Events in the US as well as CECIT (a center to help people with special needs), an Online Spanish School with an Immersion Program and Conexiones an outdoor training for companies in Ecuador. Ceci is part of BCF since May 2015 and currently in charge of all the interventions and programs the foundation organizes.
Program Developer
Manuel Preusser, MA PAT Program Director
Manuel was born in Vienna and holds a Master’s Degree in International Development from the University of Vienna. He joined BCF in August 2016 to coordinate BCF’s exchange programs in and with the local communities. He is in close contact with the Ecuadorian stakeholders to make sure that they benefit from the PAT internships and other BCF programs. He is also the first contact person for the foreign students, coordinates their projects and assists them in the case of occurring problems.
was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand. She studied at the University of Massey and Rebekah Murray Rebekah graduated in 2009 with an BSc (Bachelor of Science with double mayors in Zoology and National Director of Encuentros Physiology). She got a scholarship and earned practical experience working on Macqurie
Island, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island and The Snares in the south of New Zealand, where she developed a deep passion for wildlife conservation. Since 2010 she worked for three years for SPCA, an NGO for abused domestic animals, where she educated the public about sterilization and adequate treatment of animals. Furthermore she was in charge of marketing, animal sales and worked as a veterinarian nurse.
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Contact us We will be happy to help with any queries or issues that you may have regarding the application process. Please contact us by email or by phone as follows: David Lansdale – david@chacay.org, cell phone (593) 998 308 26 Cecilia Guerrero cecilia@chacay.org, cell phone (593) 984 455 027 Manuel Preusser manuel@chacay.org cell phone (593) 987 935 819
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