01/10/2026
Responding to the Call of the Sea
What if the knowledge a community already holds about its coast, culture and way of life could become a sustainable livelihood?
On 22–23 September 2026, Meraki Daat Initiative, with Sabah Tourism Board and Sri Pelancongan Sabah, brought 19 participants from Pulau Gaya together for a two-day training programme at Gaya Centre Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, under our community-based tourism initiative funded by APPGM.
The programme was designed to move our communities from potential to enterprise.
Meraki Daat Initiative Charter President Michelle de la Harpe, RTCA, introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how those global goals connect to participants' everyday lives, livelihoods and environment.
Norita Yapi then guided them through the practical business of tourism, from developing packages and pricing experiences to digital marketing, and how to turn what they already know into something visitors can experience, appreciate and purchase.
We were honoured to welcome Mr Julinus Jeffery Jimit, Chief Executive Officer of Sabah Tourism Board, who took the time to join us and personally present the certificates of completion.
For Project Picasso, this is another step forward.
Our vision of eco-tourism is becoming tangible: communities transforming their knowledge of their own coast, food, culture and trails into experiences they can own, price, package and sell, while creating a powerful economic reason to protect and restore the ocean around them.
Because community-based tourism should not simply bring visitors into a village. It should leave greater value in the hands of the people who call it home.
We hope this training deepens not only their understanding of eco-tourism, but their confidence to build businesses, earn sustainable income and become custodians of the environment those livelihoods depend on.
This is Project Picasso.
From knowledge to enterprise.
From waste to opportunity.
From community to ownership.
Responding to the call of the sea. 🌊
