Rewilding Guide Training is the first of its kind in Sicily. With this training we’dlike to offer a capacity building for the local guides’ network with Rewilding at its core. Participants will be able to learn about Rewilding in an introductory webinar, followed by a 4-day infield trainingwith international experts. The course contains a guide training, a sign and tracking workshop and afinal evaluation. We hope to provide with this training the starting point for Rewilding activities inSicily and promoting the professionalisation of nature-based economies.
The Rewilding Guide Training is the first of its kind in Sicily. It offers a capacity building for local guides with Rewilding at its core. A topical focus lies on the philosophy and approach of Rewilding, eco-tourism and hospitality, signs and tracks of wildlife, the local fauna of the most common and endemic species, and with an extra focus on signs of wildfires. The training course is divided in two main parts: an introductory webinar and an infield training course. The preliminary webinar introduces participants to Rewilding in general, takes a deep dive on (eco)tourism and hospitality as part of Rewilding, the role of guides and shows best practices around the world.
At the heart of the project is the 4-day infield training in Sicily. The first day session consists of a guide training. Topics may include creating nature experiences, environmental interpretation and storytelling (delivered by Georg Messerer, in English). The second day is a full day signs and tracks workshop aligned with the CyberTracker approach as preparatory training for the final evaluation (delivered by Toni Romani and Georg Messerer, in English and Italian). Day three and four are dedicated to the CyberTracker evaluation Adventure Tracker. The final day will end with an informal get together on the training site and a moment for celebration and strengthening the local and international network created. After the infield training the trainers will be available for further mentorship and support in a dedicated WhatsApp group for the participants.
Participants have the chance to obtain an official and internationally acknowledged certificate as CyberTracker AdventureTracker when passing the evaluation. CyberTracker is the world standard in tracking certification.Further, all participants will receive a confirmation over the completed training hours by the organisation. The target group for this training are Sicily based guides as individuals or part of associations or nature-tourism-businesses. Guides must be officially certified and further be active practitioners of their profession. The course will hold a space for 10-15 guides for the in-field training(however an increased number of participants can be considered for the online part). Taking into account a secondary target group – the trained guides’ guests – the project’s impact may be evident in an increased awareness and appreciation for the natural world of Sicily. As a mid-term outlook the project sets the basis to improve the local nature-based economy in the ecotourism sector.
Further, with the customization of the CyberTracker app for Sicily, data can be gathered and used for better management of the area supporting Rewilding measures. But already the data collected today will be made available to nature protected areas managers, municipalities and researchers from Sicilian universities forming the basis for any trophic introduction plan. In order to unite Rewilding and Citizen Science efforts, the training sequel can be organised with different groups of the community present in the territory such as hunters, farmers and shepherds. Vision: the proposed training course is tied to a larger vision of pushing forward Rewilding practices in Sicily. A respective organisation will be established for this purpose which will carry out a potential sequel of the training and other projects dedicated to restoring ecosystems, strengthening the nature-economy, preserving traditional rural practices, decreasing wildfire intensity and frequency, and stimulating love and interest for the wild.
