FOSTERING (Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve)

Period of execution:  2020–2022

(Note: In Spanish, the project title is rendered as Fortalecimiento.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IygUsU2JxA

Partners

Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism of the University of Cuenca (UCUENCA), KU Leuven University (Belgium), VLIR-UOS International Cooperation Agency (Belgium), PREIT tour.

Area of Study

Sustainable tourism, research-based education, innovation, and knowledge transfer applied to UNESCO-designated territories, with an emphasis on territorial governance, stakeholder participation, and capacity building in the Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, in southern Ecuador.

Introduction

The project aimed to harness the potential of sustainable development through tourism, supported by research-based education oriented toward the Global South. It focused particularly on territories recognized by UNESCO as Biosphere Reserves or “living laboratories” which, despite their ecological and cultural significance, often face social, economic, and environmental imbalances resulting from inadequate policies, low levels of professionalization, limited innovation, and pressures from extractive industries.

In this context, the Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, in southern Ecuador, represents a strategic territory due to its diversity of Andean ecosystems and the importance of its environmental functions, especially in water provision, biodiversity conservation, and the interaction between protected areas and local communities.

This underscores the need for approaches that integrate conservation, social well-being, and a more resilient territorial economy.

Program Description

The project addressed these challenges by strengthening, at the University of Cuenca, a Platform for Research-Based Education, Innovation, and Transfer designed to support sustainable development through tourism in the Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, in southern Ecuador, known as PREIT-TOUR.

The platform was conceived as a space for articulation between academia and territory, aimed at promoting, generating, and enhancing capacities through research-based learning. It integrated the active participation of faculty members, researchers, students, local communities, and public and private stakeholders connected to the territory.

Through this approach, PREIT-TOUR sought to transform knowledge into action by facilitating applied innovation processes, transferring good practices, and developing tools to support planning and tourism management grounded in sustainability and local context.

Purpose and Impact

FOSTERING aimed to consolidate institutional and local capacities so that tourism can effectively contribute to sustainable development in the Cajas Massif Biosphere Reserve, in southern Ecuador, linking research, education, and innovation to real territorial needs.

As an impact, the project promotes stronger collaboration between the university and society, supports the professionalization of the tourism sector, reinforces evidence-based decision-making, and creates better conditions for designing and managing initiatives that balance environmental conservation, social inclusion, and sustainable economic opportunities.