- NOVEMBER 2024 von Karolina Kania
18:30 SR-D/ 4. STOCK im NIG Gebäude
Although tourism contributes only 4% to New Caledonia’s GDP, it plays a crucial role in the
municipalities that lack nickel deposits (that could be used), such as Bourail, where tourism is seen
as a lever for sustainable development. The compliance with the custom (la coutume) of the
indigenous Kanak community and the inclusion of local inhabitants are sine qua non conditions for
the social success of any project carried out in New Caledonia. The establishment of the Domaine
Provincial de Déva marked a significant step in rebalancing the northern part of the southern
province following the Nouméa Accord signed in 1998. In my lecture, I will examine the challenges of
implementation and management of Domaine de Déva, a project involving cooperation among
various stakeholders, including the Southern Province, historical landowners, and the local multi
ethnic community. I will present examples of conflict situations that arose during the transformation
of the Domaine de Déva into a tourist site, governance and shared-management challenges faced
by public and private actors, and tensions stemming from the clash of diverse social, political, and
economic interests. These examples will illustrate the complexities of heritage site management in a
post-colonial context.
Karolina Kania, PhD
is a Polish Design Anthropologist. She holds a PhD in Ethnology and Social Anthropology from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris. Her academic research focuses on socio-political challenges and
conflicts in tourism development in New Caledonia. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Prague
University of Economics and Business and a research fellow in the EU Horizon Project ‚REMAKING‘ (2024-2027)
which examines the positive and negative effects of remote working on individuals, within companies or organisations and in the socio-economic sphere.