An example from Australia: Concept Plan for the Waterfall Track Network

In 2002 the New England Ecotourism Society had idea to develop a long-distance walking track in the corridor between Walcha and Coffs Harbour (NSW). The idea was to build something along the lines of the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia or the Overland Track in New Zealand which provides a long distance nature-based walking experience. During 2002 community meetings were held throughout this corridor, including the communities of Walcha, Armidale, Ebor and Coffs Harbour. These meetings asked the question, "What type of Track?" would the community like to see - if any. The map below describes one of these conversations that was held in Ebor (on a cold winters day in a squash court, with a sick baby). A map such as this was recorded for each of the community meetings on static paper stuck on the wall so the conversation log could be viewed by all paticipants. The key ideas (or the themes) are marked in red, and different threads of the conversation are outlined a different colours. These maps were sent back to each workshop participant as a record of their conversation. All of the key ideas from each of the conversations was then put together on a separate map to describe the main ideas and issues that arose from the community meetings about this idea (to see the rest of the maps and the accompanying report navigate to http://www.une.edu.au/cwpr/track). It became apparent very early on in these conversations that a long-distance walking track such as that proposed would not work, due to a number of reasons including land tenure complexities, but was also not what the communities wanted to see develop in their region. But, what would work is a network of diverse experiences offering recreational opportunities and is both a platform and brand identity for marketing regional experiences and various nature based, ecotourism, cultural, and adventure products. In other words, they wanted to showcase the region, draw together existing businesses into packages and manage the development of this network in a sustainable way. It has to be said, that these conversations lead to great community interest and support for the project across the region, particularly because the project team listened to the communities ideas and issues to do with the proposed project and changed the central idea of a long-distance walking track to a network of experiences in response to the community aspirations.

The lesson here is not to drive the agenda, but to allow new ideas and solutions to emerge to inform the overall project design.

The Ebor Community Map.

Key Ideas (marked in red)

• use existing tracks

• each section should have its own flavour

• central Co-ordination and communication of track

• guides needed in some sections

• minimize environmental impact

• blue/green etc colour guide for track grades (skiing)

• accommodate different types of walkers

• provide a wilderness experience too

• a regulated track on private Lands - purchase track pass for certain sections with restricted access at certain times

• partnership with local landholders for access

What the Ebor Community Said

Participants at the Ebor community meeting thought that each section or zone of the Track should have its own flavour and that existing tracks should be used wherever possible. Some time was spent addressing the land management issues of private landholders and how the Track needed to be managed to avoid impacting their operations. Some private landholders while in favour of the track initiative because of the potential benefits to the communities, were concerned about the impact of walkers on their operations and a number of issues / concerns were noted. A number of solutions were developed that could possibly address these issues besides the option of landholders opting out from the Track.

For sections of the Track that may traverse private landholdings, a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) would be needed about what type of access would be allowed and in what seasons. The meeting proposed the idea of regulated sections of the Track that would require guides and a pass would have to be purchased that covered walker insurance and liability. These would then be exclusive sections unavailable to independent, self-guided walkers with locked gates. This would be an opportunity to educate walkers about current land management issues. Refer to track management below, represented in blue on colour maps.

The design of the track should accommodate a cross section of walkers and cater for different walking abilities; provide for wilderness experiences but in some sections a cap on numbers may be necessary to minimize environmental impact. Colour coded guide maps could indicate the difficulty of walking track grades. See track design below, represented in green on colour maps.

A centralised co-ordination and communication system should be developed to developed to alert walkers of track conditions, diversions or closure of sections due to fire, lambing season etc.

In this conversation map:

• the stakeholders grouped at meeting set specifically to identify the issues;

• the facilitators of the conversation drew the map WITH the participants;

• the map was directly designed by the community - they indicated where each of the items go and how they should be linked;

• the map was sent back to the community and stakeholders for feedback.

Example 1 The Beloi Map

Example 3 From NSW Regional Conference

Workbooks (PDF)

Developing A Community Strategic Plan 28.3Kb

Project Management by Communities 33kb

Community Visioning 41.1Kb

Monitoring 41.9Kb