Reducing poverty by the management of social innovation

Abstract

Sustainable tourism systems have several variables with significant implications, poverty being one of the more obscure of them, which in conjunction with hunger, inevitably leads in the end to social chaos. The general goal of this project is to study the state of the art in social innovation focusing on the elaboration of valid ideas for it, based on developments for reducing poverty in ecotourist communities. Its specific objectives are (1) to study the management of the ecotourism business as a successful tool in social innovation (2) to indicate the social technologies for forming eco villages and social innovation in ecotourist communities, and (3) to interpret the social technologies associated with domestic orchards and gardens as a new arena of socio- spatial performance. It is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, derived from the Theory of Rational Behavior consistent with information handling that encourages collective action, models inherent in Azjen and Fishbein's list of multiple attributes. This task called for qualitative research of a constructivist nature, as a simulated study of case methods used as preparation tools. The studied population was located on the north coast of Bahia State (Brazil), in a population of mainly unassisted locals and visitors, whose main object is to enjoy the scenery. The results of this study of the present state of affairs point to the paradox which characterizes this pleasurable environment for ecotourism, with its fertile soil, interesting culture and typically hospitable hosts. The design proposed below gains support from social technologies associated with permaculture, rural methods and other behaviours geared to organizing productive systems that are modelled on ecotourism-centered eco-villages. The conclusion of this task was that the residents' practice in social innovation should effectively reveals a gap between what exists and what should exist. The solution lies in training individuals and collectives to exploit the regional potential for changing their conditions, for instance by developing the technology to maximize their control of the environment, thus reducing poverty and improving the quality of life. This would merit a seal of conservation for production directed to self-consumption and profit from any surplus. This is a proposal to reduce poverty through a socioeconomic transition to sustainability by ecotourism-centred communities using social technologies.