Women of Kerkennah, leaders of a sustainable tourism development

landscapes

Kerkennah

On Kerkennah, local handcraft has always been part of the island’s culture and heritage. The municipality of Kerkennah worked together with local associations and stakeholders to promote this heritage by including it in a larger tourism development plan.

What is the project?

In the framework of the “Women on Island, Leaders of Sustainable Tourism”, institutions and inhabitants of Kerkennah, mainly women, set up activities to promote their island heritage through the development of a more sustainable and cultural tourism.

Project: Women on Islands – Leaders of Sustainable Tourism

Place: Islands of Kerkennah, Tunisia

Thematic: Landscapes

Budget: 65,213.74€

Partners: Municipality of Kerkennah
Insular Committee of Kerkennah
Association Jeunes Science Kerkennah

What ARE the objectiveS?

To protect and promote ancestral know-how
To reuse green waste and give it a second life
To promote local handcraft products among tourists and local population
To foster intergenerational dialogue and exchanges
To create an alternative to local economy based on fishing activities (60% of income)

How?

Organised an information and training sessions to elaborate new handcraft products, using local green waste (date palm leaves) resulting from the fishing traps created by the local fishermen which would need to thrown away or burned
Organised a competition and exhibition of innovative products made by using ancestral technics
Imagined the implementation of a future “handcraft village” where local women would sell their traditionally-made products to locals and visitors
Made and shared video supports to promote local handcraft products

POSITIVE IMPACTS

Innovative products to promote sustainable tourism have been created
Tangible and intangible heritage of Kerkennah were highlighted
Local youth benefited from ancestral know-how common and interactive activities
The digitalisation process of the promotion of handcraft products has been initiated