In this thesis I analyse sustainable development by researching tourism in a biosphere reserve. Sustainable development is based on a broad range of environmental, economic and social elements, bound together by the fact that development is limited by boundaries in the environment. Studies on tourism have the potential to contribute to sustainable development by changing environmental awareness, by promoting a way of life that reduces environmental impact, and by suggesting sustainable lifestyle changes. It is this aspect of sustainable development that I have addressed, as a contribution to the knowledge base, via the example of tourism development in biosphere reserves. Exploring the complex interaction between sustainable development and tourism in a biosphere reserve provides the added value of a case study in which sustainable development is central and actively promoted, as biosphere reserves are meant to be learning sites for sustainability. By incorporating and highlighting a theoretical foundation, consisting of relational place, substantive landscape and sustainable development, this study included analysis of a selection of concrete tourism-related features, activities and actors, all of which influence sustainable development. Consequently, the main research question of this study was: How is tourism mobilised by different actors to attain and promote sustainable development in a biosphere reserve?

This thesis shows that that sustainable development is a spatial relation, and something that we make together with other people, and that tourism, under certain circumstances, has the potential to contribute to sustainable development. My research on the mobilisation of tourism for sustainability in biosphere reserves in general, and Lake Vänern Archipelago Biosphere Reserve in particular, has highlighted several theoretical and empirical findings that contribute to our increased understanding of how sustainable development works.

Contemporary society has gone through comprehensive changes over the last century, and now faces growing global problems and crises, including increased globalisation and mobility, the exploitation of nature and people, growing environmental problems and climate change. These problems have brought about discussions on sustainable development as an expression of how to begin tackling some of the large-scale problems originating from modern society.

One way to counter the societal problems of implementing sustainable development was initiated by UNESCO in establishing biosphere reserves. These reserves are meant to be learning sites for sustainable development, and often include tourism as a means of becoming more sustainable. Tourism is an expression of how society operates, and therefore problems in society, such as a lack of sustainability, are reflected in, and amplified by, tourism.

The aim of this study was to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of sustainable development by researching tourism in a biosphere reserve. Findings suggest that sustainable development is a spatial relation, and something that we make together with other people, and that tourism, under certain circumstances, has the potential to contribute to sustainable development.