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NEW TOOLS TO ENHANCE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ECO-TOURISM AND SOCIETY: THE LIVING LAB AS A MECHANISM FORDIRECTING SOCIAL INNOVATION.

Marival SEGARRA-OÑA, Angel PEIRO-SIGNES

Management Department, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n 46022

Valencia (Spain) and Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, Social Sciences School, Cuenca.

maseo@omp.upv.es, anpeisig@omp.upv.es

Abstract

The characteristics of the environment largely determine the capacity of the society

to generate and accept novelty. It is necessary to know how to promote and to

improve these conditions in order for social innovation to occur and to know how to

enhance these conditions from the public policy side. We propose an innovative tool

for the generation of information from all the involved parties – the living lab. We

study a specific case of innovation in the ecotourism sector. The project we propose

will contribute to designing actions, to promoting the generation of ideas, to

receiving encouraging responses from different areas, involving companies, users,

and public authorities, taking into account local and sustainability aspects.The

integration of those elements provide a multidisciplinary approach for social and

sustainable innovation.

1 Introduction

Ecotourism refers to the kind of trips where the primary purpose is the

contemplation of nature, increasing their awareness of, participation in, and

promotion of conservation, and where the destinations are areas little changed by

human action (Sanchez and Ramirez, 2011). Ecotourism still does not represent a

large share of total world tourism, though its scope has been rising in recent years,

and the growth rate exceedsthat of conventional tourism (Schulte, 2003). Many

authors see growing ecotourism as a tool for promoting the conservation of nature

and as something that is able to contribute to rural local development (Casas Jurado

et al., 2012).

However, some authors disagree and are, to some extent, questioning the

results of some ecotourism projects, especially with regard to the alleged

improvementsin the conditions of the natural areas that are visited (Alvarez et al.,

2012).

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A key element in social innovation1 is the participation of the public and users

in it. Von Hippel (1976, 1988) was the first to describe the importance of users as a

source of innovation. Later, he stressed the paradigm shift towards innovation

systems that were user-centric. According to this paradigm, users tend to find

profitable ways to innovate, contributing to the development of new products and

services for themselves and, in many cases, sharing their innovations freely for

others to use (Von Hippel, 2005).

A recent paradigm linked to participation in innovation, which is especially

important in social innovation, is called living labs. Living labs involve an explicit form

of integrating consumers in the internal processes of value creation.

2 Methodology

The living laboratories originate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT) as a research methodology for detecting needs, testing, prototyping,

validating, and refining complex innovations in real life environments. The living labs

appear as a consequence, or a natural evolution, of the concepts discussed in the

preceding paragraphs and allowsknowledge from multiple contexts to focus on

reality.And secondly, there is a high degree of user involvement, as users are

included in the value creation process (Eriksson et al., 2005).

Moreover, participation is not limited to the ideation phase of open

innovation;rather, users are involved throughout the process until the validation

phase. Because of this integration, the ex-post evaluation of the market is more

reliable. Moreover, users co-create, in this environment, with researchers and

developers, which provides structure and governance to their participation in the

process (Almirall and Wareham, 2008). This makes ecotourism a perfect field for

testing the methodology. This is what we did in the Albufera2, in the area of Valencia,

Spain, in October 2015 with a select group of users, academics, local politicians,

tourist, restaurant and boat owners, and local fishers and rice producers.

3 Results

To developa methodologyforgeneratingsocialinnovation based on living labs

applied to theeco-tourismsector, we tested the following activities:

1. A boat trip with a local guide sightseeing a bird reserve. (see pictures 1 & 2).

2. A visit to a typical Barraca3 house (see pictures 3 & 4)

1See European Commission (2013)

2La Albufera is a freshwater lagoon on the Valencian coast, inside the La Albufera Natural Park. It is a nature

reserve with a reach environment. 3

TheBarracaisa typical building ofValencia that served ashousing forfarmers,so itis intheareas withirrigatedorchards.

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3. Learning about ancient fishing tools and vehicles used by farmers (see pictures 5 &

6).

4. Being shown how to cook the most typical Valencian dish, the “paella”4 (see

pictures 7,8&9).

5. Tasting and learning about local products (see pictures 10 & 11)

Picture 1. The boat owner and

Albufera guide.

Picture 2. Bird reserve.

4 The paella is a Valencian rice dish known as one of Valencia’s identifying symbols.

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Picture 3. The Barraca

(outside)

Picture 4. The Barraca (inside)

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Picture 5. Ancient fishing

techniques used in La Albufera.

Picture 6. Ancient vehicle used

by farmers in the area of Valencia.

Picture 7. Local cook explains.

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Picture 8. Different paellas

Picture 9. Fishpaella

ingredients.

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Picture 10. Local Fisherman

Picture 11. Local rice with certified origin.

After visiting the bird reserve, the Albufera lagoon, the barraca, and enjoying the

cooking show and the local products, the group was asked what aspects to improve

regarding the eco-touristic experience.

4 Conclusions

El Palmar, the town where this pilot living-lab was developed, has had an

economy based on fishing activities and rice growing since almost thirteen centuries

ago. Their permission to fish in this lagoon was given as a present from king Jaume I

as a present for their loyalty.

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Now fishing activities have been reduced for several reasons (reduced

benefits, pollution, regulation, etc.) and the town has based their economy on

restaurants specializingin the most famous Spanish dish, which was first born here,

the paella. People, mainly from the city of Valencia and its surroundings, usually

come on Sundays to have lunch and then go back, wasting the opportunity to enjoy

theentire cultural, visual and, indeed, touristy experience.

In this particular case study, the social links that were identified were clear.

The whole touristy experience was prepared by the restaurant’s owner, because one

of the people that was taking part in the living lab had known him and his father for

years. The boat driver was also a friend of the restaurant’s owner, and the person

who explained to us the barraca and the ancient fishing techniques was the

restaurant owner’s sister. Also, the fisherman was the father of the restaurant

owner. The experience was a complete success in every aspect – sightseeing,

entertainment, culturally, and gastronomy related – but this kind of special and very

authentic touristy attractions cannot just be dependent on having the good luck of

knowing the right person.

Benefitswould clearly arise for the whole town of El Palmarif they could take

advantage of their cultural, natural, and historical assets.Therefore, and after a

brainstorming session, the group highlighted the following aspects to be improved:

Avoid selling the meal or the boat trip as independent activities. Instead, put

together the options different local people can offer and build a more

complete experience for tourists (fishermen, farmers, restaurant owners,

local guides, natural area representatives, local bird experts, barracas

owners, etc.).

Include historical and cultural information in the tourist brochures; ask the

oldest people in the town to add unique, real, original information.

Train local people in order to improve the customer services.

Accuratelyplan each activity and its timing, do not leave anything to be

improvised, and improve the facilities (toilets, fountains, etc.)

Look for local fishermen and farmers to support the restoration of old tools,

materials, and ways of life to build a local museum.

Promote local products and obtain a quality certification associated with the

region/area/town.

Improve the cooking show experience with live lessons and more organized

procedures.

This exercise should be replicated with different people to create a continuous cycle

of improvement,so as to embed local aspects and local people and promote and

improve this ecotourism experience.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Universitat Politècnica de València for the ADSIDEO 2014 Grants (Centre for Cooperation and Development).

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