NS34 Session 6

 

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Title: Place design – for responsible development

Organisers: Laila Gibson, Lotta Braunerhielm and Pernille Kristensen Andersson

Affiliation: Karlstad University

 

Description

In this session, we aim to exchange knowledge from research focusing on places, and how they can develop both as attractive tourism destinations and thriving local communities. Rural areas today host an increasingly diverse mix of people—tourists, hybridworkers, seasonal staff, second homeowners, digital nomads, students, visiting friends and relatives, and volunteers. As boundaries between visitors and residents blur, new opportunities and challenges emerge. Tourism is no longer solely about attracting visitors; it plays a growing role in drawing new residents, skills, entrepreneurship and innovation to rural regions. The research perspective in this session is formed around the notion of responsible development of places. In other words, a necessary transformation of places that benefits and involve both the tourism industry and other groups of local stakeholders.  

We will discuss how place-based and participatory approaches can support this transformation. By working bottomup and involving multiple local stakeholders, it becomes possible to recognise and mobilise a place’s material and immaterial resources and integrate them with digital and organisational innovations. When local actors contribute to defining challenges, formulating visions and co-creating solutions, the process itself can strengthen social cohesion, confidence and local ownership. Building socially sustainable communities is in the interest of both the tourism businesses as well as other local stakeholders, as these actors often are mutually dependent on each other. 

The session also reflects on the role of researchers in these processes. Rather than standing outside as observers, researchers increasingly act as facilitators and methodological guides, supporting dialogue, bridging perspectives and identifying needs and possibilities. This raises important methodological and ethical considerations regarding power, responsibility and the co-production of knowledge in place development.   

 

We invite researchers to this session to discuss for example: 

  • Responsible local destination and community development  
  • Sustainable transformation of tourism destinations 
  • Inclusive and collaborative research methods 

 

Abstracts

Title: Destination Design of Film Tourism Location
Author: Marit Piirman, University of Tartu

The impact of films and TV series can be significant on the destination’s attractiveness; however, film tourism is not a universal phenomenon that works the same way in every context. Its success depends on the characteristics of different stakeholders. Destination design will consider all stakeholders, the needs of guests and residents to co-create destination experience (Volgger et al., 2021) but also involving representatives of local government and filmmakers, therefore is a suitable concept to investigate film tourism related issues.

Järva-Jaani is a small town in the middle of Estonia where several TV-shows have been filmed. The local museums contain a wide collection of old cinema equipment. So, the local activists have an idea to develop destination called Järvawood (like Hollywood, Bollywood) that would offer different film tourism services to both TV-show makers and show-lovers. As a first step university students were involved during the Design and Development of Tourism Services course to use service design tools to develop film tourism services for Järvawood. Used tools involved study trip, observation, interviews with stakeholders and experts, persona creation, customer journey mapping, prototyping, piloting the solutions, etc. Design projects resulted in the creation of the series-related festivals, tourism routes, apps and audio guides but also a solution on how to use TV series narratives to attract people to temporarily move to rural areas with the purpose of experiencing rural life while keeping life in old farmhouses that otherwise would dilapidate and become derelict.

 

Title: Citizen Engagement in Sustainable Rural Mobility Transition: Insights from Geographical Transition Lab Sälenfjällen, Sweden
Author: Beatrice Waleghwa, Dalarna University

Despite being highlighted as a prerequisite for sustainability transitions, stakeholder engagement remains peripheral to research on transitions. Specifically, the question of how to engage key stakeholders, such as citizens, remains underexplored despite their apparent relevance. This paper addresses this gap by investigating how citizens can be involved in sustainable mobility transition using the case study of the newly established Geographical transition Lab Sälenfjällen, Sweden. The Lab is part of Shift Sweden’s national program for developing innovative solutions for sustainable living environments. Research within the Lab focusses on the built environment and mobility sub-systems with the ambition of demonstrating how a fossil free and resource conscious transition can be achieved in a rural mountain context. This paper focuses on the mobility sub-system component. Methodologically, Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) constitute a central component of this study. PPGIS is employed to gather citizens place based perceptions on mobility and their aspirations for a sustainable mobility future. Previous research has highlighted the need for more innovative methods to facilitate citizen engagement in sustainability transition. Consequently, the paper concludes with a discussion on the opportunities and challenges of PPGIS for citizen engagement and sustainable mobility transitions, drawing on insights from this study, transitions literature and sustainable mobility literature.

 

Title: Impacts of Nature-Based Tourism in Arctic & Subarctic Islands; Faroe Islands, Finland's Archipelago Sea, Iceland, and Shetland Islands
Author: Maureen Whalen, University of the Highlands and Islands Shetland, Institute for Northern Studies

Recent growth in nature-based tourism, including cruise tourism, coupled with an awareness of its increasing impacts on Arctic and Subarctic island environments and communities highlight the need for local communities’ voices and vision for tourism development in their place to be listened to, respected, and valued leading to a more sustainable and equitable approach.

My research aims to explore the complex relationships between local community groups and businesses, governmental entities, tourism providers, science entities and tourists themselves in Arctic and Subarctic Islands. With a focus on rural and coastal destinations in Faroe Islands, Iceland, Shetland Islands, and Svalbard. I’m interested in the tensions between societal and economic benefits from nature-based tourism and associated pressures on culture/infrastructure/natural resources.

How islands 'present' themselves online as places for nature-based tourism will be considered and any cross-cutting relationships identified. These cross-cutting relationships will be explored further using Participatory Action Research and Critical Utopian Action Research to engage with individuals and relevant organisations’ representatives. Both methodologies prioritise the active involvement of people with lived experiences and expertise as co-researchers to identify key issues, perspectives, and envision desired future(s) reality(ies). Online surveys followed by in-person interviews/workshops/focus groups will be used to elicit a more nuanced understanding.

By listening to stakeholders and mapping these complex relationships, I hope this research will lead to a deeper understanding of the pressures, benefits, and potential futures going beyond ‘extractive’ tourism towards community-led sustainable/regenerative tourism.

 

Title: Creating a Sustainable Rural Ecosystem for Place Development
Author: Laila Gibson, Department of Geography, Media and Communication, Karlstad University

Rural areas in both Sweden and the Nordic countries are often characterised by seasonal tourism, recruitment difficulties, skill shortages, and declining populations. These challenges align with key factors identified as barriers to rural development, such as uneven distribution of economic resources, urbanisation, skills shortages, and a partial lack of viable rural areas.

Building on these identified challenges and previous research, this presentation is based on our current research project, ‘Place design – the way to sustainable rural ecosystem’ (PDE). The project involves interdisciplinary and applied research on tourism, geomedia, and service ecosystems, contributing to the renewal of sustainable rural ecosystems. This, in turn, supports the economic and social sustainability of vibrant rural businesses and communities. Using a place-based and participatory approach, we engage tourism businesses, manufacturing industries, and the public sector in the western and northern parts of Värmland County, Sweden.

By involving local business stakeholders, civil society, and the public sector in cross-collaboration, we introduce a new way of thinking and working to develop ecosystems—networks of actors that enable common solutions to the identified challenges. Our presentation will include results from the first year of this project, based on needs and resource inventories and interviews with local ecosystem stakeholders. This vital knowledge will inform the next phase of the project, where we collectively explore how manufacturing industries and tourism businesses can serve as resources for each other, thereby creating synergies and boosting competitiveness for local businesses and increasing the attractiveness of rural areas.