Berlengas
Berlengas is a nature protected island at the Atlantic Coast of Portugal. It is open to tourists who want to discover the island and its underwater beauty There is a heavy target conflict between tourism (divers) and nature protection: On the one hand Berlengas should be open and on the other hand the negative effects of tourism should be minimised.
A concept was developed which already prepares the tourists for their visits and provides an interesting learning programme on the island
A learning app/pathway was created to attract attention, stimulate curiosity, and create a deeper understanding of the unique ecosystem of “Berlengas, the learning island”.
Challenge
Berlengas is a nature protected island at the Atlantic Coast of Portugal. It was intensively researched in the framework of a large LIFE project. It was also a development project to protect endangered species.
However, there is a heavy target conflict between tourism (divers) and nature protection. The negative effects of tourism (waste, pollution, disturbance etc, should be buffered, but still Berlengas should be open to the public and its protection concept should be disseminated
Target group / clients
Tourists should come prepared and aware that they have to respect the ecology of the island.
They should also learn on important ecological aspects which are unique on this island
Solution
A concept was developed which personifies the island and “speaks” to the future visitors. Along that a learning app/pathway was developed to attract attention, stimulate curiosity, and create a deeper understanding of several ecological aspects.
Innovation
- Connection of sustainability and learning
- Technical innovation
- IT supported learning
- Based on OS software (moodle)
- Learning app
- Involvement of the tourists in different phases of the project
Unique Selling Point
It could be easily connected to tourism and ecological stakeholders as it is easy to use both for content creators and visitors.
It also offers a connection to state of the art learning technologies.
Impact
The impact is generally very high, however, there were no funds available to spread it continuously to the target groups.
Feasibility/Transferability
High, since there are lots of projects with same challenges, e.g. other islands and other nature protection areas and the same concept could be applied easily.