Towards a Community Based Ecotourism Network Across the Black Sea

Azdavay, 30 June 2014

The workshop, which gathered representatives of rural tourism from Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey in Azdavay, Kastamonu Province, Turkey on 21-24 June 2014, concluded with promising outcomes.

Vesselka Consulting Ltd and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – Turkey successfully concluded a three day workshop, hosted by the Küre Mountains Ecotourism Society at its historical mansion, Yanık Ali Konağı, in Azdavay, Kastamonu Province, Turkey. The approach, overall direction and organization for the management of an integrated program for rural eco-tourism around the Black Sea were confirmed during the workshop.

Şehmus Günaydın, The Governor of Kastamonu Province opened the workshop and welcomed the representatives from Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey.  The workshop included presentations of experiences in developing and operating rural eco-tourism destinations, issues and needs and proposals for further development.  

At the end of the workshop, the participants agreed upon an action plan to implement the Program in Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey with the establishment of National and Community management organizations that will develop the appropriate business plans, identify eco-tourism products and continue an exchange program of ideas and cooperation within the Program framework.

All participants agreed to move quickly to create an organizational structure based on community and national offices working together in each country under an umbrella International Secretariat which will define overall policy for the Program.  Principles of sustainable eco-tourism based on international standards will guide the activities of the Program members.

It was also agreed to create a communications network to facilitate information exchange among the participating countries and will develop the dedicated web portal for traveler reservations and information while providing maximum international exposure and   for the destinations.

This Program is the only regional venture of its kind for the Black Sea and will maintain its commitment to provide unique travel experiences while preserving local cultures and the environment.

For more information, contact Nataliya Tkachenko at ntkachenko@vesselkaconsult.com or Richard Shepard at rshepard@vesselkaconsult.com or visit the website at www.vesselkaconsult.com

Sustainable Development Through Rural Tourism

The Black Sea Sustainable Rural Tourism Program is holding a workshop in Küre Mountains) adjoining the Küre Mountains National Forest, a Pan Park.

Together with the World Wildlife Fund/Turkey, Vesselka Consulting has invited participants from Ukraine, Turkey and Georgia to discuss a way forward to ramp up the development of this community based eco-tourism program.  In attendance will be representatives of the Turkish regional and municipal government, destination owners, eco-tourism travel specialists,World Wildlife Fund/Turkey as well as the Union for the Support of Green Tourism in Ukraine.  The host will be the Küre Mountains Ecotourism Society.

It is critical that sustainable ecotourism development be designed from the bottom up within communities and be based on experience at the ground level from similar projects and programs. The format is not be an academic forum, but a discussion by practitioners on what works, and what does not and why in actual practice.

Out of an intensive two day meeting, a road map and action plan will be put into motion that will link rural communities around the Black Sea in the joint effort to conserve the environment, increase living standards and incomes in rural areas and provide new experiences for eco-travelers.

We will post the results of the workshop here and on our web-site, http://www.vesselkaconsult.com.

New Partner Site – Ukraine

We are developing a separate site to assist the new democracy in Ukraine and to stop Russian aggression. The site should be up and running in a day or two. Our first efforts will be to provide accurate news to counteract the propaganda being churned out daily by the Kremlin.

Another will be a campaign to have Russia expelled from FIFA and the siting of the World Cup changed from Russia to another country – preferably Ukraine but anywhere else than Russia. A third focus will be support the current boycott campaign against any Russian product of services, including Lukoil in the US and Deniz Bank in Turkey which is partnered with Sberbank.

Russia is challenging the West and particularly the EU to react and without a concerted and powerful reaction they will succeed in their efforts to reject the sovereignty of their neighbors and redraw borders which they themselves have agreed to honor. They did so in Georgia, they are now doing it in Ukraine. The actions of Putin and his coterie of followers are exactly those of Hitler in the Sudetenland, the Polish Danzig corridor and Czechoslovakia. There is no difference and we will do our part to stop them.

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Another Year – Are We Sustainable Yet?

The year passed quickly for us at Vesselka Consulting. Our time has been completely absorbed with the Black Sea Sustainable Rural Tourism Program, assisting with proposals for a high tech park in Azerbaijan, entered into cooperative agreements with the Ministry of Agriculture and National Tourism Administration in Georgia and working to improve the delivery of municipal services and support land reform in Tajikistan.

We’ve partnered with World Wildlife Fund, Turkey and have plans to expand our relationships to NGOs supporting the conservation efforts in the Kure National Forest and its communities in northern Turkey.

In the past year we have concentrated on private sector opportunities, sustainable travel and agriculture, while continuing with our broad experience in land matters, administration, policy and governance.

We do all this under a broad umbrella of sustainability. We have a long way to go.

The current buzzword in development circles is “resilience”. We don’t believe in a society or environment just being resilient. Why? Because being resilient is being nothing more than the legendary Phoenix, a bird that is reborn from its own ashes. That’s a nice thought. But not enough because the Phoenix always returns in its same form.

We believe in anti-fragility. Resilience means bouncing back to the same status before whatever catastrophe occurred. We believe that it is not enough to bounce back. Individuals, organizations, societies must improve – not just bounce back. To do that they must prepare for the Black Swans (thank you Taleb) in order to not only survive them, but to strengthen the entire structure, absorb the stress and improve.

Anything else is a spinning wheel.

We are not sustainable yet. At Vesselka we believe that the stressors will get us there.

With that – for those who celebrate Christmas – have a wonderful one, and if you do not, then let the New Year bring you peace, prosperity and health.

For Christmas and a Happy New Year

Ilegal Construction in Serbia

Thesis

From time to time we receive guest posts, which are always welcome. This post deals with illegal construction in Serbia and is the Thesis of Ms Jovana Mandic for the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Click the link above to read the entire document

Abstract
Sustainable development is a kind of development which preserves life conditions for present generation without compromising ability of future generations for their own possibilities. There are certain human activates which represent real threat to sustainable future of humanity.

These problems stem for decades. The process of illegal constructing is one of those activities which threaten human future. The problem needs an investigation of causality and activities undertaken to avoid common troubles within common lives.

Research about this fits into the legal framework of Serbian cadastre and urban policy. This research should illuminate basic consequences and possible solutions for major difficulties Serbian government deals with and those difficulties are closely related to problem of illegal construction.

Unfortunately, Serbia had a long and colorful history of illegal constructing activities which has been developed during nineties intensively. When we look behind we can see the beginning of unauthorized building even in the 19th century. Serbia had tragic history under Ottoman Empire. That period is of any kind of regulations considering building and housing.

Council for Sustainable Development (2004) Sustainable Development, Making Choices for Our Future: an Invitation and Response Document, [online] Hong Kong: Davison, J. (1990) Illegal Structures, in: Nield, S. and Sihombing, J. (ed.), Multi-story Building Management, 43-58, Hong Kong: Hong Kong Law Journal.

Long Absence

Yes, we know. Almost nine months since the previous post. That’s because we are busy at Vesselka Consulting, particularly with our two endeavors – the Black Sea Sustainable Rural Tourism Project and the development and demonstration of our Title Management System software. If you are interested in either you can send us a message through our web-site at http://www.vesselkaconsult.com. It’s easy.

As always, we also invite submissions to post if you have something to say. Publishing is at our discretion, but we’ll always read what you’ve put down.

In the meantime, we will post periodically, so keep checking back. Much of our news is now posted on the company site so please go there. We also have a company page on LinkedIn (and I have personal page) so take a look and follow us there. You can find our white papers on the sustainable tourism program and the software there as well. If you have trouble downloading, send me a note and we’ll get them to you.

Thanks to all for your support.

Richard

Winding Up in Tajikistan

Roundtable for farmers

One area of emphasis for Vesselka Consulting has always been in the land policy and tenure sector.  At the end of January we will be completing our participation in the Land Reform Project funded by USAID in Tajikistan whiich we began over a year ago.

The project, led by Chemonics International and Thomson Reuters – Manatron to whom we were sub-contracted, was largely a success.  Tajikistan is a very difficult environment in which to work, largely because it has failed to keep up with its neighbors and is one of the poorest in the world.  It had been the least developed and also poorest republic within the former Soviet Union and the break-up did not help.

Perhaps the most important underlying reason for its lack of progress was the horrific civil war that followed independence and raged in Tajikistan’s mountains and valleys for five years.  The effects have not dissappeared and one manifistation is the broad desire for stability over everything else.

Coupled with a complete lack of capacity to accept, let alone implement land policy reforms, this fear of instability made it a struggle to achieve what USAID targetted in the program.  The objective had been to create a viable market in land use rights, implement a policy of ‘freedom to farm’ and restructure the agricultural sector which accounts for 70% of the workforce and is remarkable in its inefficiency and failure to feed its own population adequately.

We were responsible for the legal and legislative component of the project.  While not perfect, the team supported the government in its efforts to draft legislation that would permit farmers to transfer their land use rights (land ownership is not permitted) legally.  The key amendments to the Land Code were enacted on August 1, 2011 – almost three years in the making.  The team also facilitated the drafting of other legislation dealing with farmer’s rights, mortgages and advised the Land Committee on registration procedures and policies.

Much remains to be done.  Resistance to change is strong in the agricultural sector and Soviet rule, coupled with a centralized government used to controlling all farm management and agricultural policies, has led to what can only charitably be described as foot dragging.

Hopefully, USAID will follow-on sooner rather than later with a project that will help the government implement the changes that have occured on paper.  Government capacity building and a broad public information campaign will be key to solidifying change and reducing the startling amount of poverty that remains in Tajikistan.

We are pleased to have been able to contribute to the program and wish USAID success with its Feed the Future program.

Will the Bank Streamline and Reform?

In October, the new World Bank president, Jim Yong Kim, announced a vision for the organization that might change the way it does business.  

Beginning with the creation of a  “clear and measurable bottom line” in the form of targets for the World Bank’s goals of ending poverty and building shared prosperity he continued with the need to “take a hard look” at the bank’s operations and ensure functions are performed “as effectively as possible”.

Further, President Kim stated that the bank will “change incentive structures to reward implementers and fixers” which means that the Bank board must “streamline our procedures, simplify our processes, and cut down project preparation time.” Projects should not take two years to go from concept to implementation, Kim stated. 

Finally, he talked about integrated solutions for clients. These actions, Kim explained, are needed to transform the World Bank into a “solutions” bank.

If this comes to pass in 2013, which is the target date, it is a welcome sign.  Of course, he is absolutely right that a project should not take two years from concept to implementation although such a broad generalization should be tempered by the fact that major infrastructure projects may take at least that long.  However, for non-infrastructure initiatives such as technical assistance on social, economic and environmental work, the time from concept to actually doing the work does take far too long.  After all, many TA interventions such as land policy and registration reforms are not rocket science; those in the business know what needs to be done – and so do the professionals in the bank.

What is important in this plan is the overhaul of the bank’s investment lending policy.  At the beginning of November the bank approved a plan to consolidate policies and procedures related to investment lending, to take effect in 2013.  One of the changes includes the use of its rapid response option for natural disasters for small states.

Ultimately, the bank will need to look more closely at its clients, how funds are handled and whether the management tools used by the client are actually working for the identified need – or more for the benefit of those in the client’s government.  If the new policies do not address and provide for independent monitoring and assessment of the use of loan funds, then effectiveness will remain questionable despite the acceleration of procedures. 

New Web Site Up and Running

We have a new site – go take a look: http://www.vesselkaconsult.com

Writing Advice

A huge part of development work revolves around “the report” –  doesn’t matter which one or its purpose.  These things are expected and sometimes are actually, quite incredibly, counted as a “deliverable” against which payment is made. Actual results in the project which is the subject of the report are secondary because they can’t be quantified by the bean counters who have unfortunately seized control of the aid industry in far too many situations.  They are also stale starting the day after submission, in most instances.

Anyway, below is a letter by C.S. Lewis to a young girl writing in Florida.  It is from a wonderful little blog –http://www.lettersofnote.com/

The advice in the letter should be read by those who demand the reports, but who rarely have any understanding of the subject matter, and also by those who write them in ivory tower acedemician style…

(Source: The wonderful, C. S. Lewis’ Letters to Children)

The Kilns, Headington Quarry, Oxford 26 June 1956

Dear Joan–

Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. You describe your Wonderful Night v. well. That is, you describe the place and the people and the night and the feeling of it all, very well — but not the thing itself — the setting but not the jewel. And no wonder! Wordsworth often does just the same. His Prelude (you’re bound to read it about 10 years hence. Don’t try it now, or you’ll only spoil it for later reading) is full of moments in which everything except the thing itself is described. If you become a writer you’ll be trying to describe the thing all your life: and lucky if, out of dozens of books, one or two sentences, just for a moment, come near to getting it across.

About amn’t I, aren’t I and am I not, of course there are no right or wrong answers about language in the sense in which there are right and wrong answers in Arithmetic. “Good English” is whatever educated people talk; so that what is good in one place or time would not be so in another. Amn’t I was good 50 years ago in the North of Ireland where I was brought up, but bad in Southern England. Aren’t I would have been hideously bad in Ireland but very good in England. And of course I just don’t know which (if either) is good in modern Florida. Don’t take any notice of teachers and textbooks in such matters. Nor of logic. It is good to say “more than one passenger was hurt,” although more than one equals at least two and therefore logically the verb ought to be plural were not singular was!

What really matters is:–
1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.
2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.
3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”
4. In writing. Don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please will you do my job for me.”
5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Thanks for the photos. You and Aslan both look v. well. I hope you’ll like your new home.

With love

yours

C.S. Lewis