Under the scope of the Learn to Change project, I invited 52 first-year undergraduate students of a Business English course to create digital storytelling projects on sustainable tourism in the region of Castelo Branco, Portugal.
The semester-long challenge was the following: create a digital story to attract young people like you to come and explore local sites and experiences in the Castelo Branco region while promoting sustainable tourism practices. In their projects, students chose to focus on food tasting routes, sunset boat parties on the river, mountain trekking, sports days, bread making in a village, and visiting a medieval fair event.
Collaborative research into Castelo Branco region
This hyper-connected generation of students started out with little knowledge about the surroundings of the Higher Education institution they had elected to study in – the Polytechnic Institute in Castelo Branco, located in an interior region of Portugal.
As this was their first year of undergraduate studies, students that were not local had not discovered either the town or the touristic offer of the region before. They confessed that exploring their surroundings from a historic, cultural, experiential, or natural point of view had not been very high on their agendas so far.
However, students were very active in doing research, sharing experiences, and exchanging word-of-mouth recommendations. They worked to develop the focus of their storytelling concepts with much debate and negotiation, which resulted in some useful learning on the region and on their own representations of ‘sustainable tourism’.
Digital stories about local attractions: town, river, mountain, and village
I had been expecting young generations to engage with examples of ecotourism, solidarity tourism, fair tourism and alternative tourist practices, and although my expectations were not exactly fulfilled they were not contradicted either.
Some teams wanted to focus on the amenities (restaurants and gardens) of the town of Castelo Branco, while others decided to explore its cultural events, such as the Templars’ Medieval Fair called Dias Templários de Castelo Branco / Terras Templárias.
Other teams elected to locate their storytelling in nature. One of the natural monuments of Naturtejo Geopark was seen by one of the teams to be the perfect location to explore the calm river Tagus waters by boat and cross its imposing Portas de Ródão (the ‘doors’ of the river Tagus). Another team was seduced by floating boats on the river Zêzere at Álvaro, in Oleiros.
The Gardunha mountain and the village of Ladoeiro, close to Castelo Branco, were also elected as sites that could well be used for digital storytelling to promote outdoor and indoor activities, such as sports and learning how to make bread the traditional way.
Social experiences and group trips for young people
As young people, the students collectively defined the audience for their storytelling projects. They designed their storytelling for young people who are active, open to novelty, who enjoy new experiences and music, who like parties and activities in nature, but who also enjoy learning about culture and traditional ways of living, as well as young people to want to have fun with friends and occasionally even stay away from their mobile phones.
The idea of tourism inevitably evokes trips to unknown locations. It was interesting to note how trips were associated in the students’ digital storytelling with moments of conviviality and socialisation with other young people. There were a couple of storytelling projects that featured how an isolated individual can overcome loneliness by travelling somewhere to join other young people partying, eating, and dancing.
The gastronomic experiences ranked high in these storytelling projects, from learning to make bread in the traditional way in a village among elderly people to exploring what restaurants have to offer. So did sports activities, from mountain trekking to one-day sports events in groups.
Although shared and debated, not all storytelling ideas were further explored by the teams. However, I feel they still need to be aired as potential storytelling ideas for future projects: 1) jewellery making at Cargaleiro Museum in Castelo Branco; 2) feeding the griffins at Naturtejo Geopark in Vila Velha de Ródão; 3) stargazing at glamping at Serra da Gardunha; 4) sunset church party; 5) organising a competition at Ladoeiro to pick watermelons; 6) enjoying outdoor cinema at Lagoa Park in Castelo Branco in the summer; and 7) paintball in Estrela Mountain.
Emerging themes in sustainable tourism
For some teams, the notion of change ranked high. Their aim was to change young people’s preconceived ideas about life in villages and to encourage them to interact with elderly local people or to give up on toxic habits by joining others through relaxing, fun practices in nature.
Some teams focused on alternative ways of using touristic amenities. They highlighted different types of restaurants to those generally advertised, different uses to the floating houses at Álvaro, and different approaches to historical villages through group activities.
Students wanted to uncover spots, experiences and practices in the region and claimed this would be a way to create the conditions for better economic revenue for local people. In their opinion, if you are satisfied with your touristic experience you will share it on social media and this will boost the location and spread the interest.
In sum, conviviality, having fun, discovering something new, exploring river, mountain and town, and engage with local people seem to be the emerging themes for sustainable tourism.
Text: Margarida Morgado, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco, Portugal
Image: Learn to Change project archives