1. CTC Wiki Project: A Creative Economy Strategy Using Web 2.0 and Community
Supported Conservation to Build Human Capacity and Create Wealth by
Enhancing Ecotourism in the Dominican Republic
Prepared by Jan Herder, 2009 for the Primera Dama
Proof of Concept Model
Through the use of learning activities that employ Web 2.0 applications and by creating
in depth and extensive local knowledge bases (wikiʼs), students at the CTCʼs will
acquire 21st Century Literacyʼs. The Process used is a creative technique that
accomplishes this goal by empowering people to take Stewardship of their Biome, in the
process creating a deep, broad knowledge based sustainable environmental economy.
By leveraging experiential hands-on, constructivist and immersive learning techniques,
students are empowered. This is critical--the work is accomplished by the participants:
students, adults, the disabled--not by outside consultants. My role would be to facilitate
and construct a self perpetuating system of self reliance through the Internship and
Peer to Peer leadership model. The CTC Wiki Project is in Partnership with the
Ecotourism industry to provide an in depth, value added travel experience focusing on
the unique environment and culture of specific locales in the DR that are situated
nearby CTCʼs.
Problem
The rich and diverse environment of the DR is threatened. Loss of critical habitat and
species erode the attraction of the DR for tourists and deplete the Islandʼs ability to
sustain itself and to assure its cultural resilience. At the same time opportunities for
human capacity building are lost. In the transition to a knowledge society the particular
and specific attributes of the DR are threatened by development and tourism. This
trend can be reversed and the challenge made an opportunity for the people of the DR
through empowering the people to become Stewards of their culture and their
environment.
Strategy
The strategic and extensive system of CTCʼs in the DR provide a trim tab, a point of
leverage, to actualize the cultural resilience and human capacity development so
essential for the success of the country. These goals are in harmony with the growing
ecotourism movement and the growth and income generation that is predicted to occur
in the DR over the next decade. Our proposal is to unite these activities, using each to
enhance and support the other. Our methodology is to create a comprehensive system
of learning activities, applicable to CTCʼs across the DR, that empower students by
acquiring 21st Century Literacy's. By focusing on the sustainability of the community
and its biome, students become Stewards, self aware, valuing their environment. By
leveraging ICTʼs and Web 2.0 applications with creative economy techniques,
comprehensive and immersive knowledge bases (wikiʼs) are established for each
locale. This wealth of local knowledge and information is preserved, experienced,
displayed, celebrated and presented as a value added proposition to the Ecotourist.
Coupled with a clear carbon offset and mitigation strategy for the ecotourist, this

2. strategy assures the survival and attraction of the DR as a choice destination and place
for investment for the ecologically responsible tourist and enterprise.
21st Century Learning and Earning activities: the CTC is a Microcosm of the
biome.
Information and Communication Technologies enable us to speed up the process of
knowledge acquisition and cultural discovery, embarking on the journey of creation.
This is the creative technique to employ hands-on, learning activities that are student
centric, empowering and emergent-- every step of this process has economic
incentives. The hallmark of this technique is that by doing it you are achieving it. Micro
environments are created at the CTC for instruction and research into local species and
the enhancement of agriculture, aquaculture and bio-remediation through the use of
eco-machines and other sustainable techniques.
CTC Wiki Project
Goal: To create value added ecotourism activities and strategies that make the DR a
destination of choice for Ecotourism, Sustainability, and Emergent Culture. We would
join and follow the Criteria set by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria:
http://www.sustainabletourismcriteria.org/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=188
As a Web 2.0 Project all software applications are free and open source. An enhanced
web 2.0 marketing strategy would be used to build community, and globally advertise
and establish the Brand of the DR CTC Ecotourism Circuit.
Wetpaint.wiki for the project: http://www.wetpaint.com/
This wiki would be linked through the Portal, and provide content for the Portal. I would
select this application because of its easy use of visual components for visual literacy.
Scalability. Our goal is to have a scalable project thoroughly documented, with an
infrastructure of local Human Resources in place, to scale this model up to any
additional CTCʼs.
$5,000.00 USD grant to each participant CTC. ROI is content. i.e., $1.00 per wiki
entry, various incentive models, etc., This a project for the entire CTC Community to
focus in one, very diverse, but completely local, thorough way. At least half ($2500) is
paid directly to individuals creating content.
The Process begins with Community Participation and Involvement.
--Local Inventory, collected over a couple of months. This can begin immediately!
Using radio, web, fliers etc. locally
As much detail as possible and a continually growing body of knowledge is created.
Structure for the wiki
An Organized inventory of the local Biome, its Ecotourism attributes:

3. Environmental, Cultural, Political, Artistic, flora, fauna, geology, archeology, agricultural,
dietetic, water, comfort, sustainability, etc.
--Prioritized into actionable items, items which need assistance, types of items
--Project Managers for each action Item, someone who takes ownership for each area.
A Community Member, only accepting Items we can actualize at first.
--Volunteer Community of Experts, one of the groups created, outside experts invited,
local experts created. This is a key empowerment strategy, with anyone, any age, able
to become an “expert” according to established criteria.
--We focus on basic human needs as the primary learning activities related to sustaining
ecotourism.
--This process is inherently Community Supported Conservation. Partnerships with any
and all existing organizations would be nurtured.
Content Creation. Once the Priorities set, specific work can be begun in each area.
The CTC Board Administers the wiki, with others involved with expertise. Now a wealth
of knowledge and detail is created by the students and community of each CTC: web
entry, Blog entry, photo uploads, videoʼs created, articleʼs written, art work and dance or
music shown, digital stories of the townʼs people, the rich biome of their surroundings
and its most precious inhabitant's. It is populated through additional web 2.0 sites, the
usual oneʼs like Google Earth, Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Slide Share, Linkedin,
nings, Blogs and a growing pantheon of sites the students will get involved with. As part
of the project each participant from each CTC will create an eportfolio to demonstrate
their life long learning and highlight their skills as a component of the Human Resources
Inventory.
Additional Content includes things like: Artifacts, Maps, Cuisine, displays, pathway
proposals and instructive hikes and treks, festivals, eventually eco-lodges to overnight
in, to provide more in depth explorations, and other innovative, interactive activities the
students devise.
Intimately connected and immersed in Google Earth, content is added and focused on
a global audience which cares about the environment and the sustainability of the
earthʼs beauty and diversity. Gradually a rich display of unique features emerge.
The CTCʼs establish a presence on Google Earth Immediately: 3D buildings, Pictureʼs
and Youtube, wiki entries and detail. This is done by the more advanced CTC students
and staff as part of the first week of training.
Networking and the Creative Economy The CTCʼs chosen will be intimately
networked and best practices shared. Cooperative competitions and exchanges will
encourage a dialogue and interaction that builds on the best content creation and
innovative ecotourism activities created by each center. Prizes and awards for
outstanding work will recognize and energize the community as they compare and
contrast their work with each other.

4. Data Feeds and Carbon Footprint Mitigation
One kind of data feed we want the CTCʼs to create and maintain, the carbon footprint
and its mitigation, is an excellent example. This is interactive with the tourist because
we ask them how far they came, what were their modes of transportation? Every step
of the journey is considered and an accurate carbon footprint established by the
students. We add this up and discover its needed mitigation in acreage, in offsets.
These areas are designated in the community of the CTC, by property lines that can be
preserved. Unproductive land is planted with bamboo, paulownia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia , and the Moringa Tree:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa.
to accommodate the tourists carbon footprint. The tourist is given some funding options
and charged for this cost, to preserve the place they wish to see remain and return to.
Examples might be:
--Adopt a Steward (a student who gave a tour or presentation)
--Purchase trees to be planted, acreage to be preserved -- with private, local and
governmental partnerships.
--Donations to sustainability projects such as the eco-lodge, renewable energy, eco-
machines, etc.
--Scholarship programs for Stewards and research
--Content creation for special interests, species or habitats
This number, and its mitigation documentation, can be posted and offered as an
example of how ecofriendly the country is and what the carbon cost is to the planet for
the tourist to visit. It provides a baseline and barometer of the true cost to maintain
sustainable travel to the DR.
Additional Data feeds are integrated into learning activities which enhance the mission
such as species counts, monitoring of environmental conditions, renewable energy
produced, etc. Existing investments in renewable infrastructure is maximized and
leveraged as part of the project. For example, the solar panels already deployed display
power production, use and carbon savings, displayed locally and streamed globally.
As well as Google Earth, data feeds are accessible on other emerging global imaging
sites such as http://www.pachube.com/
Bio remediation techniques and biomimicry of the local biome is reproduced in the
eco-machine. Nutrition studies are coupled with plant identification, agricultural and
aquatic permaculture, waste management and cooking classes. Products include
recipe books and local cuisine. CTCʼs are well positioned for performances or
presentations as the process evolves and ecotourists explore the local area and its
sustainability.
The selection and maintenance of these data feeds-- water temperature, soil moisture,
energy consumption, energy use, carbon offset to visit, web cams, etc.-- are immersive
and excellent learning activities that teach many 21st Century skills and aptitudes.
Eventually virtual worlds would augment this reality for advanced simulations and
breakthroughs.

5. Monitoring and evaluation built into the project. The inventory base line collection
offers a place to compare our progress and what we can preserve and what we loose.
Wiki entries are dated and evaluating the wiki will be a learning activity for every
student. The act of data collection reveals our status. Photography establishes a point
of reference. Documenting and aggregating the data must be part of the project, as
many artifacts and points of reference will be created. The ongoing monitoring and
evaluation page in the wiki will reflect this process and permit for input from across the
community.
Human Resource Model embedded in the Project. The learning style is peer to peer,
reciprocal apprenticeships, and leadership development. Coupled with Interns,
Certificate levels and Scholarship programs, the learning activities will be preserved and
passed on to new comers and the young. Young leaders are identified and encouraged
in multiple learning styles. This program is strongly supportive of mobility challenged
residents, and other challenged populations with its emphasis on ICTʼs, offering equal
access.
Financial Strategy:
ROI is expected to come from these primary sources:
Tour fee plus
A Carbon Off set fee charged to the tourist for their precise carbon footprint (Optional)
Seed money from Socially Responsible Investors
Content creation, hits to site, google adsense
Emergent Creative Economy and Entrepreneurial Enterprises
An increase in eco-tourists
A sustainable eco-tourism in the DR that assists the people to attain the MDGʼs of the
UN.
A growth of creativity and energy
Consultation and facilitation fees paid to successful Interns for dissemination and
replication, nationally, regionally and globally. (with a percentage returning to the
Project)
Renewable Energy Strategies which save oil and produce income
Time Line: Phase 1: Discovery and Prioritization
This is a very optimistic time frame and will depend on local support, Project Managers,
key players and the success of engaging the students and staff of the CTCʼs.
Months 1-3
Key players consulted, Partnerships and collaborations formed
CTCʼs Identified, budget established:
Applications, Benchmarks and Schedule established
Immediate: Start Inventory Gathering
Inventory and Priority Action Items
Project Leaders Identified, Interns developed

6. Content Creation, Evaluation and Monitoring Begins
Web 2.0 Sites established, Groups created, Members join, Community begins.
(Late July-August)Facilitation Team visits each CTC site for a solid week of training and
support to kick off the project at each CTC.
Each participating CTC submits a sustainability project: renewable energy, eco-
machines, bio fuel generators, eco-lodge, etc.
Contests and Recognition through prizes and awards determined
Phase 2: Development and Productivity
Months 3-6
Updates with ecotourism and Hotel, Hospitality Socially Responsible Investors
Initial presentations constructed, event management and tours planned, products
determined, key content translated by Interns.
Carbon Off sets mechanisms measured and established, begin testing charge for
carbon footprint off set.
Early January Team returns to visit, M & E, refresh, train
Meet with major constituents and Project Managers to refine web 2.0 marketing
strategy.
Plan for Phase 3: Development of activities at each CTC site/ or nearby Eco-site.
Develop list of Learning Modules and other income generating strategies, as well as
scale up needs.
3 month and 6 Month Monitor and Evaluation summaries
Phase 3: Deployment and Engagement with Tourists
Months 6-12
A variety of activities and presentations planned, enacted
Socially Responsible Investment Proposals Funded or earmarked
Goal of another $5,000 per CTC made available
Learning Module development fund for replication and scale up.
Coordination with National Festivals, Holidays, other events such as showcases and
award giving ceremonies
Continued Content building, eco-tourism components developed