Erika Jaszka

Innovation ecosystem for sustainable development in community centres: A case study in Zanzibar

Emerging economies experiencing tourism expansion are subject to a range of sustainable development issues, including economic leakages of tourism profits, cultural erosion, and degradation of natural resources. A potential solution is through community-led innovation and entrepreneurship centres. While literature tends to adopt an idealistic view of these hubs with singular focus on their economic benefits, innovation hubs can bring wider sustainable value through knowledge-sharing, business planning resources, and enhancement of individual agency. A community-driven approach to innovation hubs is recommended to better capture social well-being benefits and drive local innovation and entrepreneurship. This report aims to elucidate how to create a community-led innovation and entrepreneurship hub that brings holistic sustainable value to tourism-centric emerging economies. To accomplish this, a framework is developed to provide understanding of how to foster community-led development and supply strategies for sustainable value that can be enabled by an innovation hub. These strategies include encouraging use and conservation of existing resources; promoting government support and shifting of power to local entities; creating sustainable buildings; partnering with external entities; supporting sustainable manufacturing; diversifying local products and supply chains; localising ownership, production, and sourcing; and maintaining a people-focused process approach.

This framework is validated through a case study with the community of Kairo in Zanzibar, which is experiencing rapid tourism development. The analysis revealed Kairo exhibits some use of the identified strategies, but education from an innovation hub can help increase higher-skill, higher-value products, build local capacity, and limit dependency on tourism. Kairo is hindered by the lack of financial resources and limited power of local leadership. However, the use of existing assets, including strong social capital and the existing partnership with GIVE Volunteers, can aid in the establishment of entrepreneurship resources while working towards a community-driven innovation hub. The needs of Kairo predominantly align with the benefits of a hub. However, the needs for increased income and entrepreneurship are at odds with the needs for a hospital and infrastructure, which may divert limited assets and attention. Overall, the community of Kairo could benefit from a sustainable community-led innovation and entrepreneurship hub to reduce reliance on tourism, increase job opportunities, and promote economic and social well-being.