Asset based community development in mountain environs: a strategic application for sustainable community based tourism development in the Jaunsar-Bawar region of Uttarakhand, India.

Abstract

Asset based community development has been discussed a length for the last decade. It is considered to be a novel approach and has become instrumental for many communities to improve their socio-economic status. Communities subsist in the Himalayan uplands and are generally in search of innovate livelihood opportunities given their existing exceptional natural and heritage assets. Tourism development on a local scale can benefit the communities in the region if opportunities to do so are vigorously pursued. This research briefly explores the different dimensions of asset based community development by taking the notion of the local community as its core. Community based tourism has intersected with an asset based community development approach and now represent the potential benefits that can be gained by the entire region of Jaunsar-Bawar. A qualitative research paradigm based upon conceptual analysis was used in the paper and discusses the diverse phenomenon of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) through inceptive and conceptual paradigms. The research suggests a way forward to support the development of mountain communities which possess a wide range of existing natural and cultural assets in the Himalayan landscape of Jaunsar-Bawar.

Keywords

• Asset based community development
• community based tourism
• tourism development
• community development
• India