José Cristóbal Garrido Palma (Chile)
Abstract
Community Engagement (Vinculación con el Medio, VCM) in tourism must evolve toward projects with measurable impact, strengthening local capacities, environmental sustainability, and meaningful learning. Grounded in the Theory of Change, VCM enables the alignment of resources, activities, and tangible results. Cases such as Guasco Alto, the Mantagua Wetland, and Pichasca demonstrate that academia can leave real, lasting footprints. When carried out with purpose and continuity, VCM transforms territories and communities, aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, and reinforces the formative role of higher education.
Introduction
Community Engagement (VCM) has become a strategic pillar of higher education in Latin America, both for its contribution to student learning and for its real impact on territories. However, these activities are still often conceived as isolated, low-impact actions—closer to volunteering than to projects with purpose and verifiable results. This opinion article argues that VCM activities—across industries, and especially in tourism—must transition toward projects guided by measurable impact, capable of leaving installed capacities in communities, contributing to environmental conservation, and strengthening students’ meaningful learning, ultimately generating measurable and positive impacts in the territories visited.
In tourism and conservation, this perspective connects directly with the principle of learning by doing or knowing in order to care, where emotional and creative experiences not only generate memories among participants but also leave tangible territorial footprints. From this standpoint, the article analyzes VCM through the lens of the Theory of Change, drawing on recent cases developed in Chile—specifically in Guasco Alto, the collaborative activity “Eco-divisions for the Conservation of the Mantagua Wetland,” and an academic visit to Pichasca Natural Monument—within the Ecotourism program of the School of Tourism and Hospitality at Duoc UC Professional Institute, Antonio Varas campus, Santiago, Chile.
VCM and the Theory of Change
VCM, understood as a bidirectional interaction between higher education institutions and their surrounding environments, seeks to transfer knowledge, capacities, and resources to territories while enriching students’ educational processes (CNA, 2023). When grounded in the Theory of Change, VCM gains a framework that establishes four clear levels of indicators to assess impact in the short, medium, and long term (UNDP, 2018):
- Inputs: invested resources (students, faculty, methodologies, materials).
- Outputs: activities carried out (workshops, diagnostics, basic infrastructure, interpretive guides).
- Outcomes: observed changes within the community (new skills, strengthened local governance, conservation improvements).
- Impact: measurable social and environmental transformation (increased sustainable practices, ecological recovery, continuity of community-based projects).
In tourism, this approach is especially relevant, as it enables a shift from the narrative of the “tourism product” toward the construction of emotional and creative experiences (Richards, 2020) that connect with people, increase willingness to pay, and, above all, strengthen territorial sustainability.
Applied Case I: Guasco Alto
The program implemented in Guasco Alto with ecotourism students stands as a clear example of purpose-driven VCM. Through cross-cutting assessments, students designed tourism experiences based on astronomy and the area’s natural-cultural heritage, working directly with local communities. Beyond academic outputs, a technical knowledge transfer experience was also conducted with 11th- and 12th-grade students specializing in Tourism at the Bicentennial High School of Alto del Carmen. The objective was to promote practical learning in key ecotourism areas while positioning Duoc UC’s Ecotourism program as an academic reference within Chile’s tourism industry.
The day began with a general presentation by Duoc UC faculty and students on the program’s contribution to local development, followed by a series of practical workshops designed and delivered by seventh-semester students. These workshops addressed:
- Design of sustainable tourism experiences: introduction to planning principles and creativity to build low-impact, culturally valuable experiences.
- First aid in natural environments: training in basic emergency response techniques for remote areas.
- VHF radio communication in remote contexts: instruction on radio use to ensure safety and coordination in the field.
- Leave No Trace techniques (LNT–NOLS): practical application of guidelines to minimize human impact and preserve fragile ecosystems.
The activity concluded with a joint reflection session in which students from both institutions shared learnings, perspectives, and projections for sustainable tourism in the territory. As a result, high school students strengthened technical and vocational skills, Duoc UC students developed pedagogical and field mediation competencies, and the local community consolidated a replicable educational linkage, reinforcing VCM as a driver of territorial and formative impact.
Impact indicators in this case were not only quantitative (number of students involved, presentations delivered) but also qualitative: community appropriation of the tourism narrative, increased territorial self-esteem, and the opening of new opportunities for sustainable development.
Applied Case II: Eco-divisions for the Conservation of the Mantagua Wetland
A second illustrative experience is the VCM activity “Eco-divisions for the Conservation of the Mantagua Wetland,” carried out in October 2025 with students from the same program. The objective was to support conservation and enhance wildlife reproduction—particularly birds—through the construction of natural eco-divisions using collected palm leaves.
The project’s value lies in its scalability: each visit is not isolated but connected to the next, ensuring continuity and strengthening initial efforts. Thus, it not only supports ecological conservation but also opens opportunities to design creative and educational tourism experiences that can be integrated into the Mantagua Wetland’s permanent programs.
Applied Case III: Pichasca Natural Monument
The academic visit to Pichasca Natural Monument complements this purpose-driven VCM approach. There, students engaged in support and collaborative activities, linking classroom theory with field practice. These activities included:
- Initial installation of signage infrastructure for an inclusive trail, strengthening environmental education.
- Identification and labeling of species with common and scientific names, supporting interpretive work by guides and visitors.
- Transfer of plant bulbs into planting bags in preparation for future reforestation.
Although specific, these contributions form part of a continuity plan aimed at strengthening educational infrastructure and generating accessible experiences for diverse audiences, advancing toward more inclusive tourism aligned with the sustainability principles proposed by the UNWTO (2019).
Lessons and Replicability
The experiences described yield lessons applicable across three main domains:
- For academia: VCM should not be viewed as extracurricular outreach but as a real learning laboratory where students apply knowledge, develop competencies, and experience meaningful education.
- For territories: Academic presence provides human capital and methodologies that strengthen local capacities, legitimize processes, and support conservation.
- For policy and public institutions: There is a need to systematize and scale these experiences by creating a VCM Impact Observatory in tourism and conservation to evaluate concrete territorial contributions using social and environmental KPIs.
Conclusions
When approached with purpose and measurement, Community Engagement becomes a powerful driver of change. Moving from isolated activities to projects with continuity enables not only learning by doing for students but also delivers real and sustainable benefits to communities and ecosystems. In Guasco Alto, the Mantagua Wetland, and Pichasca, academia has demonstrated its capacity to leave measurable territorial footprints in both ecological conservation and cultural valorization.
These experiences remind us that when academia opens itself to the territory with purpose and continuity, it does more than transmit knowledge—it plants memories, builds bonds, and generates real change. This is the true meaning of Community Engagement and the reason it should inspire all of Latin America, aligned with global sustainability goals such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
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