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.
Women of Kerkennah, leaders of a sustainable tourism development
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
Vidéo – Femmes de Kerkennah, Moteurs d’un tourisme durable