Tag: #GlobalLearning

Clemson Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) faculty and graduate students were recently invited to South Africa to share their expertise, research human/wildlife experiences in Africa’s longest standing national park and explore new potential collaborations.

The group, led by Department Chair Wayne Freimund and consisting of Associate Chair Lori Dickes, faculty members Lauren Duffy and Aby Sene-Harper, and graduate students E’Lisha Fogle and Temitope Arogundade, took part in the Insaka international research symposium about how Africa can best meet the multiple societal and ecological challenges that come with transformative conservation, conducted a visitor research project for Kruger National Park and explored the possibility of a promising new collaborative project focused on Garden Route National Park.

The Insaka Symposium

The Insaka Symposium brought together experts in a wide variety of disciplines, such as social science, tourism, human rights, community development and environmental science to try to better understand and address rapid social and ecological changes in South Africa. According to Freimund, the multidisciplinary makeup of the group provides a richer and more thorough understanding of challenges throughout the country.

“South Africa’s conservation issues are complex, multidimensional and require all hands on deck, with everyone working together to find workable solutions,” says Freimund. “It’s rewarding to work as part of a collective of international leaders in their fields, collaborating on possible solutions we can share with the country’s decision makers.”

Most of the team presented at the symposium, with Freimund and Dickes delivering keynote speeches. Their presentations shared findings from research conducted by the department in national parks throughout the United States and parts of Africa, and applied those learnings to a South African context. PRTM’s different areas of focus, including parks, community recreation, youth development, tourism and public administration, makes it well-suited to address the rapidly evolving social and ecological challenges the region is facing.

“We had a great scientific exchange and social capital building experience at the symposium, with the collective experiencing the breadth and depth of what Clemson had to offer and how a department like ours can fit into these large-scale problems in a constructive way,” continued Freimund.

The collective is now working together to apply for a National Science Foundation network collaboration grant involving the Insaka Consortia, Clemson and Montana universities, and potentially the University of Botswana, the Nelson Mandela University and other African partners. The grant proposal is focused on the Kafue River basin in Zambia, part of the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Trans Frontier Park, which is the largest in the world.

Kruger National Park

After the symposium, the PRTM group traveled to Kruger National Park, one of the longest standing parks in Africa, to develop a study on challenges associated with human interaction with wildlife.

International and domestic tourism to the park is increasing, which brings a number of opportunities to the region, but also creates a tension between the park’s natural space and the humans wanting to experience it. Wildlife is migratory, making it difficult to create experiences for tourists. Human interaction can also pose challenges when animals feel at risk.

The group conducted research in the park to get a sense of wildlife interactions from a visitor’s perspective, and to better understand the complexities – and possible solutions for – human and wildlife experiences over time. The group is developing an app-based experience sampling method, where visitors send data throughout the day during their visit that describes where they are, what they are doing, how they feel about it, their perceived quality of their experience, among other questions. This will give researchers a better understanding of how to better manage incidents and create a better code of ethics for visitors, while also taking steps to enhance their visitor experience.

“Right now, the visitor experience at the park is based on the luck of the draw. For example, you could have an awesome experience of nature if your car drives beside a lion next to the road, or you could stumble into a long traffic jam if dozens of people get there before you,” says Freimund. “The first is a very positive experience. The second isn’t. Developing a visitor app for the park can help flag some of these issues and help help us better understand how the positive and negative episodes affect the overall experience and impression of the park.”

Garden Route National Park

The group’s final visit was to Garden Route National Park, near the town of George, where they explored the possibility of a new research collaboration with the Sustainability Research Unit at Nelson Mandela University, the Knsyna Basin Project and South Africa National Parks.

The group is exploring a number of key opportunities and challenges facing the park and region, such as municipal park development, tourism as an economic generator, youth development and conservation.

“The area’s national parks are open access, similar to national forests throughout the United States,” says Freimund. “There are opportunities to help visitors explore the health and cultural benefits of nature and expand the park’s recreational use and community engagement, while also managing its conservation. We have a great deal of experience in managing those issues, making a partnership a good fit.”

After a successful first meeting, the collective is working together to explore potential opportunities for collaboration, including research projects, student and faculty exchanges and a possible visit to Clemson. The group has struck a committee to look for ways to facilitate an exchange moving forward.

Watch the video below for more pictures of the group’s experiences!

A group of Clemson University undergraduate students and lifelong learners recently traveled to Tanzania as part of a unique study abroad program organized by the department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) and Clemson’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

Clemson University offers several international travel options that expand the learning environment beyond the classroom into unique, and often challenging, cultural contexts. What sets this trip apart, however, is that the students were joined by a group of OLLI members midway through their experience.

OLLI is a regional continuing education community and membership organization of more than 1,450 people that primarily serves adults age 50 and older, though adults of any age are welcome to participate. The institute offers lectures, courses, excursions and social events, as well as access to Clemson events and resources. Clemson’s OLLI is one of 123 similar organizations throughout the country, with a collective membership of more than 150,000 learners. The Tanzania study abroad trip was organized so that both groups could benefit from an intergenerationally-focused learning opportunity, and to establish stronger connections between our university students and the upstate community.

“We’re always looking for ways to enrich student learning, and partnering with OLLI accomplishes that by allowing both groups to experience Tanzania through another generation’s perspective,” says Arthur-Banning. “Students are able to learn from and network with key members of the upstate community, who also play lead roles in many upstate organizations.”

The study abroad experience is focused on service, with students volunteering with local children at schools and at a family-run orphanage in Tanzania’s capital city of Dar es Salaam before joining OLLI members for a few days to experience the country together. The combined group visited a Chagga village in Uru east at the base of Mt. Killimanjaro, where they learned about traditional food, coffee, and the process of making banana beer (called Mbege). They also taught students at the village’s primary school and went on a safari of Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.

The group’s volunteer work in the Chagga Village benefited both groups of learners in different ways. Students gave OLLI members insight into Clemson’s study abroad programs and their focus. OLLI members were able to apply their extensive skill sets to their volunteer roles, enriching the experience for students.

“Our OLLI members are impressive, with a vast depth of knowledge and experience to share,” Vidotto says. “This program provides an excellent opportunity for our participating members and students to learn from each other and experience a different country and culture in a unique, authentic and culturally immersive way.”

Now that the trip is complete, Arthur-Banning and Vidotto are conducting an assessment to determine whether the study abroad trip met its learning objectives, and opportunities for improvement.

“We see great potential in continuing to find ways for Clemson students and the OLLI community to interact and learn from one another,” continued Vidotto. “This program is a great start, as we can now easily see how Clemson can create a model for the national OLLI network.”

Arthur-Banning also sees an ongoing opportunity for his students, now that the group is back in Clemson.

“We’ve encouraged our students to really think about how this experience has moved them to action in some way – whether it is spending more time with their family, bringing them closer to a higher being, moving them to have a more positive role in their own community or here on campus, or perhaps even to return to Africa to continue the amazing work that our institution continues to do,” says Arthur-Banning. “Whatever it is, I hope this trip does not simply become a neat experience, but that it stirs up an opportunity to continue to grow.”

A group of Clemson undergraduate students are spending five weeks in Kalmar, Sweden, this summer to learn about what makes the area one of the most sustainable regions in the world.

From July 10 to August 13, the students will live and study at the Linnaeus University Summer Academy in Kalmar, where they will explore topics such as sustainable shipping, farming, water treatment, water, energy, transportation, infrastructure, local foods, environmental impacts, business and economics, policy and ecology.

The study abroad program is organized by Lori Dickes, Chair of Clemson University’s Master of Public Administration program and Jeffery Allen, director of the South Carolina Water Resources Center.

The program responds to a new global environment, with governments, businesses and other organizations across the globe considering how they can be more sustainable. Sustainability impacts a wide variety of management issues, such as overdevelopment, environmental issues, municipal services – such as water, trash, transportation and power – public health and high-quality nutrition, access to green space and concerns of over tourism.

“The concept of sustainability is increasingly vital for students to understand regardless of their study focus,” says Dickes. “Students participating in this study abroad program will have a unique opportunity to experience a city that is at the top of the sustainability game, and to consider how they can apply these lessons to their studies and their communities in the United States.”

Sweden consistently tops the RobecoSAM Country Sustainability Ranking, a semiannual survey that ranks 65 countries based on several environmental, social and governance indicators. The country’s green technology industry produces revenues of approximately  $3.5 billion annually and employs more than 40,000 people.

The study abroad program includes field work, class field trips, case study sites throughout the region, and research and group projects with students from other universities. The program uses an integrated systems and interdisciplinary approach to teach students how to learn about and consider research, behavior and social norms around sustainability.

Students are placed in teams to complete group projects, and will also expected to write blog posts and share presentations about what they’ve learned on a wide variety of sustainability topics. When they’re not in the classroom, they’ll also be given the option of experiencing Swedish culture in a different way, by participating in cultural and extracurricular activities, attending lectures by internationally-renowned speakers and experiencing other popular recreational activities in the area, such as biking, hiking, kayaking, canoeing and swimming.

Students will also study and assess best practices from local, regional, national and international perspectives, with an emphasis on the transfer of knowledge across regions. Dickes says that this is particularly important, as it helps students understand how the scale of a sustainability initiative can impact its planning, implementation and ongoing management to reflect specific regional, social and cultural needs.

“Sustainability is often complex and culturally-influenced, so there is no single, one-size-fits-all approach to solutions,” says Dickes. “Being able to see what is working in Sweden and what challenges they’ve faced, while also being immersed in that culture, can help students understand why certain initiatives were framed or developed in a certain way for that specific population.”

The ability to consider the cultural context for a sustainability initiative, including an understanding of what motivates people to change patterns of behavior, can help students better adapt and apply best practices to challenges faced in the United States and throughout North America. The program also enrolls students from universities around the world, helping its participants see sustainability initiatives through the lens of other cultures, and to discuss sustainability experiences through a global perspective.

Dickes feels that having students from different areas of study – and different countries – take part in the program reflects the need for every sector with a stake in the issue to come together to find multi-faceted solutions.

“Because sustainability is a broad topic with many dimensions, it requires an interdisciplinary lens and understanding of the breadth of topics that fall under this broad umbrella,” she says. “We need many different types of academic and professional backgrounds to work together if we’re going to solve the complex environmental, social, organizational and policy problems of the world.”

Clemson Graduate Student Uses an Innovative Research Approach to Understand the Lives of Marginalized Persons in the Global South

Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries, responsible for the creation of one in five new jobs over the last five years, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Most of those jobs are occupied by women, including in Africa. That said, job opportunities for men and women vary throughout the African continent, says E’Lisha Fogle, a doctoral student with the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management program at Clemson University, with gender dynamics playing a role.

“A woman’s experience in the tourism industry throughout Africa is affected by underlying societal, cultural and political influences that affect how, where and when she could be involved in – and constrained by – tourism,” Fogle says.

Past research on gender and tourism in Africa has primarily focused on entrepreneurship, empowerment and other community-based initiatives involving women. Although those are important perspectives, Fogle is applying a different approach to understanding constraints to women’s participation in tourism and its related industries.

Fogle is analyzing these relationships through collective memory work, a research tool that addresses power structures, hegemony and inequality, with a goal of emancipation through discourse analysis. Members of the collective are able to deconstruct their own narratives, which, in Fogle’s research, also creates a safe space for personal growth and empowerment. Fogle believes this approach can play an integral role towards gender equality in the Global South, which includes most countries in Africa, Central and Latin America, Asia and some countries in Europe.

“Collective memory work is still emerging in Africa as a tourism research tool, as there are fewer women of color investigating these phenomena from an academic perspective,” says Fogle. “As a result, it has been relatively underutilized as a method to understanding issues affecting women in tourism spaces.”

Fogle spent a month in Livingstone, Zambia, between December 2018 to January 2019, with a group of six participants recognized by the collective memory work methodology as co-researchers. Fogle served as the group scholar with five female community members.  Together, they used collective memory work to explore how gender could constrain female participation in the tourism industry. Her goal is to apply a new layer to existing research that can be used to help encourage confidence in the workplace among women and lead to better opportunities, both in and beyond the industry.

Fogle’s faculty advisor, Dr. Lauren Duffy, says that E’Lisha’s work focuses on an important topic that needs our attention. “Ensuring women have access to the tourism industry as a source of employment and income is vital in terms of providing the means for economic and social independence,” Duffy says. “E’Lisha’s research is pushing new boundaries methodologically and having a direct impact on the people and organizations she’s working with.”

Fogle’s impact on the Livingstone community goes beyond her academic research. Before she left for Livingstone last December, she raised $1,300 that was divided equally among six local organizations to purchase equipment and supplies, education materials and uniforms, and health and hygiene products for women and children.

Dollars were also used to address critical facility needs – for example, financial support provided to the Baobuyu Learning Center, which provides free schooling to young children in the Mwandi area, covered their water, sewage and electricity costs for an entire year, while also helping them prepare their roof for upcoming maintenance work. Kwathu Children’s Home, which operates an orphanage and free community school, was able to purchase food supplies for the first quarter of the year.

Fogle’s philanthropic efforts were supported by the Conservation and Tourism Society in Livingstone, with Society member Jacob Kampindu facilitating the relationships between Fogle and the participating organizations.

“It’s important to me to ensure that my research in Africa does more than benefit me as a scholar,” says Fogle. “The dollars we were able to raise provided direct, and immediate, benefits to the communities sharing their knowledge and insight with me, while also raising awareness of their work here in Clemson.”

Fogle is now back in Africa sharing her collective memory work research approach at two major tourism conferences – at the ATLAS Africa conference in Uganda, which explores innovations in tourism, and the Insaka 2019 Symposium in South Africa, focusing on transformative conservation. She’s hoping her presentations will raise awareness and encourage the use of collective memory work in tourism research.

“Understanding gender constraints to female participation in the tourism industry is critical, given the number of women working in the field. The collective memory work approach provides invaluable new insight into what opportunities and challenges women working in tourism are facing,” says Fogle. “My hope is that the more we share information about this research technique, the more female African researchers will begin to see the value in using it.”

Carmen Nibigira knows the value of focus and persistence.

She pursued – and earned – a PhD, taking several twists and turns along the way. Carmen started her PhD journey in 2012 when she moved to Clemson from Burundi, a difficult decision that took her away from her children, who stayed with family back home while she studied.

Although she had quickly risen in her field, Carmen was conscious that dynamics in the tourism and hospitality field were changing, and that she had much to learn if she wanted to continue to advance her career. “My professional background was in hospitality, however, I began to see tourism industry discussions shift to a greater focus on conservation, preservation and community engagement,” Carmen says. “I had little knowledge at the time about how my journey in Clemson would unfold, but had faith that pursuing my education in tourism development, with a focus on policy, here was the best decision, regardless of the circumstances.”

In 2014, two years into her doctoral studies, she temporarily put them on hold to take a job as Director General of the Burundi National Tourism Office. This position gave her an opportunity to serve her country, apply her newfound knowledge and skills, and to make a difference. A year after that, Carmen was preparing for her comprehensive exams (also called comps, which are a key part of the process towards earning a PhD), when she accepted another position, this time serving as the regional tourism coordinator for the East Africa Tourism Platform. She was joined by her family in Nairobi, who had abruptly left their home country because of a political situation.

She continued to work towards her PhD part-time, and earned her doctorate this past May. Carmen’s faculty advisor, Travel and Tourism Professor Sheila Backman, says this kind of tenacity and focus is typical for Carmen. “Other graduate students find themselves needing to overcome challenges while they complete their credential, but not like Carmen,” said Sheila. “Instead of slowing her down, she always manages to navigate through anything that’s thrown her way. And she does it the right way. As a result, her academic and practitioner colleagues have tremendous respect for her and the knowledge, skills and commitment she brings to the table.”

Carmen started her academic career in the United Kingdom, earning her undergraduate degree in Brighton and her master’s in Birmingham, with experiences in Switzerland and East Africa. Earning a PhD in North America was appealing to Carmen, as she wanted to learn about tourism from a different cultural perspective. She chose Clemson because of its climate, tourism and parks management program and faculty’s international reputation.

While she studied, Carmen also continued her long-standing work to empower women throughout East Africa by creating opportunities for education and mentorship. Carmen’s personally mentored dozens of women during her 20-year career in the travel and hospitality industry, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Akilah Institute in Rwanda, a women’s college that prepares a new generation of African female leaders. The institute has been so successful that it’s looking to expand, with a goal of creating a network of campuses across sub-Saharan Africa within the next 15 years.

Carmen sees herself as being in a unique position to help, as an industry leader and one of a small percentage of people throughout the world who have a PhD. “Education is a great opportunity for young women. But it’s not just about education. It’s about the quality of education, equal pay, being able to get a good job and striving to have it all, just not all at once,” says Carmen. “It took me 15-20 years to work towards my PhD, when you factor in my university education and work experience. Once you understand that hard work pays, you become mentally prepared for the challenge.”

She’s now working as a Project Director for Horwath HTL, an international consulting firm that provides governments and other clients with tourism research, policy and strategy development and implementation support in East Africa. And she’s recently found a new challenge to pursue, after a conversation with one of her sons. “He asked me, why are you always focused on helping girls? Why not boys?” she said. His statement caught her off guard, and made her think.

“I’m a mother of boys, and began to wonder, are we creating the same opportunities for them? We perceive boys as having an advantage, but I’ve started to wonder if that’s really the case,” says Carmen. “I’m compelled to see how I can start engaging boys in the very near future. We have helped girls and women access education and equal opportunities, and boys are feeling left out.”

“After all, in Africa, we say that it takes a village to raise a child,” she continues. “I feel like it took several countries to raise me. If I can make a difference in any way, I will.”