Ubirr, Kakadu National Park. Photo: Nicholas Hall

Principles and ethics

Stepwise Heritage and Tourism associates endorse the following principles and recognise the need for their professional practice to:

create appropriate space/s for productive discussion amongst people involved in processes. This includes attention to appropriate settings for gender, age, language, literacy and different knowledge traditions;
recognise participants as the authors of the content which the process generates;
actively use the principles of participatory planning and group leadership;
include action learning formats in programs to enable ‘learning through doing’ capacity building;
facilitate access to information to enable informed decision making;
promote self reliance and initiative along action pathways;
demonstrate a high level of flexibility in adapting processes to different settings, formats and participants;
strive for sustainable outcomes for land, culture, community, families and businesses;
strive for balance in representing complex dynamics and promote realistic self assessment based on the information provided; and
encourage responsibility, respect and reciprocity between visitors and local communities.