New @SUSPLACE publication: Co‑created visual narratives and inclusive place branding by Catia Rebelo et al.

Catia Rebelo is PhD-candidate at the Sustainable Places Research Institute of Cardiff University. From April 1, 2016, until March 31, 2019, she was appointed at the research project Place Ambassadors of the MSCA ITN programme SUSPLACE. ‘Co‑created visual narratives and inclusive place branding: a socially responsible approach to residents’ participation and engagement‘ by Catia Rebelo, … Read more

New publication | Transformative roles of people and places: learning, experiencing, and regenerative action through social innovation | by Abid Mehmood et al.

This paper discusses the transformative role of people and the places which they inhabit. It advocates the richness and multiplicity of actors and understandings to drive sustainable place-shaping practices. Grounded in the interdisciplinary place-based conceptualisation of social innovation, the paper aims to progress a holistic conceptual framework which integrates the active processes of learning, experiencing, and regeneration to tackle the complex challenges of sustainability.

This article is the third to appear in the Sustain Sci. Special Feature: Exploring the Transformative Capacity of Place-Shaping Practices , edited by SUSPLACE.

Video: Place Ambassadors in Sustainable Tourism

How can we involve people in more inclusive and participatory place branding initiatives? This is the key question that guided SUSPLACE researcher Cátia Rebelo in her research on sustainable tourism. Learn more about her work in this short video. 

This video is the third in a series of short videos that illustrate inspiring examples of place-shaping practices in Europe. In the past three years, SUSPLACE fellows have been looking at a diversity of cases, trying to understand how citizens, (social) entrepreneurs and community initiatives develop sustainable practices and build the capacities to transform their places according to their ideas, needs and demands. The videos aim to bring these practices, and the research findings, to life.

Documentary: Place Ambassadors – shaping better places to live and visit

If we asked you to describe the place where you live and how you feel about it, what would you tell others? What is special about your place? We asked the people of the communities of Llangorse and Bwlch in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, what they would tell visitors about their area? Are you curious to know what they have shared with us? Watch the video to find out!

This documentary is the result of an academic intervention that aimed to explore the advantages and disadvantages of introducing and or strengthening civic participation in tourism and branding planning, and part of Place Ambassadors project.

Being a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Ambassador

  By Catia Rebelo, Alessandro Vasta and Siri Pisters How do citizens’ initiatives shape sustainable places? This question guided a seminar lead by Elisabete Figueiredo and Sandra Valente at University of Aveiro last May. Some ESRs, namely Alessandro Vasta, Cátia Rebelo, Marta Romero and Siri Pisters had the opportunity to share their work with a … Read more

Participatory Video Festival #1: Reflections

Participatory Video on the lives of homeless people in Belgium, screened at the Participatory Video Festival #1. Photo by Catia Rebelo. Although there is a growing interest in participatory visual methods, these are still far from being  ‘conventional’. This brings some challenges, especially to PhD students. Therefore, a group of PhD students from Ghent University, … Read more

IPBA 2017 – The 2nd conference of International Place Branding Association

Established in 2015, the International Place Branding Association brings together scholars and practitioners involved and interested in place branding aiming to bring further advancement for the field both theoretically and professionally. I have been following the association work since last year in 2016 when they co-organized the inaugural conference of Place Branding that took place … Read more

Building our stories, co-creating sustainable futures

by Catia Rebelo Sustainable tourism TEFI – Tourism Education Futures Initiative – represents an innovative and inclusive tourism network of tourism scholars and practitioners. Indeed, TEFI is based on five pillars: stewardship, mutuality, ethics, professionalism and knowledge. They see tourism as social phenomena and want to move beyond business as usual, exploitative and extractive industrial … Read more

Sensed Place – a documentary

From September 28-30, the SUSPLACE Consortium met in Aveiro, Portugal for the Midterm Review Meeting. On Saturday September 30, SUSPLACE partner Binaural-Nodar hosted a fieldtrip to the area of Vouzela. In Carvahal de Milhas, we were warmly welcomed by the village choir. Together with the villagers, we were invited to watch the documentary ‘Lugar Sentido’, or … Read more

Place-based narratives from Carvalhal de Vermilhas, Vouzela

By Catia Rebelo As part of my research Project – Place Ambassadors – I developed a satellite case study in Portugal in a very small rural area called Carvalhal de Vermilhas, Vouzela. For this satellite case study, I focused on only one of my research questions: How would Place Ambassadors like to co-create a place brand and which … Read more

Film, sound and editing: learning skills in participatory visual research methods

By Catia Rebelo As part of the Innovative Training Networks each Early Stage Researcher should be hosted by a non-academic partner. This collaboration, entitled secondment, aims to enhance researchers’ relationship with the labour market and to boost researchers’ professional skills. My first secondment is hosted by a social cultural association called Binaural-Nodar, based in Vouzela, … Read more

First steps in participant observation: Brecon Beacons National Park

By Catia Rebelo Brecon Beacons is one of the fourteen of the National Parks in Britain and was established in 1957. Located in South Wales the National Park comprises an area of 1,344 km2 and its landscape is a ‘protected area’ according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Part of the … Read more