In 2024 the University of Cape Town (UCT) continued to run and support a suite of educational and community-facing activities that promote sustainable management of landscapes for tourism — most visibly in the Cederberg/Clanwilliam area. These activities combine heritage interpretation, community training, virtual learning and guided field excursions that (a) build local capacity to manage and benefit from tourism, (b) communicate conservation-sensitive land-use practices to visitors and residents, and (c) help sustain livelihoods from low-impact, heritage-based tourism

  1. Professor John Parkington — Living Landscape / Clanwilliam heritage tourism & training (ongoing; background + impact)
    • John Parkington (Emeritus Professor, UCT Archaeology) established the Living Landscape project in Clanwilliam, which explicitly links archaeological/heritage research to community development and heritage tourism. The project has trained local people as rock-art guides, craftspeople and custodians of heritage; it has worked with local schools and supported community enterprises so that tourism benefits local livelihoods while encouraging custodianship of landscapes. The project is described as both long-running and community-facing.
    • 2024 relevance & fee: The project is described as ongoing and institutionalised in local heritage work; training delivered by Parkington’s team has historically been free to community participants (project funding supported community training).
  2. Virtual Cederberg rock-art tours with Parkington commentary (accessible in 2024)
    • High-quality virtual tours for the Warmhoek and Sevilla rock-art trails were produced with audio/text commentary by Professor John Parkington, allowing remote access to the rock-art landscape and providing an interpretive, conservation-sensitive educational resource for tourists, schools and local communities. These virtual resources support low-impact tourism (educational access without site pressure) and are publicly available online.
    • The virtual tours remained publicly accessible in 2024 (used by tourism/education partners); access is intended as an outreach/education tool (site listings do not indicate a paywall for the public previews).
  3. Field excursions and public guided trips led by John Parkington — 2024 listings
    • UCT-affiliated/archaeology network event listings show excursions and rock-art field visits led by Emeritus Professor John Parkington in 2024 (e.g., West Coast / Elands Bay Cave excursions and Cederberg weekends where Parkington acted as field leader/interpreter). These excursions provide direct, expert-led education for visitors, tourists and community groups on the archaeology, cultural landscape and sustainable visitation practices in sensitive Cederberg areas.
    • Excursion listings in 2024 carried participant fees (typical for multi-day field trips open to the public, not for those local community members managing the resources), but they are explicitly educational and guided by UCT staff; separate community training components of the Living Landscape project (see item 1) were community-facing and historically free.
  4. Living Landscape outputs: community museum/schools curriculum & local guide training (documented outputs; supports sustainable tourism land management)
    • The Living Landscape project produced a community museum / schools curriculum and ran training that linked local heritage, environmental stewardship and tourism enterprise development (e.g., rock-art guiding, craft and catering skills). These outputs are specifically designed to encourage community custodianship of landscape/heritage and to channel tourism income back into local people — a sustainable land-management for tourism model.
    • The curriculum and training are outreach outputs intended for free community benefit or subsidised delivery (historic project funding covered training); trainees then operate in fee-earning roles as guides or service providers (sustainable livelihoods pathway).
  5. Global Digital Heritage Afrika — UCT partnership (March 2024) — heritage, digital interpretation & community outreach
    • In March 2024 UCT announced a partnership with Global Digital Heritage Afrika to strengthen spatial data, community outreach and digital interpretation of African heritage. These capabilities directly support sustainable tourism by improving heritage interpretation, widening access (digital/virtual offerings), and helping communities manage tourist pressure through digital, educational tools. The partnership is explicitly framed as community outreach and capacity building for heritage protection and use.
    • 2024 relevance & fee: Announced March 12, 2024 — public partnership; digital outputs and outreach are designed to be accessible to communities and the public (no user fee).

In summary

  • UCT’s Cederberg-focused work — led academically by Professor John Parkington and sustained through the Living Landscape project and related virtual/field-based programmes — is an explicit example of university outreach that teaches people how to manage and interpret land for tourism in ways that protect heritage and conserve landscape values while supporting local livelihoods.
  • The 2024 evidence includes (a) continuing public/field excursions led by Parkington (2024 listings), (b) publicly accessible virtual tours used as low-impact educational tourism resources, and (c) UCT’s 2024 partnership work on digital heritage that strengthens community capacity for heritage-sensitive tourism. These activities combine education, community training and tools that reduce visitor pressure on fragile landscapes while improving local benefits from tourism.

Notes on fees

  • Community training from the Living Landscape project: historically offered as community/outreach training (free / subsidised by project funding). Evidence shows the project’s aim was to enable community members to become paid guides/craftspeople but the training itself was community-facing rather than a commercial product.
  • Virtual rock-art tours: publicly accessible digital interpretation (used by schools, tourists) — no explicit public paywall for the online tours referenced; therefore treated as freely accessible educational outreach.
  • Field excursions / guided trips (2024 event listings): these were fee-based participant events (typical for multi-day guided excursions) but are explicitly educational; fees are charged to participants (not community training beneficiaries).