2008. Contested Construction of Nature for City Fringe Outdoor Recreation in Southern Sweden: The Arrie Case. Journal of Urban Forestry and Urban Greening nr 7 171-182.

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2019

Although the nature/culture dichotomy has been extensively criticized by scholars, it remains pervasive to our conception of the world. Discourses of nature as a pristine milieu and of culture as a realm of human dominance not only impact cognition, but also the local practices of those involved daily in such contested areas. In this study of the mountainous area of the Jämtland County, Sweden, we report on the ways local stakeholders make sense of their surrounding landscape in the wake of its magnificent character as they go about their daily lives as residents, entrepreneurs and recreationists. We turn to the notion of dwelling to frame these narratives. This ultimately becomes an exploration of the contradictions and confusions within and between the discourses of conservation, management, recreation, authenticity and tourism development that affect how local stakeholders consciously and subconsciously cope with the tensions brought about by the nature/culture dichotomy. The fin...

Sport in Society

Technical Transactions, 2017

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Finland has been a ground for experiments in the field of the housing environment. A low population density, as well as the unique natural and landscape values of the country have led to a clear trend of respect for nature in its architectural tradition. The paper, based on the theory of the Modern Movement – represented by, among others, Alvar Aalto, as well as on the tenets of Finnish the garden city of Tapiola – provides a characteristic of the role of natural elements in the composition of urban recreational spaces. The paper also discusses the structure of modern building complexes on the basis of the latest residential districts of Helsinki – as well as other cities of southern Finland, focusing on the compositional and functional role played by elements of nature within recreational spaces of a place of residence.

2013

s (approximately 400 from over 30 countries) from the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management (ISSRM) held in Östersund (Fredman & Heberlein, 2005); a visitor monitoring manual for practitioners carried out for the National Board of Forestry (Lindhagen & Ahlström, 2005); and a book to be published by CABI based upon proceedings from the International Conference on "Perspectives on Tourism in Nordic and Other Peripheral Areas" in Umeå (Jansson & Müller, 2007). Having noted these seminal works, and in the interest of space, we avoid citing this literature in the remainder of the application. It is important to include multiple perspectives and approaches in the program while carrying out good research based on explicit theoretical contexts. This means that the theoretical approach of the entire program must be somewhat eclectic (Hall, 1981). We believe that a sound empirical basis emanating from an understanding of the practical workings of outdoor recreat...

1993

Sweden is a country with a lot of tourism that is dependent on nature as a touristic resource. Nature itself is a complex concept with different interpretations. In this thesis, the social construction of the Swedish nature as a touristic attraction is scrutinized. A total of 671 visual images with belonging descriptive texts has been collected from an online image bank where information about Sweden is available for foreign marketers. The material was analysed in order to answer questions about how the Swedish nature and the touristic approach to it are presented, how nature features are assigned to it and how the relationship between nature and humans is presented. The composition and portraiture of the images and prominent themes and patterns in the textual descriptions have been identified as well. The theoretical framework is based on discourse theory, while the methodological framework is based on inspiration from both discourse analysis and content analysis. The result revealed that Swedish nature is presented as part of the rural Sweden with mountains, forests and littoral areas as the main elements. Swedish nature is foremost portrayed as wild and authentic, but also as sublime and pristine to a lesser extent. It is also portrayed as a place for touristic activities with a focus on the outdoors and physical activity. The relation between nature and humans differ, but the Swedish people are portrayed as more connected to nature than tourists. Keywords: Nature - culture relations, Sweden, Text analysis, Tourism, Visual analysis.

This paper investigates how outdoor recreation demand is reflected in the commercial tourism supply. This exploratory study brings together the demand and the supply perspectives as well as the domestic and international dimensions of outdoor recreation. The data is collected through a nationwide survey among nature-based tourism providers, catering to both domestic and international markets in Sweden. Four major data-driven avenues of commercializing outdoor recreation are discussed: Winter/Nordic, Summer/Active, Summer/Relaxing and Extractive. The findings offer a new insight into the patters of the commercial supply of nature-based tourism in Sweden, while also building on the previous research and history of outdoor recreation. Evident commercial importance and domestic popularity of such ordinary outdoor activities as cycling on roads, swimming, jogging, picnicking or hiking outside mountain areas are linked to changes in leisure and lifestyles noticed previously. Commercialization of outdoor recreation, a snapshot of which is presented in this study, is discussed as an ever-expanding and diversifying process, observed both in Sweden and globally.

2015

Abstract: Research on Danish forest recreation reaches back to the mid-seventies. Two major surveys have been conducted: The Forest and Folk in 1975 and the Outdoor Life ’95-‘98 project. The latter was, in terms of overall objective and chosen methodology, a repetition of the first. Both surveys aimed at collection of base-line information about the recreational life and preferences of Danes and the pattern of use in the Danish nature. Both used a combination of household questionnaires – combined with verbal-statement-cards and photographs – and counting of cars combined with handing out questionnaires at parking-lots in the nature. The present paper presents and discusses the projects and campaigns of the past and looks forward, providing an outline of a future setting of a system for collection of statistical infor-mation regarding recreational use of the nature.

Ekológia (Bratislava)

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) are mainly intangible benefits, obtained by aesthetical and other experiences, recreation, learning and spiritual enrichment, or by the ability to distinguish values. In other words, what makes a service ‘cultural’ is its ‘non-economical’ character. CES are ecosystem services with direct impact on the quality of life in urban systems, and they are directly appreciated by inhabitants and visitors of these urban systems (Plieningeret al., 2013; Zulian et al., 2018). In order to satisfy the needs and expectations of the wider urban community, a ‘broader portfolio of areas’ is needed, which can meet the expectations of different users, from children to older adults. The new methodological approach tested on three model areas in the city of Nitra in the housing estate Chrenová was used to establish the level of benefits provided by existing vegetation areas in urban environment in terms of recreation as a CES. Following data were collected: the quality o...