There’s a new app that will allow you to discover new things about Lebanon.
The Daskara App was created by the Nature Conservation Center (NCC) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), in partnership with Diane Foundation, aiming to help conserve and sustain mom-and-pop businesses around Lebanon by getting them discovered.
Ramzi Al Malti, the project coordinator of the Daskara app, told The961 that “Daskara will bring Lebanon’s smallest natural and cultural wonders to your fingertips.”
Daskara, which means Authentic Village, will connect explorers and tourists to diverse localities throughout the country to find new cultural experiences, nature encounters, food and lodging, recreational activities, eco-friendly sites, and public and non-governmental facilities.
In parallel, Daskara will afford small business gems in towns across Lebanon to be known, hence helping with the economy.
The app is also taking a crowdsourcing approach to allow local people and travelers to contribute to the app with their knowledge and experience.
“The locally contributed knowledge harnessed through Daskara will also serve the Lebanese diaspora who want to learn and engage in nature conservation and heritage preservation,” Ramzi noted.
With Daskara, you can discover the places mapped by experts and locals, and learn about them. The app will also help you plan your trip, engage with the online community, and expand your social network.
The app was inspired by a research project initiated by the AUB NCC called Baldati Bi’ati. The initiative worked with 80 Lebanese citizen councils to map their towns’ cultural and natural landmarks as well as document the local interests and share knowledge.
With the help of the Diane Foundation’s green investment fund, Viridis, AUB NCC’s Daskara app can transform the lives of the townspeople as well as promote eco-tourism in Lebanon.
“I believe that the time is now to put efforts into boosting our decentralized local economy and that our efforts will be of great aid once the difficult of the situation subsides,” said Ramzi.
