Community Engagement: An Appreciative Inquiry Case Study with Theodore Roosevelt National Park Gateway Communities

Abstract

Appreciative Inquiry was employed to understand the mutual impact of Theodore Roosevelt National Park and nearby communities' relationships with tourism. Specifically, the goals of this study were to: understand the role of Theodore Roosevelt National Park related to stimulating regional tourism; to ascertain gateway community resident perceptions of benefits from tourism as it relates to economic development and quality of; and, to explore nearby communities' relationships with the park and how those communities may help influence quality visitor experiences, advance park goals, and develop and leverage partnerships. Results include a collection of emergent themes from the community inquiry related to resource access and tourism management, citizen and community engagement, conservation, marketing, and communication between the park and neighboring residents. These findings illuminate the need to understand nearby communities' relationship to public lands and regional sustainability support between public land managers and these communities.While public participation can help PPA managers and local community members achieve shared goals, engaged public participation is difficult. For example, public involvement techniques traditionally used to meet all legal requirements, such as open house meetings and the distribution of technical planning documents, have been found ineffective in promoting meaningful collaboration [13]. While PPA managers often acknowledge the need for collaboration, additional barriers including a lack of resources, high staff turnover, long-distance commuting, and a reliance on technical jargon have hindered the adoption of alternative strategies [13,14]. Even when these barriers can be overcome, determining which public engagement strategies to pursue can be challenging. For example, evidence suggests that policy and engagement strategies that work well in one community may not work well in another [15][16][17][18].Due to the importance of and challenges associated with effective public participation relative to PPAs management, identifying and assessing the use of alternative public engagement processes with application to a diversity of communities is warranted. In 2017, Theodore Roosevelt National Park initiated a strategic planning process, which included research to understand how visitors use the park and perceptions of residents within three gateway communities surrounding the park. Theodore Roosevelt National Park partnered with the University of Utah, Kansas State University, and Clemson University to launch this collaborative, multi-focal study encompassing a variety of perspectives and data-points. The focus of this paper is on research related to gateway communities surrounding the park. The purpose of this paper is to explore the usefulness of the appreciative inquiry (AI) methodology towards understanding gateway community views, goals, and connections with PPAs. Specifically, this study aims to:

The Effect of the Appreciative Inquiry Method on Improving a Sense of Community Among 2021 IFoP Members

“…This technique allows the community or members to understand, feel, and act on the development process in their own community or organization. Communities that receive the appreciative inquiry method will generate unique ideas and visions for the future and community development [12]. Moreover, the appreciative inquiry method is a potential change agent for professional learning in a student-age community [13].…”

The landscape of customer engagement in hospitality and tourism: a systematic review

“…The engagement-related research in hospitality and tourism studies broadly covers six main streams, including customer engagement; employee/work engagement (Grobelna, 2019); community/resident engagement (Joyner et al, 2019); institutional/hotel engagement in stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and sustainability (Kucukusta et al, 2019); student/learner engagement (Kay et al, 2008); and civic/volunteer engagement (Steele et al, 2017). Upon elimination of five irrelevant research streams, 298 articles were left for further analysis.…”

Sustainable Vacation Industry Mobility Criteria in Heritage Cultural Natural Conserved Areas

“…The Transportation Policy in the Tourism Area is successful if it has the support of the local community, one of the ways is by providing economic benefits to the local community [13], [24], [57]. Tourism Zoning Identify tourism zones based on tourist consumption, the intensity of specificity and not by administrative area.…”

“…In decisions making, stakeholders need to balance their interests to create sustainable value [23]. There are many actors involved in tourism areas, so that regional and local partnerships are needed by including relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process [24]. Sustainable mobility policies empower participatory processes, partnerships, and multi-stakeholder collaboration [25].…”