SCT Forum

2010‐International Forum

Guest Speaker
Bindu Hewa Rohan Induka
District Coordinator for the Agriculture Ministry  

Biography

  • Agriculture Graduate from the University of Peradeniya, Kandy.

  • Agriculture Research and Productivity Officer, Ministry of Agriculture.

  • District Coordinator of the Agriculture Ministry for Agricultural Coordination.

  • Recipient of Poetry Awards.

  • Chairman of the Regional Community Assistance Society.

  • Planning director of the “Namal Gunawardena” Foundation, a community assistant organization.

Professional Experience and Activities

Head of a local foundation (Namal Gunawardena) which studies the culture, customs, and sustainable agricultural practices of farming families living in the 'dry zone' of Sri Lanka. 

Agriculture specialist the agricultural sector with ongoing work in sustainable agriculture development programs in the green belt around Kandy with the objective of creating healthy and sustainable communities for the next generation. Long time proponent of educational programs and conducted many arts programs as the Secretary of the Arts Society of Faculty of Agriculture the University of Peradeniya. Has worked in the dairy industry as a production executive. Actively participating in Tsunami recovery programs. 

Message to the People of Kumano

I would like to discuss the ecological, traditional, and cultural importance of Sustainable Tourism as it pertains to Kandy, Sri Lanka, especially. One the one hand we are endeavoring to support the traditions of Sri Lanka while at the same time struggling with the effects of a long and tragic civil war and the collapse of the community functions that have been passed down from our ancestors. This Sustainable Community Tourism concept is important as it involves bringing together people from outside the community who can reflect back to the community the value of their culture and region restoring their self-respect and love for their land and community once again. From this interaction it is very important to cultivate community leaders who can carry this vision forward. 

Moreover, the potential resources that Sri Lanka has to offer as a Sustainable Community Tourism destination extend beyond just the traditional and the historical attractions. Presently, from an international perspective, we also need to review and take a fresh look at the traditional healing practices of Sri Lanka, such as the meditation and healing practices based on Buddhism, as well as the traditional healing methods of Ayurvedic Medicine all of which contribute greatly to community sustainability and well-being. 

In addition to this, as a person grappling with the ecological as of agriculture, a primary industry, sustainability is a key element in supporting local life by using better marketing methods to spread the use of organic farming technology by helping locals sell their organic products to a wider marketplace. I hope we can discuss how to build systems such a system. 

Gary Green
Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council (CVC)

Biography

  • Graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz

  • Masters at the University of Southern California Annenberg

  • As manager of the 100-year event hall amusement park on the beach followed, performing a variety of promotional events.

  • Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council to oversee the non-profit organization promoting tourism in Santa Cruz County (CVC) Co-Head of Marketing

Professional Experience and Activities

Over 30 years experience in the field of marketing and sales with an emphasis on partnership development, cooperative marketing, media buying, brand development, and event production. He is currently responsible for cooperative marketing and partnership development for the CVC. This encompasses display ad sales for the CVC's printed Travel Guide, web site marketing, brand marketing and all CVC ad placement including web interactive, TV, Radio, and print marketing campaigns. Gary is married with a seven year-old son. He is an accomplished musician and loves to play tennis, read, and spend time with his family. 


Message to the People of Kumano

During this conference I would like to draw from my many years as a marketing professional and discuss how the various aspects of tourism marketing and development can enhance the development of a Sustainable Community Tourism industry. Since the early 20th century Santa Cruz has been a tourist destination with tourists coming from San Francisco due to the railroad built for the lumber industry. However, due to the shift to automobile and air transportation, the tourism industry dropped severely for a brief period. However, presently, revenue directly related to tourism now is over 500 million dollars a year. That translates into about 14 million dollars in tax revenue for the county. Tourism has therefore contributed greatly to the survival of local small businesses as well as being instrumental in promoting local arts and culture. Since the state of the Santa Cruz environment is an important element in the attractiveness of Santa Cruz as a tourist destination, the promotion of the tourism industry has done a lot to encourage environmental enhancement. 

I would like to discuss one of the most important processes leading to our success. This was the building of consensus across the whole community to spread the idea of Santa Cruz 'Uniqueness and Hospitality' as a key selling proposition. 

Jennifer Karno　
City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment and Economic Development Department

Biography

Professional Experience and Activities

Jennifer has been a media and event producer for over 20 years for many corporations and non-profits. In 2009 and 2010 she coordinated local planning for the Santa Cruz stage finish of the Amgen “Tour of California” bike race. Jennifer is currently working for the City of Santa Cruz Economic and Redevelopment Department, assigned to special projects and eco-tourism initiatives. She is also pursuing a Certificate in Ecotourism, and is on the steering committee of the Monterey Bay Geotourism Project. Jennifer is an outdoor and travel enthusiast, and has performed extensively as a vocalist in musical theater, world music and jazz. She is married and has a three year-old son. She is also a member of Santa Cruz NEXT, a networking organization for young professionals.

 

Message to the People of Kumano

At this time I would like to introduce examples of grassroots activity and cooperation between the local citizens and the regional administration and how these come into play in the planning and execution of regional development and local events. In addition I would like to discuss 'Santa Cruz Next', which provides the youth of Santa Cruz with a vibrant meeting place where they can organize events, create a sense of community, build a sense of fellowship, and discuss problems which face the community with an attitude towards finding a positive solution that brings in the migrant youth population into the equation. I will be talking from my experience as a member. 

Also, I would like to introduce the different ways that Santa Cruz Next is facilitating the creation of new businesses in the community. The result being the creation of the 'Next Space' to foster the cultivation of independent entrepreneurs as well as attracting many more new entrepreneurs to the city. The Next Space was founded with the intent of creating jobs within the community so that people would not have to commute to Silicon Valley to work every day. 

All this has been done without government money and has led to young people taking more responsibility for the economic destiny and already successful business ventures are being created. 

Based on the experience we have had with large events and Eco Tourism in Santa Cruz I believe there is much potential for Sustainable Community Tourism and look forward to exploring the possibilities. 

Cynthia Mathews
Ex-Mayor of Santa Cruz and Presently City Councillor

Biography

  • Served on the Santa Cruz City Council for 17 years and elected Mayor of Santa Cruz three times. 

  • City-Schools Committee

  • Seniors Council - Area Agency on Aging

  • Conference and Visitors Council

  • Downtown Management Corporation

  • Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary Interagency Task Force

  • Social Services Committee

  • Library Joint Powers Authority

  • Economic Development Council

  • Mission Street Widening Task Force 

  • Economic Development Council Committee 

  • Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce Officers 

  • Awards: 1988 Santa Cruz County Women's Committee Award, 1998 Friends of Downtown, "Woman of the Year" 2000 from the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce 

Professional Experience and Activities

As a long time City Councilor and ex-Mayor of Santa Cruz, Cynthia Matthews has many years experience promoting sustainable community and self-reliance based on community consensus and focusing on the uniqueness of Santa Cruz as a place to visit. Cynthia has engaged in a wide range of activities that have impacted cultural

policy, tourism, continuing education, economic development, and the particular significant contribution of revitalizing the downtown core after a major earthquake. Much of her time is now focused on cultivation the next generation of leaders among the city’s youth

involving them in the process of town planning and creating more opportunities for them to succeed in the context of a sustainable community environment.

Message to the People of Kumano

This is my third visit to Shingu and, as always, I am very excited to be here. I would like to begin by giving an overview of the city of Santa Cruz and how we have built a community identity over the years. I would also like to discuss how this process has contributed to a greater civic awareness along with a fervent desire to protect the environment. Furthermore I will illustrate how the whole city has enhanced and encouraged the creative potential in the arts, music, theater, and most recently, in the IT industry. Santa Cruz is characterized by a very active lifestyle and a population that would rather participate in outdoor sports and events rather than sit at home watching television.

Moreover, we must not forget that as we build our local businesses, raise children, pay our taxes, each person, as a member of the community, has a role to play in supporting local business. As a result we have begun to phase in a process whereby we are identifying shops and businesses with 'Think Local First' stickers so that citizens and visitors can choose to support local business by putting some priority on shopping there. These businesses are, in turn, eager to give back to the community that is supporting them and creates a beneficent cycle.   

Another project I would like to talk about is one that was initiated by the children of organic farmers to ensure the continued existence of their family farms is the 'Buy Fresh, Buy Local' campaign where community members are encouraged to buy local produce and support local farmers as well as create a culture of regional food self-sufficiency.

I would like to introduce more examples of how this process of citizen and government collaboration has produced many positive results. 

Also, I would like to discuss how Sustainable Community Tourism can encourage the sharing of the visible and invisible resources that can be found in all of our respective communities in Kumano, Santa Cruz, and Sri Lanka. From this interchange I hope we will all learn many valuable things. 

Hettiarchchige Pemachandana
CPC Travel Representative

Biography

  • Graduated from the University of Kelaniya in Science

  • CPC Travels (PVT) Managing Director

  • Former Officer for the Statistics Census Statistics Office

  • Nawana 

    University Staff

  • Staff Member of the Institute of Buddhist Research


Professional Experience and Activities

Worked for the Census Office as manager and researcher in the field of regional development, including research into the psychological impact of the tsunami disaster. Presently he is focusing on reviving local communities through tourism especially in the field of research and training on how to incorporate Buddhist elements of Sri Lankan culture. This includes facilitating Earth Watch Tours to Sri Lanka to encourage tourism in the region. 

Message to the People of Kumano

Kandy City was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage 16 years before Kumano and is also known as a sacred destination and is known as the 'Sacred City of Kandy'. Respect for cultural and religious traditions is part of the norm of daily life in Sri Lanka and reflects the underpinnings of a view of life and death backed by faith which has led to the extended family being integral to maintaining the invisible bonds of the community in the spirit of mutual support. 

Kumano, as a 'Sacred Place and Holy Pilgrimage', and Kandy as the 'Sacred City of Kandy' have much in common as UNESCO World Heritage sites and share a tradition of combining indigenous and Buddhist faiths. Both regions share the problem of an aging population and depopulation and Kandy is also faced with low levels of education and poverty in the rural region around Kandy. Like Kumano, Kandy, as the ancient capital of the Sinhalese Dynasty, has abundant historical and cultural resources. 

Combining the 'Spiritual Tourism' of Kandy, rooted in the Buddhist experience, with the concept of Sustainable Community Tourism has much potential for enhancing regional sustainable community development in ways that will allow citizens of Kandy to maintain their richness of culture and faith while improving their quality of life, income levels, and education as we proceed on the path to creating better lives for all the people living there. 

Dave Vincent
LSCC- Leadership Santa Cruz County

Biography

  • Chairman of Leadership Santa Cruz County 
  • Member of Aptos Chamber of Commerce
  • Santa Cruz County District Superintendent, California State Parks
  • '2007 Man of the Year' Award (Aptos Chamber of Commerce) 


Professional Experience and Activities

Dave is in his second career, as executive director of Leadership Santa Cruz. LSC’s goal is to identify potential leaders in business, government, and the community and help prepare them for civic leadership positions throughout the County. Prior to this, Dave had a distinguished 32 year career with the California State Parks system, working with local governments, businesses, and organizations throughout the state. He retired in 2007 as superintendent of the Santa Cruz District, where he was responsible for thirty-two park units including both natural areas and historic sites. He has also served on the board of the Conference and Visitors Council.  He and his wife Kathy have two sons; Dave enjoys coaching his sons’ sports teams, hiking, reading, and home improvement

Message to the People of Kumano

After the recession in the 1980s, maintaining regional economic stability without being overly affected by external economic fluctuations became an important issue for Santa Cruz County. In order to reach a consensus on how to move into the future it became apparent that we needed to cultivate leaders from all genders, races, ages, and occupations that represent the region of Santa Cruz.  From this need and process the LSCC was born. 

In this forum I would like to discuss the importance of cultivating leaders in the community to grapple with the local issues of the day. 

Also, having served many years in the California State Parks system, I would like to draw from that experience and share ideas on how outdoor experience can have a positive effect thereby fostering the cultivation of community leaders. 

I hope to be able to speak on the topic of exchanging technology and know-how that is conducive to building a Sustainable Community Tourism where the natural environment and the residents of the community are able to live in co-existence and prosper.