Genom att koppla på digitala tjänster kan besöksmål ge besökarna en starkare upplevelse – men vägen dit kan vara snårig. Nu har ett forskningsprojekt på Karlstads universitet i samarbete med en rad aktörer tagit fram digitala prototyper för två värmländska besöksmål.

I maj 2018 avslutades ett av Karlstads universitets forsknings- och utvecklingsprojekt om digitalisering inom besöksnäringen. Under det senaste 1,5 året har Lotta Braunerhielm, Laila Gibson och Linda Ryan Bengtsson från forskningsmiljön Geomedia, arbetat med projekt kring interaktiva platsförankrade upplevelser. Två besöksmål - Vildmark i Värmland och Långbans Gruvby har varit först ut att fungera som testbäddar.

”Kombinationen av våra olika perspektiv och metoder har varit jättebra och inneburit att vi varit tvungna att gå in varandras världar och skapat en annan förståelse”, säger Lotta Braunerhielm. ”Efter en lång process där lärande, nya perspektiv och att skapa nya insikter längs vägen varit i fokus, har vi landat i flera konkreta resultat.”

Flera olika aktörer har deltagit i utvecklings- och innovationsprocessen: offentliga aktörer, entreprenörer, forskare, IT-företag, lokalbefolkning, besökare och säsongs-anställda. Resultatet: Långbans Gruvby och Vildmark i Värmland har fått varsin prototyp i form av en konceptskiss för hur digitalisering kan förhöja upplevelsen av besöket.

”Vi har vävt in det vi är så bra på i Värmland, historieberättandet, med kunskap om platser, både i nutid och dåtid, tillsammans med vår kultur och vårt naturlandskap”, fortsätter Laila Gibson. ”Vi är bra på besöksnäring i Värmland, på historieberättande och på digital utveckling. Nu har vi slagit ihop det här och dragit igång en ny innovativ utveckling i Värmland. Det här är historieberättande men på ett nytt sätt.”

Denna rapport sammanfattar de viktigaste lärdomarna från forskningsprojektet ”Från avfallshantering till avfallsförebyggande”. I forskningsprojektet har forskare från Lunds universitet och Göteborgs universitet, men också Umeå Universitet och Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, studerat avfallsförebyggande.<br/><br/>Syftet med projektet har varit att identifiera och förklara svårigheterna med att förverkliga de avfallsförebyggandepolitiska målen. Forskarna har närmat sig projektets syfte genom innehållsanalys av avfallsplaner, kvantitativa och kvalitativa studier av avfallsförebyggandeinitiativ, teoretisk kritik av stadsplanering, och kartläggning av hinder för avfallsförebyggande.<br/><br/>Projektet har bedrivits i tät samverkan med kommuner, kommunala avfallsbolag, myndigheter, sociala rörelser och företag. Det har finansierats av forskningsrådet Formas (Dnr 259-2013-210).<br/><br/>På projektets webbplats www.ism.lu.se/mtp redogörs i detalj för projektet, till exempel de workshopar som har organiserats inom projektets ram.

This report summarises the most important lessons learned from the research project From waste management to waste prevention. In the research project, researchers from Lund University and the University of Gothenburg, but also Umeå University and the Royal Institute of Technology, have studied waste prevention.<br/>The aim of the project has been to identify and clarify the difficulties in realising the goals of waste prevention policy. Researchers have approached the project’s purpose through content analysis of waste plans, quantitative and qualitative studies of waste prevention initiatives, criticism of urban planning theory, and<br/>the mapping of obstacles to waste prevention.<br/><br/>The project has been conducted in close cooperation with municipalities, municipal waste companies, authorities, social movements and companies. It has been financed by the Research Council Formas (Ref. no. 259-2013-<br/>210).

Similar to other northern peripheries, remote, and sparsely populated areas (SPAs) in Sweden's far north have been confronted with decreasing populations and economic stagnation, forcing local governments to more actively engage in strategies for attracting and retaining populations. This exploratory community case study considers rural place-marketing efforts in the municipalities of angstrom sele and Storuman, with a particular focus on understanding differing local strategies for attracting consumption-driven movers to "amenity-poor" and "amenity-rich" areas. The case study examines two research questions: what target groups do these municipalities envisage as desired new populations; and to what extent, and how, do they engage in rural place-marketing efforts? Our study reveals that the municipal officials' views on rural place-marketing strategies differ considerably, as angstrom sele participates in Europe's largest emigration expo while Storuman draws on its increasing tourism development to attract seasonal residents and returning young adults in the family-building stage of the life course. The findings further illustrate how production and performance aspects of mobility are essential when studying the socio-economic sustainability of everyday life in sparsely populated northern Swedish municipalities at different geographical places and levels.

In affluent societies, an active choice of lifestyle is increasingly becoming an option. With increased possibilities for mobility, opportunities to lead a good life can be accessed across global space. However, lifestyle management is largely directed and constrained by structural frameworks, and movers have to allocate resources and experience in order to manoeuvre structures and make optimal lifestyle choices. This paper explores how residential mobility may be used as a resource to gain access to opportunities. Based on thematic analysis of in-depth interviews, this is performed by exploring the experiences of Swedish lifestyle movers in Malta, in their tailoring of mobility practices that allow them to enjoy opportunities for the good life in both countries. The research questions that have guided this study are as follows: (a) What does the good life comprise? (b) How are structural frameworks surrounding opportunities for lifestyle management perceived by movers? and (c) In what ways do movers actively tailor their mobility practices to achieve the good life? The results show that movers are highly engaged in tailoring their access to opportunities through place fixity, such as permanent residency and social integration, and through routinised and timed mobility practices.

This paper analyses how the “alpha male” of the tourism academy tribe is imagined in celebratory contexts. The tradition is interesting from a gender perspective, in that the majority of celebratory portraits found in tourism research journals are those of male scholars. Whether this is regarded as a coincidence or a consequence of the resilience of a glass ceiling, it is interesting to investigate how these “alpha males” and their academic lifeworks are described, characterized, and presented. The paper contains a quantitative description and qualitative analysis of the portraits published in Anatolia. In particular, we apply philosopher Stephen Pepper’s root metaphors of formism, organicism, mechanism, contextualism to examine how tourism research work in the world is imagined.

The fast pace of technical development within the tourism industry creates a gap between technology and the knowledge. While the technique tends to steer the development, the digitalization within the industry increases rapidly with lack of reflection of how different actors from the industry is included. The tourism industry has primarily concentrated on certain aspects of digitalization, such as marketing and e-commerce. The intention with this paper is therefore to fill an identified gap of knowledge about methods for enhancing visitors’ on site-experiences using digital media, where key actors in the local tourism industry and community are included. By launching the Geomedia approach within the research field in tourism studies, we are building a bridge between technology and people and connecting media with a place-based perspective. By using the so called Geomedia perspective, we focus on ‘who can communicate what at different places?’ What is represented at places and ‘whose’ places are represented (today and in the past)?

This paper focuses on an ongoing research project, where the purpose is to develop a method for site specific digital media productions. Taking our starting point in two specific tourist sites, one nature-based site and one cultural heritage site, we use the historical geography in a coordinated innovation process. We have been drawing on knowledge from various agents such as researchers, digital design developers, the public sector, tourism business and users (visitors / locals). The Geomedia perspective has thus inspired us in developing a place-based method, which will be discussed in this paper. 

The fast pace of technical development within the tourism industry creates a gap between technology and the resources and knowledge of many small business owners. By launching the Geomedia approach within the research field in tourism studies, we are building a bridge between technology and people and connecting media with a place-based perspective. This also influences our method.

In this paper we present a pilot study as part of an ongoing research project, where the purpose is to develop a method for site specific digital media productions. Taking our starting point in two specific tourist sites, one nature-based site and one cultural heritage site, we use the historical geography in a coordinated innovation process. We have been drawing on knowledge from various agents such as researchers, digital developers, the public sector, tourism business and users (visitors / locals). In this paper we will discuss the development of a place-based method.

The fast pace of technical development within the tourism industry creates a gap between technology and the resources and knowledge of many small business owners. By launching the Geomedia approach within the research field in tourism studies, we are building a bridge between technology and people and connecting media with a place-based perspective. This also influences our method.

In this paper we present a pilot study as part of an ongoing research project, where the purpose is to develop a method for site specific digital media productions. Taking our starting point in two specific tourist sites, one nature-based site and one cultural heritage site, we use the historical geography in a coordinated innovation process. We have been drawing on knowledge from various agents such as researchers, digital developers, the public sector, tourism business and users (visitors / locals). In this paper we will discuss the development of a place-based method.

There is a growing demand for pilgrimage, which in turn seems to be linked to the change in content and performance that the practice of pilgrimage is undergoing. This paper examines the emergence of Fisterra as a “new” end destination for the pilgrims. The aim of this study is to shed light on and create understanding of the destination Fisterra and the meaning of the place and the role it plays for the pilgrims. Empirically, the study is partly based on statistics and official documents and partly on interviews with pilgrims at Fisterra. The study concludes that contemporary Fisterra as the end of the journey should be perceived as an effect of the post-secular trend in Europe as well as a response to the fact that the historical goal of Santiago de Compostela is increasing

Current debates on and theorizations of (post)secularism lack sustained discussions of the role of pilgrimage tourism, spiritual journeys and sacred places. This article is a theoretically informed and empirically based study that explores contemporary pilgrimage tourism as an arena where ‘post-secular’ praxis and discourse fuse. It identifies the multiple ways in which the ‘post-secular’ is performed through pilgrimage tourism, viz. construction of identities, journeys of becoming and performativity as instances of mobile place making. Contemporary pilgrimage tourism to Santiago de Compostela is polyvalent. Pilgrimages cannot be read off as unambiguously religious, secular or post-secular. Pilgrimage tourism spaces are open-ended such that place identity and meaning are being continuously reworked.

If you’re looking for a book about the experience and adventure industry, a manual in designing authentic places, tips on how to market an attractive destination, or a guide for event fixers, then you’ve picked up the wrong book. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for critical depictions of the grip that tourism has on our existence, you have come to the right place.

Privileged Mobilities contributes to a growing school of critical studies of tourism. Mobility is about power and space. In this anthology, a series of questions are raised regarding privileged mobiles –who travels, where and whence, and why – not least from the standpoint of class, gender, ethnicity and citizenship. The authors portray tourism as a force of re- and de-terrritorialization: tourism conquers, re-encodes and exploits everything from sea bottom to outer space: places, cultures, histories and life sequences.

To paraphrase Guy Debord, tourism “is the mode of appropriation of the natural and human environment by capitalism, which true to its logical development toward absolute domination, can (and now must) refashion the totality of space into its own decor.” In a touristified world, we all become tourists and are fostered to see, experience and act accordingly - whether we want to or not. The tourist emerges as the ideal subject: an a-political being, steeped in experience, adventure and enjoyment. 

Närheten till Norge skapar specifika förutsättningar i en region som Värmland. Närheten anses på regional strategisk nivå generera tillväxt, dvs skapa möjligheter. Vi har i tidigare forskning identifierat möjligheter men även utmaningar som exempelvis gränshinder som skapar svårigheter för invånare och företagare. I detta kapitel skall vi fokusera på närheten till Norge och på värmlänningarnas syn på denna närhet till broderlandet. I relation till detta analyserar vi hur medborgarna upplever sin boendemiljö, service på orten och allmänt sett hur bra de tycker att det är att bo där de bor. Vi ställer oss frågan hur nöjda medborgarna är med livet och relaterar det till landsbygdsperspektiv kontra stad. I kapitlet gör vi jämförelser mellan medborgarna i Värmland och boende i västra Värmland, det vill säga gränskommunerna Årjäng, Torsby, Eda och Arvika. Syftet med det är att jämföra de olika medborgargrupperna, alltså boende i gränsregionen kontra boende i övriga kommuner i Värmland, mot en tydlig strategi mot Norge. Frågan är om, och i så fall hur, Norge har betydelse för värmlänningarna? 

Utifrån ett regionalt perspektiv är strategier kring regional tillväxt genom exempelvis smart specialisering och satsningar på kluster centrala. I med- borgarundersökningen från 2014 lyfter vi fram de vardagsnära frågorna som är centrala för värmlänningen. I detta kapitel belyses därför jämförelsen mellan medborgarnas perspektiv på vad som är viktigt för den framtida utvecklingen med regional strategiska perspektiv på framtida utveckling och med ett specifikt fokus på besöksnäringen, ett område som nyligen tagit plats i de framtida strategierna.

År 2014 tog Region Värmland fram en ny strategi för regionens tillväxt. Här framgår att Värmlandsstrategin är hela Värmlands strategi. Det är en plan för hur Värmland ska vara och uppfattas år 2020. Visionen för år 2020 är Värmland – ett skönare liv, ett Värmland som ska vara en hållbar, attraktiv region där människor vill bo och utvecklas och där företag vill expandera och etablera sig. Värmlandsstrategin syftar till att peka ut vad som ska göras. I jämförelse med ovanifrån perspektivet, och vad den regionala tillväxtstrategin säger om vägen till målet 2020, lyfts medborgarnas perspektiv på den framtida utvecklingen fram i SOM-undersökningen. Utifrån medborgarperspektivet i Värmland lyfts framförallt de traditionella näringarna fram och de vardagsnära frågorna. Det intressanta är att jämföra medborgarnas perspektiv med ovanifrånperspektivet och vad man konkret tar avstamp utifrån när det gäller strategin för Värmlands framtida utveckling. I detta kapitel lyfts de regionala strategiska perspektiven på Värmlands framtida utveckling i relation till medborgarnas syn på den framtida utvecklingen. En djupdykning görs i ett område som nyligen fått ta plats i de framtida strategierna, nämligen besöksnäringen. Syftet med kapitlet är att belysa värmlänningarnas uppfattning om verksamheter som är centrala för den framtida utvecklingen. Vidare är syftet att göra en djupdykning i medborgarnas syn på besöksnäringen i relation till strategiska satsningar som sker på regional och lokal nivå. 

This thesis takes its starting-point in the post-secular changes in society and how these interplay with tourism. In spite of the intensive academic debate on and theorisation of the post-secular and post-secularism, the role of tourism in this change, called the return of religion, has not been studied. Conversely, neither has the role of post-secularism in tourism been addressed. The overall aim of this thesis is to describe and understand the relation between post-secularism and tourism. Specifically, the aim is to clarify and understand the relation between religious faith, place and tourism in our time on the basis of a case study of pilgrimage in the area of Santiago de Compostela. In other words, the thesis highlights the role of tourism in the emergence of what is now called the post-secular condition.

Santiago de Compostela is a Catholic Church instituted holy city, which has increase in number of visitors. The growing number of pilgrimages and their significance lend vitality to the return of religion phenomenon. The empirical material derives primarily from individual interviews as narratives are considered to be a vital dimension to constitute and construct human realities and modes of being.

This thesis shows that contemporary pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela is a post-secular performative and place-creating phenomenon. Post-secular tourist places are subjective and spiritually meaningful destinations. Unlike traditional pilgrimage destinations a key attribute is that neither traditional religious faith nor loyalty to institutionalised faith are (pre)ordained. Rather, place is constructed by the narratives and experiences of post-secular tourists.

Nyligen presenterade Universitetskanslerämbetet en rapport (2015) som visar på att det alltjämt råder stora skillnader mellan olika län och mellan olika kommuner i landet avseende ungdomars benägenhet att påbörja högskolestudier. Syftet med föreliggande artikel är därför att sätta ljuset på det svenska utbildningslandskapets regionala strukturer utifrån ett utvecklingsperspektiv,med referens till de tre ovannämnda rapporterna som belyser utbildningssituationen från 1980-och 1990-talet. Synen på kunskap och utveckling utifrån ett regionalt perspektiv är således ännu idag ett angeläget område att fokusera, även om vi kan konstatera att intresset bland ungdomarna att skaffa sig en högre utbildning relativt sett ökat. Vi kan samtidigt konstatera att de regionala skillnaderna i många avseenden ännu kvarstår. Mina empiriska exempel är hämtade från Värmland då de tidigare studier genomfördes där och därmed kan en jämförelse övertid ske. Problematiken som här belyses ärdock inte unik för Värmland utan har en relevans i många regioner i landet.

Healthy living environments and housing conditions are important foci of Nordic health and welfare policies. However, policies and research on living conditions have mostly explored people’s permanent living environments, adhering to thinking about health in terms of fixity in place. What has not been acknowledged is that a considerable amount of Nordic people live in a continuous interaction of more than one place of dwelling. An illustrative example of the significance of mobile lifestyles is the use of second homes. Second home tourism is usually assumed to increase health and well-being. However, research on well-being and the health effects of second home tourism has been limited. In this paper we propose a research framework to approach second homes and well-being by identifying place and mobility as the key aspects in comprehending the relationship between health, wellbeing and second homes. Furthermore, we argue that the mobile lifestyles considerably challenge existing regulatory frameworks and provision of services as multi-local living is not systematically accounted for. Failing to acknowledge mobile lifestyles and multiple dwelling will degrade possibilities to respond to the current and long-term challenges of the distribution of health and welfare.

In recent decades, mobility researchers have paid increasing attention to the flows of relatively privileged individuals whose mobility practices are largely understood to be lifestyle-motivated, consumption-led and tourism-induced (e.g. Benson, M., &amp; O’Reilly, K. (Eds.). (2009). Lifestyle migration: Expectations, aspirations and experiences. Surrey: Ashgate; King, R., Warnes, A. M., &amp; Williams, A. M. (2000). Sunset lives: British retirement migration to the Mediterranean. Oxford: Berg). Situated within the context of lifestyle mobilities, this paper aims to analyse the significance of place and representations of place in the movers’ stories of mobility. The mobility experiences of Swedish retirees practicing routinised and seasonal mobility between Sweden and Malta have been analysed, and this paper explores how they actively give meaning to their choices and decisions. In their narratives, the movers express their representations of themselves in relation not only to their imaginings of places and to their belongings to and engagements with these places, but also to their mobility practices. The findings contribute to a discussion of how place imaginaries and self-identities are constructed through lifestyle mobility practices.

This paper describes the changing everyday life mobility of an older couple living in a suburb in Sweden. The methods used are longitudinal interviews and time-geographical diaries. The results show a pronounced dependence on car use. Representations of suburbia – as places of freedom, independence and mobility enabled by private cars – devolve into a harsh reality, i.e. disabling lock-in effects for people gradually losing locomotion, and experiencing diminishing mobility capital and social intercourse. From a time-geographical perspective, capability constraints unfold in the form of time-demanding basic needs and limited access to different modes of transport due to deteriorating health and location of residence. Increased neighbourhood barriers and authority constraints also imply restricted access to different spaces and reduced control over one’s life situation.

This study focuses on Seved, a segregated and socioeconomically “poor” neighborhood in the city of Malmö in Sweden. It has attracted wide media coverage, a possible consequence of which is its increased stigmatization. The wide disparity between perceived or imagined fear and the actual incidence of, or exposure to, violence attests to the important role of the media in shaping mental maps and place images. Critical discourse analysis of daily newspaper articles shows that Seved is predominantly construed as unruly and a place of lawlessness. Mobility comprises an important aspect of the stigmatization of places, the politics of fear, and discourses of the “other.” In turn, place stigmatization, discourses of the other, and the politics of fear directly and indirectly affect mobility strategies of individuals and groups.

The mobility to second homes, sometimes referred to as residential tourism, can be conceptually framed within the emerging concept of lifestyle mobilities. Although related, it differs from tourism in that it refers to relatively permanent movement which entails the intention and material efforts to create a home and a living in the destination context. Tourism mobility is facilitated by agents offering services and products enabling experiences of novelty, difference, authenticity, quality of life and the like. Lifestyle mobilities in many ways taps into this production system but also include products and services related to housing, furbishing and to making a living in place. On an international level the production system is further complicated. In migration studies, the concept of a migration industry refers to the amalgam of agents making a profit out of catering to the needs of migrants. This study is a joint reflection on the production dimension of lifestyle mobilities in the European context. We explore the agents brokering lifestyle for Swedes in Malta; Swedish rural municipalities’ place marketing in the Netherlands; and the role of lifestyle media in the Algarve, Portugal. We aim to answer the question: “how (if at all) could the concept of a migration industry be applied to lifestyle mobilities?”.