MariCarme, Atlantic Woman

Project description:  MariCarme, Atlantic Woman.

“MariCarme, Atlantic Woman, a story of bravery, self-improvement and territory” is a project promoted by PONLE CARA AL TURISMO, with the collaboration of the Association of Executive Women from Galicia (Asociación de Mujeres Ejecutivas de Galicia), and DIPUTACIÓN DE PONTEVEDRA.

This project comes up from the need to value the work done by Galician women, specifically the shellfish catchers.

This touristic tale reads the story of MariCarme, an atlantic woman who is a shellfish catcher with super powers.

This book is about seafaring tourism and women effort, genuineness and empowerment but also about the identity of a destination, the sustaintability of a territory and mostly, about EQUALITY.

Equality is an issue which goes beyond educational systems. If we actually aim at educating in a real and effective equality, we must ensure and promote it from the whole society (tourism, economy, education, fishing sector, etc.)

Women, at an international level, play an outstanding role in those territories where fishing and acquaculture activities flourish. They contribute, in an essential way, to the generation of wealth and employment, to the conservation of marine and fresh water ecosystems, and to the preservation of population in rural and coastal areas, since they are the main actors in activities such as the transformation and commercialisation of fishing products.

Despite that, their work has not been recognized throughout history, and women have been facing problems when it comes to professional training, workplace risks or the difficulty in accessing those resources and activities which have been traditionally performed by men.

The pillars of the strategy of blue growth, in which women play an especial role, are many, such as favouring the preservation of resources, their biodiversity, innovation, competitiveness, the development of efficient value chains and, finally, the improvement of the livelihood of the fishing communities.

How can we get to know a destination?

From PCAT, we strongly believe that the best way to get to know a territory is through the stories told by its local population, which move us and turn any traveller into an enthusiastic ambassador of the town, city or region.

We understand tourism as the driving force of Spanish economy, which serves as a tool for the  territory revitalization, by creating employment and helping to raise awareness, educate in values and to make them have a possitive direct effect on the local economy.

“MariCarme” is our Carmiña´s sister, and she is the main character of this adventure about local economy, social innovation and women empowerment.

Seafaring tourism is a great resource to help value the people who work in the sea, their work culture and the industrial, archeological and historial heritage of our community. It also creates synergies between the industrial fabric and the tourism sector.

Project funded by: Ponle Cara al Turismo

Collaborate: Asociación de Mujeres Ejecutivas de Galicia and Diputación de Pontevedra

Technical Assistance: Ponle Cara al Turismo & Diputación de Pontevedra

Challenge:

To value the story of those women working in fishing-related activities, in particular, in shellfishing, and to create synergies between the different actors of tourism sector and education, dealing with such an important topic as equality between men and women working in the same industry.

This tale about territory tries to present the work of those women to schools and tourism information offices in a much more didactic way, drawing attention to their work, customs and traditions, and recognizing the worth of the hard work done by those galician women.

It offers the possibility of getting to know the story of a sector and women who are able to work, take care of the sea, its resources, their family and children while risking their lives along the Galician coastline.

Our Work:

Ponle Cara al Turismo developed the technical part of this project in 2018, aiming at promoting, raising awareness, spreading and revitalizing equality and territory as well as social innovation, education, and the sector of commercial fishing from a closer and more local point of view. It is offered as a tale based on true events which is told by the daughter of a woman who is a shellfish catcher from a town in the coastline of Galicia.

The tale was firstly distributed to the main tourism information offices belonging to the Rias Baixas area in Pontevedra, the Tourism Information Office in Vigo, the “reading area” of the Vigo City Council, which is located in Samil, and then, to the Tourism Information Office of Playa América, in Nigrán.

It will be distributed within the course 2018-2019 among the most important schools, and Social foundations in Vigo with students or members aged 7-12.

It is the fist territorial tale based on true events, for travelling children who are visiting the coast of Galicia with their families.

Specifically we did the following:

• Arranging meetings with collaborating entities.
• Creativity and design of drafts.
• Spreading in social networks and digital media.
• Writing in Galician, illustrating and layout of the book.
• Reporting, field work and research.
• Creating the official merchandising accompaning the tale: seafaring stickers, magnets and t-shirts.
• Distribution of the tales in Tourism Information Offices, schools and highschools.

Would you like to implement any visibility or marketing action in your territory? Count on us!

+info: info@ponlecaraalturismo.com 0034 652907952