We begin filling in the development blanks with Ron Mader, the man behind the groundbreaking Planeta.com and a professional journalist. When founded by Ron in 1994, Planeta.com became the first website dedicated to ecotourism. Ron's work engenders and promotes action and debate about environmental conservation, responsible travel and peacemaking. Planeta.com features sustainable practices throughout the site and explores it in depth on the wiki.
The bold text below shows how Ron filled in the development blanks. We invite readers to fill in the blanks themselves by using the comment function below. While you are at it, why not respond to Ron's suggestion below as well? Here goes:
The new definition of development is growth that is integrated along economic, spiritual and social concerns.
As part of the development agenda, water is compartmentalized and not integrated into other sectors, leading to overall program failure for all!
As part of the development agenda, tourism is critical though poorly understood.
Continued or increased dependence on the automobile will lead to more pavement.
The population explosion will lead to more people.
The most likely millennium development goal to be achieved is having .001% of people knowing what the millennium goals are.
The most glaring thing missing from the development agenda is meaningful transparency from development banks and NGOs.
My favorite development success story is the one that will take place next year ... based on the work we are doing today.
The sentence I would like to see others complete is: I am having the most fun when I'm working with other people to _______________________.
My Favorite Development Media
Fiction book - Anything by Daniel Quinn
Non-fiction book - Expanding Our Now: The Story of Open Space Technology
Movie - Groundhog Day
Websites - I'm listening and watching a lot from Australia:
Photographs:
_______________________
* Press officers: If you would like to have someone from your organization or company Fill in the Development Blanks, please leave a comment in the space below or contact Bill Hinchberger directly.
Nice format. Keep it up.
Nice, Bill! I really like this format. Will you be using this series of questions on more than one interviewee?
Also, it would be great to have a photo of Ron Mader and anyone else who “fills in the blanks” in future.
Thanks, Tania and Ruth.
Ruth, I included a photo. You can see it in rotation on the homepage. No idea how it is supposed to appear on this page or why it isn’t. Maybe you guys can help with that.
Ruth, I think we have the problem ironed out.
Thanks for the invitation to participate in this survey. It’s always fun working with Bill and I look forward to seeing how this develops! This coming year I’m speaking at a few events in Europe, so I’ve been reading quite a few of the other posts. Again, thanks to all involved for creating such a rich resource!
Thanks for taking part, Ron. Why don’t you fill us in on your speaking engagements in Europe as well?
Ron, I liked the part about about meaningful transparency from development banks!
Thanks, Bill. I’m getting ready for the 10-day trip to the Reisepavillon—http://planeta.wikispaces.com/reisepavillon—in Berlin. This is a travel congress in which the Oliver Hillel from the Convention Biological Diversity and myself will present the winners of this year’s Indigenous Tourism and Biodiversity Website Award—http://planeta.wikispaces.com/itbw
I have not traveled to Europe for 20 years, so I’m eager to see the changes. Working with friends, we’re already developing online guides—who’s who—for those working toward responsible travel and ecotourism in German-speaking Europe and in the English-speaking UK. Europe’s a new world to me! Later this summer I’ve been invited to the Crossroads of Europe—Estonia—to participate in an innovative ecotourism event. Keep an eye on the wiki - http://planeta.wikispaces.com/estonia - as Aivar Ruukel and I develop the country and conference info.
Isis, many thanks for the kind words. For more thoughts on encouraging the banks to be more transparent, check out the Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch—http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/bankwatch.html
A few years ago this particular project stalled, so apologies in advance if it does not look up-to-date. That said, does anyone have suggestions for a rethink of development financing?
Here is what is happening this week: Responsible Tourism Week (May 17-21) is a free demonstration of Web 2.0 <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/web2> as a means of documenting the challenges of developing (and maintaining!) responsible tourism.
One of the key objectives of Responsible Tourism Week is to create incentives for continuity - we’d really like to hear updates on recent tourism conferences and events and we’d like to look forward to events in the future. Another key objective is to strengthen relationships with existing contacts and make new friends!
We’ll be using Delicious, Facebook, Flickr, Slideshare, Twitter and YouTube to document tourism practices around the world.
Be honest and be public. This is the week where you get to shout out to the world the good things you see around you. Create a local event. Support a local event. Create a local event. Lead the way or follow the topics for which you have interest and passion. Talk food, volunteering, slowtravel, localtravel. Organize a marshmellow challenge <http://marshmallowchallenge.com> or create a foamboard <http://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta/sets/72157623427109816>.
TIPS
Walk the talk - Practice responsible tourism where you are.
Be generous! - Compliment someone via twitter, fave a photo or write a testimonial on Flickr, give a thumbs up to a video on YouTube. Be generous. <http://planeta.wikispaces.com/generous>
Play nice! - Enough said.
Be creative - Can you make your own poster or graphic for RT Week 2010?
Have your say - What is responsible tourism? Please answer the rt survey <http://tinyurl.com/responsibletourismsurvey>
Show your savvy - Use the hashtag: #rtweek2010 <http://visibletweets.com/#query=rtweek201010&animation=1>
Details
http://planeta.wikispaces.com/rtweek2010
Slideshare
http://www.slideshare.net/planeta/rtweek2010
Thanks for sharing. It was very informative.
Air ticket
This entry discussed on Ron Mader’s blog: http://ronmader.wordpress.com/2010/04/12/think-about-it/
See also an interview that Ron did with me about BrazilMax.com a few years ago: http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/weaving/billhinchberger.html
This month and next I’ll be speaking at two different tourism conferences in the USA and Europe. I’d like to focus here on just two of the development blanks I’ll be discussing with friends and colleagues:
The most glaring thing missing from the development agenda is meaningful transparency from development banks and NGOs.
My favorite development success story is the one that will take place next year ... based on the work we are doing today.
If anyone has ideas on how to make some progress here, please chime in!