Malaspina Tourism students help small BC town shine on world stage

Two Malaspina University-College students are heading to China next week to find out if their research efforts will help the District of Ucluelet win two prestigious United Nations awards for sustainable community planning.

Heather Richards and Richard Crowley, fourth-year students in Malaspina’s Tourism Management degree program, are part of a North American delegation attending the United Nations Environmentally Sustainable Community Awards competition and conference in Hang Zhou, China, November 9 – 13. Ucluelet is the only North American town to make it to the final stage of the competition in the "environmental project" category.

"Ucluelet has been nominated for two awards - Environmental Sustainability and Most Livable Community," said Crowley. "It's exciting and surreal. Heather and I worked as community planning assistants for Ucluelet last summer under Malaspina's Co-operative Education program. We helped with tourism related research for the Official Community Plan. Next thing we know, we're going on a whirlwind trip to China to attend a UN conference and awards ceremony."

Crowley and Richards will travel to China with Malaspina professor Dr. Dave Robinson, and Felice Mazzoni, Director of Planning Services for Ucluelet. Each summer, Mazzoni hires Malaspina Tourism students to assist with various planning initiatives as part of a community-university research alliance established in 2004.

"Like other resource-based communities, Ucluelet needed to find a new economic direction when the forestry and fishing industries began to decline," explained Robinson. "The District wanted to take a thoughtful approach to planning, and that’s where Malaspina’s Tourism Management students stepped in."

Students helped Mazzoni write and develop Ucluelet's first Official Community Plan, conducted research, organized public consultation events, and handled rezoning and development permit applications, and subdivision approvals.

The quality and professionalism of the students’ work "has been nothing less than outstanding" and resulted in positive changes to local government policies, said Mazzoni.  "Malaspina has a lot of be proud of," he added. "I've been hiring Malapsina Tourism Management students for three years, and every year gets better and better. The students are top-notch. We couldn't complete the kind of projects we've done without their help."

Mazzoni said students' research efforts have helped the District gain unprecedented provincial, national, and now international attention for sustainable community planning.

Ucluelet received a Sustainable Community Award from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in June, a Planning Award of Excellence from the Planning Institute of BC at the World Planning Forum in Vancouver in July, and recently, a Community Excellence award for "leadership and innovation" from the Union of BC Municipalities for comprehensive planning.

The growing list of awards, but especially the UN nominations, add up to "a huge accolade for Malaspina University-College Tourism Management students, the District of Ucluelet, and our community-university research alliance," said Robinson.

"It’s the ultimate validation for the work done so far under this unique partnership," he added.  "We hope our community-university research alliance will serve as a model for other communities facing economic transition."

Meanwhile, Richards and Crowley are excited about the opportunity to visit China, and help make major presentations at the UN awards competition and conference.

"This experience will add to what I’ve already learned," said Richards. "Thanks to the opportunities so far working as a cooperative education student in Ucluelet, I have more confidence and a greater awareness of future career possibilities. I know that when I graduate next June, I can take on any challenge. I see the relevancy of my classroom learning at Malaspina, and how my skills and knowledge can be applied anywhere."

Malaspina's Bachelor of Tourism Management degree program (Major in Recreation) includes three semesters of Co-op Education. For information about the program or how to apply, visit the website at www.viu.ca/programs.