Upps al a U niver sit y l og ot y pe 21012 Degree project 30 credits May 2021 DESIGN THINKING AND SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY ON THE HUSKY SLEDGING BUSINESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Cristina Demuro M ast er’ s P ro g r a m m e in S u stai n ab l e Desti n ation D evelopm en t jkbn Master’s Programme in Sustainable Destination Development Upps al a U niver sit y l og ot y pe DESIGN THINKING AND SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION: A CASE STUDY ON THE HUSKY SLEDGING BUSINESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Cristina Demuro Abstract Mushers, sledges and husky teams run through Lapland for approximately 5000 years already to move goods, travel and even for military purposes. Nowadays, the mushing tradition has entered the local culture and evolved into a professional vocation for numerous entrepreneurs. Husky sledging companies of different sizes and business cultures meet the increasing touristic demand for sledging rides and safaris in the Finnish wilderness. Husky tours constitute a unique selling point for lots of Arctic destinations because part of the “to-do list” of every tourist exploring the extreme North. Despite the growing interests shown by visitors, the academic world has almost never focused any attention or resources to do research on the husky sledging industry. Since the covid-19 spread also in Lapland, the entire husky sledging business is condemned to face severe consequences and deal with wicked problems. This thesis aims to fill the research gap on the husky safari business and to offer husky tour companies support in mitigating the economic impacts caused by the pandemic outbreak. The investigation is based on the participatory action research realized in collaboration with Bearhill Husky, a dog sledging company operating in Rovaniemi. Design Thinking has been applied as research methodology with the purpose of developing sustainable solutions that could help the company surviving the crisis. The aim is to prove that, under certain conditions, Design Thinking can succeed in this intent and to inspire other kennels to apply this methodology for developing resilience and sustainable innovation. This research looks at what has been destroyed and sees room for growth and progress and teaches that sometimes the problem is our approach towards it. F ac ult y of Sci enc e a nd T ec hnol og y, U pps al a U ni v ersit y. Plac e of p ublicati o n Vi s by . S uperv i s or : E rror e. L' o ri g ine ri f eri men t o n on è st at a t ro vat a., S ubj ect r e ad er : Ul ri k a P ers s on- Fi s c hi er, Exam i n er: A net t e O x ens w är dh Faculty of Science and Technology Uppsala University, Place of publication Visby Subject reader: Ulrika Persson-Fischier Examiner: Anette Oxenswärdh 1 INDEX: 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................4 1.1 CASE BACKGROUND .........................................................................................................4 1.1.1 The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry .................................4 1.1.2 Finnish response to the COVID-19 crisis: restrictions, economic effects and financial aids......................................................................................................................6 1.1.3 Tourism in Finland during COVID times ...............................................................8 1.1.4 The impact of COVID-19 on husky sledging tourism companies in the Finnish Lapland ............................................................................................................................11 1.2 RESEARCH GAP .........................................................................................................13 1.3 AIM OF THE RESEARCH ..................................................................................................15 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION AND FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION ..........................................16 1.5 CONTRIBUTION OF THE RESEARCH TO PRACTICE AND THEORY ..................................17 1.6 SUMMARY STRUCTURE ..................................................................................................18 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK...................................................................................20 2.1 DEVELOPING RESILIENCE DURING CRISES AND EMERGENCIES....................................20 2.1.1 Entrepreneurial resilience......................................................................................21 2.2 WICKED PROBLEMS, SUSTAINABILITY AND CREATIVE THINKING................................27 3. PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON DESIGN SCIENCE IN TOURISM (DST) AND TOURISM EXPERIENCE DESIGN (TED).......................................................................29 3.1 POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS..........................................................................................33 4. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................36 4.1 PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH .............................................................................36 4.1.1 Principles and practices of participatory action research.....................................38 4.2 DESIGN-THINKING .........................................................................................................44 4.3 METHODOLOGY DISCUSSION .........................................................................................48 4.3.1 Design Thinking limitations...................................................................................50 4.3.2 Design thinking applications to the COVID-19 crisis...........................................50 4.4 RESEARCH ETHICS.........................................................................................................52 5. DATA AND RESULTS .....................................................................................................55 2 5.1 DATA COLLECTION: DOUBLE DIAMOND INTERACTION...........................................55 5.1.1 Empathizing with the sledging dog business sector ..............................................55 5.1.2 Empathizing with Bearhill Husky..........................................................................58 5.1.3 Defining problems ..................................................................................................61 5.2 DATA ANALYSIS: INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS ..................65 5.2.1 Ideating solutions....................................................................................................65 5.2.2 Idea to mitigate problem 4: Huskies rehoming campaign ....................................66 5.2.3 Prototyping the solution to the problem 4: promotional video for the huskies rehoming campaign.........................................................................................................69 5.2.4 Testing the solution to the problem 4: promotional video for the huskies rehoming campaign.........................................................................................................70 5.2.5 Idea to mitigate problems 1 and 2: selling eco-bags decorated with husky wool.72 5.2.6 Prototyping the solution to the problem 1 and 2: selling eco-bags decorated with husky wool........................................................................................................................73 5.2.7 Testing the solution to the problem 1 and 2: selling eco-bags decorated with husky wool........................................................................................................................74 5.2.8 Idea to mitigate problems 1 and 2: organizing kids’ birthday parties at the kennel ..........................................................................................................................................76 5.3 ACHIEVED RESULTS ..................................................................................................78 5.3.1 Results achieved through the solution to the problem 4: promotional video for the huskies rehoming campaign .....................................................................................78 5.3.2 Results achieved through the solution to the problem 1 and 2: selling eco-bags decorated with husky wool...............................................................................................79 6. DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS...............................................................................80 6.1 GENERALIZABILITY OF THE RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ..84 7. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................85 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................88 1. BOOKS, JOURNALS AND OFFICIAL REPORTS:...............................................................88 2. ONLINE SOURCES: ........................................................................................................94 3. IMAGES .........................................................................................................................96 3 List of figures Figure 1 – Double Diamond as theorized by the Design Council in 2005 ..............................45 Figure 2 – The Design Thinking process.................................................................................46 Figure 3 – The conceptual map of the interrelated problems ..................................................64 Figure 4 – The