Six UNM students participated in a field study this summer on eco-tourism and rural development in conjunction with the Universidad de Quintana Roo, located in Chetumal, Mexico.
The study was designed to ascertain the tourism possibilities in Mexico's southern coastal region. The six UNM students that participated were Marjo Curgus, Monica Delgado, James Easterling, Darcie Johnson, James Scholz and Adriana Villar. Four students from the Universidad de Quintana Roo also took part in the study.
The six-week project was a joint research and student exchange between UNM and the Universidad De Quintana Roo. Ric Richardson, former dean of the UNM School of Architecture and Planning, and the rector of the Universidad de Quintana Roo facilitated the agreement.
Students paid for their travel through grants, loans or their own funds according to David Henkel, associate professor and community and regional planning director.
The students took a course in cultural aspects of community development prior to the trip.
"Ours is a culturally and historically sensitive approach to community-based planning," Henkel said in a press release. "The students have to get on board with it and be ready to conduct client-based work."
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The bulk of the research was done in Laguna Guerrero in the southern Yucatan state of Quintana Roo. Claudia Isaac, associate professor and director of UNM Latin American Studies was a part of the faculty team from the schools that helped coordinate the field study. Isaac said that Laguna Guerrero has many of the same tourism qualities as nearby Cancun and Cozumel. She said that students gathered research on the environmental, social and physical impact on the community.
"The students had to walk through the fields to get a sense of the shape and infrastructure of the community. They had to understand how the land is used," Henkel said.
The community planning process that the students encountered involved gathering the perspective of what the community desired. The students and professors involved were then divided into five teams, each studying a different aspect of the tourism viability in Laguna Guerrero. The groups studied kayaking, restaurants, infrastructure, land use and women's development in the economic community.
"It proved very successful," Henkel said. "Everybody came and there's an ongoing commitment to continue elaboration. The community has come far enough to put together a tourism package."
Staff Report
