Co- constructing aboriginal tourism through participatory-action research and Information and Communication Technologies : a new approach to managing resources and territoiries

Aboriginal communities have been over researched in the past. They are looking at new ways to regain and recapture their culture, language and identity and are in the procès of taking ownership of research processes, concepts and tools. In an attempt to revisit participatory-action research approach...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Blangy-Martin, Sylvie
Other Authors: Montpellier 3, Miossec, Jean-Marie
Format: Thesis
Language:French
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.theses.fr/2010MON30085/document
Description
Summary:Aboriginal communities have been over researched in the past. They are looking at new ways to regain and recapture their culture, language and identity and are in the procès of taking ownership of research processes, concepts and tools. In an attempt to revisit participatory-action research approach and adapt it to aboriginal contexts, we have developed research collaborations with 13 communities from Northern Canada (Cree and Inuit) and Northern Scandinavia (Saami) and organised 20 workshops using collaborative research techniques and tools developed by Chevalier and Buckles from Carleton University. This approach and the tool kit we produced prove to be useful and timely. We were able to address the concerms and challenges that the communities have to face, develop research collaborations between the Cree, the Inuit and the Saami, study community engagement processes in tourism projects and explore new aboriginal research metholodogies. At the same time and during this 3 year Marie Curie research fellowship, we have been exploring the possibilities of developing collaborative research on line via the web 2.0 and ITC. We uploaded 200 aboriginal tourism initiatives represented in the “Aboriginal Destinations” Guidebook, connected their authors in a Content Management System SPIP (www.aboriginal-ecotourism.org), incorporating a variety of integrated technologies: Google Maps™ to provide the geographic placement of the communities; a webbased survey to produce dynamic statistical data to translate the information provided in the narratives/articles into statistical data; discussion forums to add qualitative comments to the quantitative data. Les Peuples autochtones ont fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches dans le passé. Ils explorent aujourd’hui des nouvelles façons de reconquérir leur langue, leur culture, leur identité et sont en voie de se réapproprier les processus, concepts et outils de recherche. En vue de revisiter la recherche-action participative et de l’adapter au contexte autochtone, nous avons ...