Exploring Pathways for Stimulating Cultural Services in Rural Ecosystems through Experiential Learning Education

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

This paper has a worthy goal: to add to literature on the topic of rural community preservation and revitalization through positive educational experiences. The paper describes and explains aspects of Daheping Village, in Hunan, China. The paper argues that this rural community offers an exemplary illustration of an experiential learning setting that achieves the objective of positive educational experiences.

 

I have several comments:

 

I am impressed by the authors’ graphics. However, some of the graphics – for instance, figures 2 and 5 – are more or less free-standing and are not solidly anchored to the text. That is, the figures are not substantively discussed in the body of the paper. Hence, these figures appear to be gratuitous, and the authors might consider removing them, particularly since the unnecessary figures may detract from the overall presentation. Currently, there are seven figures in the manuscript, and I believe that four or five would be sufficient for the paper to achieve its goal. Perhaps figures 3, 4, 6 and 7 would be enough, since they are the most informative graphics, in my opinion.

 

The authors should define terms more carefully. Examples of terms that need to be defined are” “cultural revitalization,” “cultural services,” “cultural service system,” “rural ecosystem,” and “cultural service value.”

 

One term I found unusual is “cultural genes” (line 14 and lines 119-120). I wondered if the authors mean “cultural genre” (genre = category or type).

 

The authors should provide a map that shows the location of Daheping Village within China, so readers can better see the geographical relationship of this rural community to important features of China’s natural environment (e.g., mountain ranges, deserts, river basins) and built environment (e.g., urban centers, transportation infrastructure, utilities and industrial facilities). Such a map would appear at the beginning of section 4.

 

The conclusion (section 5) is not very strong and merely summarizes the paper’s contents. The authors could strengthen the conclusion by comparing Daheping Village to the five case studies that were presented in section 2, which the authors call “classic domestic and international cases” (line 83). The authors might address the question, What are the strengths and weaknesses of Daheping Village compared to these five classic cases of “experiential learning education in rural areas” (line 106)? At a minimum, the authors should compare Daheping Village to the two examples from China, namely, Taomi Ecological Village and Xixinan Ancient Village.

 

In closing, I think many readers of the journal would be interested in this paper’s subject matter, especially because of rising prominence of environmental concerns (both natural and cultural) in China, which is now the world’s most urbanized and industrialized society.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

More editing is needed, preferably by a copy-editor whose first language is English.

Author Response

Comments 1: I am impressed by the authors’ graphics. However, some of the graphics – for instance, figures 2 and 5 – are more or less free-standing and are not solidly anchored to the text. That is, the figures are not substantively discussed in the body of the paper. Hence, these figures appear to be gratuitous, and the authors might consider removing them, particularly since the unnecessary figures may detract from the overall presentation. Currently, there are seven figures in the manuscript, and I believe that four or five would be sufficient for the paper to achieve its goal. Perhaps figures 3, 4, 6 and 7 would be enough, since they are the most informative graphics, in my opinion.

Response 1: Thank you for pointing this out. In response to the problems with these pictures, the following answers and adjustments are made: ① Figure 2 shows more of the framework of the article. For example, the circle on the left corresponds to chapter 3 (3. Principles of Revitalizing Rural Cultural Resources Based on Science Education Concepts). The circle on the right corresponds to the fourth chapter of this paper (4.Case Study - 4.3 Specific Design). The specific design of Daheping Village site should start from these six parts. Figure 2 serves as a link between the preceding and the following in this paper, so it is reserved. ② Figure 5 not only shows the resource integration and pattern reconstruction of Daheping village from the space of mountains, water, people and culture, but also shows the natural geographical environment information of the village to a certain extent, so I want to retain Figure 5. ③ At present, the picture is really a little too much. Combined with the opinions of the two judges, Figure 3 is first modified into a map to show the location and current situation of Daheping Village in China. (page 6, line 223-224) ④ Delete the less informative picture in Figure 7.

 

Comments 2: The authors should define terms more carefully. Examples of terms that need to be defined are” “cultural revitalization,” “cultural services,” “cultural service system,” “rural ecosystem,” and “cultural service value.”

Response 2: We agree with this comment. Therefore, the relevant terms are defined as follows:① Rural culture revitalization: usually includes two levels. The first is to lead the industrial development with cultural value as the guide, and constantly improve people's spiritual realm and life pursuit (nourishing the spirit with culture and casting the soul with culture). Second, as the added value of industries, products or local brands, the characteristic cultural industries under market-oriented operation can promote the revitalization of rural areas and enhance the level of local social civilization in the integrated development of agriculture, culture, business, tourism and entertainment. (page 1-2, line 42-47) ② We replace " rural ecosystem " and "cultural services" with "cultural ecosystem services". It is defined as: cultural ecosystem services refer to the non-material benefits that humans get from the ecosystem, including spiritual satisfaction, thinking, aesthetic experience, entertainment and cognitive development. (page 2, line 48-50) ③Cultural service value: the value of non-material benefits provided by the ecosystem such as tourism health, leisure and landscape appreciation to improve the quality of human life. (page 5, line 163-164) ④ Cultural service system: a comprehensive, interactive and sustainable service network that aims to meet the cultural needs of the public and provides cultural services through various forms and channels. (page 6, line 191-193)

Note: In academic journals, the terms "Cultural service syste" and "Cultural service value" have not been clearly defined, so we search the Internet and our own understanding to answer the question. 

 

Comments 3: One term I found unusual is “cultural genes” (line 14 and lines 119-120). I wondered if the authors mean “cultural genre” (genre = category or type).

 Response 3: Thank you for pointing out the translation error. Yes, in this article it should be "cultural genre" instead of "cultural genes". (line 15 and lines 136-137)

 

Comments 4: The authors should provide a map that shows the location of Daheping Village within China, so readers can better see the geographical relationship of this rural community to important features of China’s natural environment (e.g., mountain ranges, deserts, river basins) and built environment (e.g., urban centers, transportation infrastructure, utilities and industrial facilities). Such a map would appear at the beginning of section 4.

 Response 4: Thank you for pointing this out. We have adopted the modification suggestion and modified Figure 3 into a map with geographic information such as China's natural environment and transportation facilities. (page 7, line 243-244)

 

Comments 5: The conclusion (section 5) is not very strong and merely summarizes the paper’s contents. The authors could strengthen the conclusion by comparing Daheping Village to the five case studies that were presented in section 2, which the authors call “classic domestic and international cases” (line 83). The authors might address the question, What are the strengths and weaknesses of Daheping Village compared to these five classic cases of “experiential learning education in rural areas” (line 106)? At a minimum, the authors should compare Daheping Village to the two examples from China, namely, Taomi Ecological Village and Xixinan Ancient Village.

 Response 5:  We agree with this comment and therefore add the following to the conclusion. Compared with the western educational base, the rich intangible cultural heritage and beautiful natural ecological environment in Daheping Village are more prominent. However, there are also some disadvantages, such as the lack of professional research and education talents and tourism management talents, challenges in infrastructure, and deficiencies in marketing and brand building. (page 13, line 416-420)

 

Comments 6: Comments on the Quality of English Language. More editing is needed, preferably by a copy-editor whose first language is English.

 Response 6: Thank you for pointing this out. We have edited the English text again.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Referee report on "Exploring pathways for stimulating cultural services in rural ecosystems through experimental learning education”

 

The authors study an interesting topic that immediately attracts the reader’s attention. The paper is written in plain language and easy to follow. Although, in general, I’m sympathetic regarding the paper, for now it looks like a promotional piece of advertisement, rather than a real scientific paper. Below I provide a few suggestions for bringing the paper closer to academics.

 

1. Frist and foremost, you need to introduce the subject of your study. Why did you decide to focus on this specific village? Is it a typical Chinese village, or, as I guess, it is specific for some reason? Provide a section with some statistics about this village to let us know more about its population size, socio-economic situation etc.

2. In the second paragraph of the Introduction you provide a few examples for “educational tourism” in other countries. However, all your examples are taken from well developed countries. To make the picture more balanced, make some search do such places exist in presently developing countries as well, or it is a phenomenon particular to the developed world only?

3. In Section 2 you mention a few other cases, which you use “for summary and analysis”. Present any details about your reference group. Explain why you chose these particular areas. What are you selection criteria? How similar and different they are from your particular case?

4. Section 4.1: Overview. Coming back to my first comment, here you definitely need to present any statistics to describe this particular village.

Also, you speak about a “boutique tourism rout” in this village. Why do you call it as such? Give us any feeling of it. What are the trends in tourism over recent years? How many people visited it? What was an economic impact of this tourism on the village itself? It’s just a couple of things you should speak about here in your academic paper.

5. You Figure 3 (and even more the figures provided further on) looks like a tourist booklet that one can download from the internet. Where is your own scientific analysis?

6. Line 241: “large forested area”. How large is this area? What is its fraction of the entire area?

6a. Line 245: “unique river floodplain ecosystem”. Why is it unique?

7. Figure 7: Again, where is your own scientific contribution over this figure?

8. Lines 341/2. You suggest to “encourage villagers to develop a sense ownership and intrinsic motivation”. To justify this claim, here you need at least to provide some figures how many people live in the village? How many tourists visit this village annually? Are they economically self-sufficient, or require some additional state funding?

9. Lines 384/5: You claim that “compared to Western countries, the current level of educational tours in China still lags behind”. I personally believe that it’s true. But if you make such claim, you need to justify it with the numbers.

10. Finally, to better connect your study to the general context, in the end of the first paragraph on page 12 (line 377), I would suggest adding the following:

“In addition, by providing additional knowledge and motivation to primary and secondary students, high-quality educational tours may enhance the students’ acquisition of the general human capital that is broadly shown to be a key factor for modern economic growth (Azarnert, 2010; 2016).”

 References

Azarnert, L.V. (2010) Free education, fertility and human capital accumulation. Journal of Population Economics 23(2), 449–468

Azarnert, L.V. (2016) Transportation costs and the Great Divergence. Macroeconomic Dynamics 20(1), 214–228

Comments on the Quality of English Language

moderate editing

Author Response

Comments 1: Frist and foremost, you need to introduce the subject of your study. Why did you decide to focus on this specific village? Is it a typical Chinese village, or, as I guess, it is specific for some reason? Provide a section with some statistics about this village to let us know more about its population size, socio-economic situation etc.

Response 1: We agree with this comment. First, why focus on this particular village? There are three main reasons: ①Policy orientation: Yiyang City Heshan District people's government proposed to build "Heping oasis" pan-camp complex planning vision. ② Rich resources: It has the landscape pattern of Dongting Lake wetland in northern Hunan and various intangible cultural heritage. ③ Convenient transportation: The surrounding traffic routes are complete, and the traffic time is about 25 minutes from the city center. Secondly, the population size and socio-economic status are as follows: there are 12 village groups under its jurisdiction, with a permanent population of 2,185 people, including 8 non-genetic people, about 45 artisans, and about 60 skilled people. The main economic source in the village is the primary industry, the secondary industry is mainly processed by agricultural and sideline products, and the tertiary industry is relatively scarce. (page 7, line 224-232)

 

Comments 2: In the second paragraph of the Introduction you provide a few examples for “educational tourism” in other countries. However, all your examples are taken from well developed countries. To make the picture more balanced, make some search do such places exist in presently developing countries as well, or it is a phenomenon particular to the developed world only?

Response 2: Thank you for pointing this out. Educational tourism is not a unique phenomenon in developed countries, but the proportion will be higher. China is also a developing country, but it is also paying more attention to and developing research and education. Two more examples are added: One is the Jeongdong Arboretum in South Korea (developed country), which focuses on allowing students to learn botany and ecology through practical contact with nature. The second is the relatively large Belgabash Coast National Park in Turkey (a developing country), where schools and nonprofits lead students on field courses to explore the local biodiversity and geological features on foot. (page 3, line 114-118)

 

Comments 3: In Section 2 you mention a few other cases, which you use “for summary and analysis”. Present any details about your reference group. Explain why you chose these particular areas. What are you selection criteria? How similar and different they are from your particular case?

Response 3: Agreed. Therefore, we add selection criteria under the case diagram (Figure 1).。Selection criteria: 1. Geographical location in rural areas and urban suburbs; 2. It has outstanding reference advantages in research and education. (page 4, line 122-124) How similar and different they are from particular case? The development models of Taomi Eco-Village in Taiwan and Xixi South ancient village in Anhui are suitable for reference in the new rural construction background of Daheping Village. Other foreign cases have outstanding advantages in graded teaching, sixth industrialization, intelligent operation, organic ecological agriculture and so on.

 

Comments 4: Section 4.1: Overview. Coming back to my first comment, here you definitely need to present any statistics to describe this particular village. Also, you speak about a “boutique tourism rout” in this village. Why do you call it as such? Give us any feeling of it. What are the trends in tourism over recent years? How many people visited it? What was an economic impact of this tourism on the village itself? It’s just a couple of things you should speak about here in your academic paper.

Response 4: Agreed. The relevant statistics for Daheping Village have been added in comment 1. In addition, the official achievements of Daheping Village in tourism development are as follows: Daheping Village to create "intangible cultural heritage + research’ boutique tourism route, promotes Daheping village from a single agricultural planting industry to the development of a comprehensive rural tourism industry transformation to bring specific economic benefits to the villagers, such as the 2022 village collective economy exceeding 300,000 yuan, an increase of 100%. (page 2, line 237-241)

 

Comments 5: You Figure 3 (and even more the figures provided further on) looks like a tourist booklet that one can download from the internet. Where is your own scientific analysis?

Response 5: We agree with this comment. Figure 3 will be modified into the status and current situation of Daheping Village in China (including the geographical relationship between natural environment, built environment, transportation, etc.) based on your opinions and those of another reviewer. (page 7, line 243-244)

 

Comments 6. Line 241: “large forested area”. How large is this area? What is its fraction of the entire area? Line 245: “unique river floodplain ecosystem”. Why is it unique?

Response 6: Agreed. First, there is the modification of the original Line 241: Daheping Village has a large area of forest land, about 14 hectares of forest land to bear the function of ecological environment protection area. (page 8, line 265-266) Secondly, the questions in the original Line 241 are answered: The difference between Chinese and English translation is not "unique" but refers to "superior conditions". The original text is revised as follows: The floodplain water ecosystem of Zhixi River in Daheping Village presents superior natural conditions due to its complex water environment and rich habitats of plant and animal communities. Coupled with the cultural heritage of the development history of village water conservancy, the village has extracted its characteristic methods of popular science education, such as camp teaching and wetland exploration, under natural and human conditions. (page 8, line 270-275)

 

Comments 7: Figure 7: Again, where is your own scientific contribution over this figure?

Response 6: Agreed. Considering that the figure in this paper is a little too much and the information expressed in Figure 7 is less, it is deleted.

 

Comments 8: Lines 341/2. You suggest to “encourage villagers to develop a sense ownership and intrinsic motivation”. To justify this claim, here you need at least to provide some figures how many people live in the village? How many tourists visit this village annually? Are they economically self-sufficient, or require some additional state funding?

Response 8: Thank you for pointing this out. Daheping Village has a working age population of about 1,100 people (there are no official statistics on the number of tourists per year) The local government encourages various forms of rural revitalization, including research and education, and therefore provides some additional state funds, but in essence brings certain production and economic benefits to the village. The project is under redevelopment. Therefore, the original text is revised as follows: Daheping Village has a working-age population of about 1,100 people, and the Communist Youth League Heshan District Committee and other departments and units will provide guidance and financial support. The people and the government worked together to empower Daheping Village. (page 12, line 367-370)

 

Comments 9: Lines 384/5: You claim that “compared to Western countries, the current level of educational tours in China still lags behind”. I personally believe that it’s true. But if you make such claim, you need to justify it with the numbers.

Response 9: Thank you for pointing this out. First of all, Western research education has formed a complete system, with specialized research schools and legal support, and China's research education market is still in the development stage in this part. Secondly, the market size of China's study tour industry will be 146.9 billion yuan in 2023, and the global study tour market will be about 41.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. (page 13, line 413-414)

 

Comments 10: Finally, to better connect your study to the general context, in the end of the first paragraph on page 12 (line 377), I would suggest adding the following:

“In addition, by providing additional knowledge and motivation to primary and secondary students, high-quality educational tours may enhance the students’ acquisition of the general human capital that is broadly shown to be a key factor for modern economic growth (Azarnert, 2010; 2016).”

 References: Azarnert, L.V. (2010) Free education, fertility and human capital accumulation. Journal of Population Economics 23(2), 449–468. Azarnert, L.V. (2016) Transportation costs and the Great Divergence. Macroeconomic Dynamics 20(1), 214–228.

Response 10: Thanks for your help, this content has been added to the article. (page 12, line 404-407)

 

Comments 11: Comments on the Quality of English Language. Moderate editing.

Response 11: Thank you for pointing this out. We have edited the English text again.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have worked hard to address my concerns, and I am satisfied with their responses.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

More copy-editing is needed before publication. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Now I'm saticefied and recommend acceptance.