Glacier Tourism and Climate Change Adaptation in Iceland

Glacier tourism and climate change adaptation in Iceland

Johannes Welling

Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Iceland 2020

Glacier tourism and climate change adaptation in Iceland

Johannes Welling

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of a Philosophiae Doctor degree in Tourism Studies

PhD Committee Dr. Þorvarður Árnason Professor Rannveig Ólafsdóttir Professor Bruno Abegg

Opponents Prof. Christopher Lemieux, Wilfrid Laurier University Dr. Halvor Dannevig, Western Norway Research Institute

Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences School of Engineering and Natural Sciences University of Iceland Reykjavik, October 2020

Glacier tourism and climate change adaptation in Iceland Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of a Philosophiae Doctor degree in Tourism Studies

Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences School of Engineering and Natural Sciences University of Iceland Askja, Sturlagata 7 102, Reykjavik Iceland

Telephone: 525 4000

Bibliographic information: Johannes Welling, 2020, Glacier tourism and climate change adaptation in Iceland, PhD dissertation, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, University of Iceland, 154 pp.

Author ORCID: 0000-0002-2541-5574

Printing: Háskólaprent ehf. Reykjavik, Iceland, October 2020

Abstract

Climate change constitutes one of the most pressing challenges faced by tourism today. Tourism research on climate-induced environmental changes has contributed to an increase in knowledge about adaptation during the last decade. Despite a general recognition of the urgent need to adapt, as well as a large-scale scientific effort in this field underlining evidence of potential risk, the impacts of adaptation research on practices and policies in tourism appear to be relatively low.

To reduce the gap between adaptation research and practitioner action this thesis aims to increase the understanding of adaptation to climate-induced changes in nature-based tourism, by analyzing the adaptation processes and practices of tourism actors involved in glacier tourism. Glacier tourism is a highly relevant example of a type of tourism which needs to adapt to climate-induced environmental changes. Therefore, this thesis examines: what is the state-of-the-field knowledge concerning relationships among tourism, the glacial environment, and climate change; how do glacier tourism actors adapt to the current and future impacts of climate change; and how can glacier tourism actors’ engagement with science contribute to proactive adaptation.

The research conducted in this thesis uses a combination of two analytical approaches. An actor-oriented approach is employed to investigate tourism actors’ experiences and perceptions of climate change and their adaptation behavior. The other approach draws on transdisciplinary research, involving an active engagement of local stakeholders and scientists to form dialogues to combine knowledge bases, and to verify the social relevance of research on climate change adaptation. An embedded case study design was chosen due to its potential to integrate an actor-oriented approach with transdisciplinary research. The glacier sites of southeast Iceland form the case-study area wherein the adaptation processes of glacier tourism actors were examined. The case study constitutes the setting for the collection of empirical data by means of quantitative methods, such as literature review and visitor surveys, as well as qualitative methods, such as interviews and participatory scenario workshops.

The results reveal a limited but growing body of scholarly work that examines the relationships between tourism, glaciers, and climate change impacts and responses. The existing work lacks however important data concerning the motives, preferences, experiences, and behaviors of actors in glacier tourism in general and specifically in the context of climate change. The results of the analysis of tourism actors’ adaptation practices furthermore show that climate change has already resulted in several impacts on glacier sites and that operators have responded to these implications in the form of a wait- and-see strategy combined with ad-hoc reactive adaptation. On the other hand, the results also show that visitors to glacier sites are more heterogeneous in their responses to future climate change–induced impacts. Furthermore that adaptation processes of glacier tourism actors are shaped by the interaction of actors’ attributes of agency, such as risk perception, concerns, motivations and interests, with structural elements of the glacier destination

iii

systems, such as type of visitation implication, prevailing economic rationale or lack of effective climate change institutions. Lastly, the results stress the development and application of a participatory scenario planning process, as a form of science-practitioner engagement, to be a valuable tool to support the adaptation planning of glacier sites through sharing knowledge, elaborating on long-term changes and associated uncertainties, and exploring proactive adaptation options.

Climate is only one of the drivers of change that determine the development of glacier tourism. It is thus concluded that climate change implications cannot be understood as isolated factors; rather, they should be viewed as constituting interconnected and cumulative effects on socioeconomic and natural environments. Mainstreaming climate change adaptation into current destination planning and management or integrating climate change adaptation with related science fields, such hazard reduction research or sustainability science, would thus provide more promising approaches than studying climate change adaptation in isolation.

Útdráttur

Loftslagsbreytingar eru ein stærsta áskorun sem ferðaþjónusta heimsins stendur frammi fyrir í dag. Síðastliðinn áratug hafa rannsóknir innan ferðamálafræði á breyttum umhverfisaðstæðum vegna loftlagsbreytinga stuðlað að aukningu rannsókna á aðlögum að loftslagsbreytingum. Þrátt fyrir almenna viðurkenningu á þörfinni fyrir aðlögun að breyttum aðstæðum, og umfangsmiklar rannsóknir sem sýna fram á mögulega áhættu sem fylgir slíkum breytingum, virðast áhrif aukinnar þekkingar um aðlögun á starfsemi og stefnu í ferðaþjónustu enn vera tiltölulega lítil.

Með það að leiðarljósi að minnka bilið á milli rannsókna á aðlögun að loftslagsbreytingum og aðgerða ferðaþjónustunnar, leggur þessi doktorsritgerð áherslu á að auka skilning á aðlögun að breyttum umhverfisaðstæðum vegna loftlagsbreytinga í náttúrutengdri ferðaþjónustu, með því að greina aðlögunarferli og starfshætti ferðaþjónustuaðila sem stunda jöklaferðamennsku. Jöklaferðamennska er mjög skýrt dæmi um ferðaþjónustu sem þarf að aðlaga sig að breyttu umhverfi vegna áhrifa loftslagsbreytinga. Meginmarkmið þessarar ritgerðar eru að meta: hver er staða þekkingar á sambandi ferðamennsku, jökulumhverfis og loftslagsbreytinga; hvernig ferðaþjónustuaðilar sem stunda jöklaferðamennsku aðlagist að núverandi og framtíðar áhrifum loftslagsbreytinga; og hvernig tengsl ferðaþjónustuaðila við vísindi geti stuðlað að framvirkri aðlögun.

Rannsóknirnar í þessari doktorsritgerð nota sambland af tveimur greiningaraðferðum. Annars vegar gerendanálgun til að rannsaka reynslu og viðhorf ferðaþjónustuaðila til loftslagsbreytinga sem og aðlögunarhegðun þeirra. Hins vegar aðferð sem byggir á þverfaglegri nálgun sem felur í sér gagnvirka þátttöku hagaðila í héraði og sérfræðinga til að ræða saman og mynda sameiginlegan þekkingargrunn, og til að sannreyna félagslegt mikilvægi rannsókna á aðlögun að loftslagsbreytingum. Til að sam