‘Rewilding’ and Tourism Entrepreneurship A practice theory approach in Swedish Lapland Wageningen University and Research Department of Environmental Sciences Cultural Geography Chair Group Master Leisure, Tourism and Environment Course code: GEO-80436 Submission date: December 2017 Name student: Charles van de Kerkhof Registration number: 871129428130 Supervisor: Arjaan Pellis Examiner: Prof. Dr. V.R. René van der Duim ‘Rewilding’ and Tourism Entrepreneurship A practice theory approach in Swedish Lapland Wageningen University and Research Department of Environmental Sciences Cultural Geography Chair Group Master Leisure, Tourism and Environment Course code: GEO-80436 Submission date: December 2017 Name student: Charles van de Kerkhof Registration number: 871129428130 Supervisor: Arjaan Pellis Examiner: Prof. Dr. V.R. René van der Duim 2 Table of Content I. List of figures .................................................................................................... 5 II. Executive summary .......................................................................................... 6 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 7 1.1 General background .......................................................................................... 7 1.1.1 Rewilding Europe ......................................................................................... 7 1.1.2 Nature-based economies ............................................................................. 8 1.1.3 Concept of rewilding .................................................................................... 8 1.1.4 Enterprise opportunities ............................................................................... 9 1.2 Defining the research area .............................................................................. 10 1.3 Practices of Rewilding Lapland ........................................................................ 10 1.4 Tourism enterprises and their practices in Swedish Lapland ........................... 11 1.5 Problem statement ........................................................................................... 11 1.6 Scientific objective and research questions ..................................................... 11 1.7 Relevance of the study .................................................................................... 12 1.8 Outline of the thesis ......................................................................................... 13 2 Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................... 14 2.1 Tourism enterprise development ..................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Characteristics enterprises ........................................................................ 14 2.1.2 Balancing economic, sociocultural and environmental values ................... 15 2.1.3 Entrepreneurship in the context of Rewilding Lapland ............................... 15 2.1.4 Relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainable development ..... 15 2.2 Power Relations and institutionalization .......................................................... 16 2.3 Practice theory ................................................................................................. 18 2.3.1 Generations of practice theorists ............................................................... 19 2.3.2 Practice theory by Shove, Pantzar and Watson ........................................ 19 2.4 Meaning, competences and materials ............................................................. 20 2.5 Practitioners ..................................................................................................... 20 2.6 Practice arrangement bundles ......................................................................... 21 2.7 Zooming in and zooming out ........................................................................... 22 2.8 Development of practices ................................................................................ 22 2.9 Conceptual model ............................................................................................ 23 3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 24 3.1 Data collection ................................................................................................. 24 3.1.1 Qualitative research method ...................................................................... 24 3.1.2 Ethnographic method ................................................................................. 24 3.1.3 Data collection ........................................................................................... 24 3.2 Respondents ................................................................................................... 25 3 3.3 Interview structure ........................................................................................... 25 3.4 Data analysis ................................................................................................... 26 3.5 Limitations ....................................................................................................... 26 4 Results .................................................................................................................. 27 4.1 Tourism enterprise practices ........................................................................... 27 4.1.1 Meanings ................................................................................................... 27 4.1.2 Competences............................................................................................. 35 4.1.3 Materials .................................................................................................... 40 4.2 Rewilding practices .......................................................................................... 51 4.2.1 Meanings ................................................................................................... 51 4.2.2 Competences............................................................................................. 58 4.2.3 Materials .................................................................................................... 60 4.3 Rewilding influence on tourism enterprise practices ........................................ 62 5 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 64 5.1 Practice theory ................................................................................................. 64 5.2 Entrepreneurial challenges .............................................................................. 64 5.2 Land use challenges ........................................................................................ 68 6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 70 6.1 How has nature-based tourism been developed as a practice in Swedish Lapland? ................................................................................................................ 70 6.1.1 Meanings ................................................................................................... 70 6.1.2 Competences............................................................................................. 70 6.1.3 Materials .................................................................................................... 71 6.2 How has rewilding been developed as a practice in Swedish Lapland? ...... 71 6.2.1 Meanings ................................................................................................... 71 6.2.2 Competences............................................................................................. 72 6.2.3 Materials .................................................................................................... 72 6.3 What is the influence of the concept and practice of rewilding on the practices of nature-based tourism enterprises in Swedish Lapland? ..................... 72 6.4 Recommendations ........................................................................................... 73 6.5 Proposals for future research .......................................................................... 73 6.6 Practical application of the results ................................................................... 74 7 References ........................................................................................................... 75 Annex 1 ................................................................................................................. 79 Annex 2 ................................................................................................................. 80 4 I. List of figures Figure 1: Web of institutionalisation 17 Figure 2: The three elements of a practice 20 Figure 3: The conceptual model 23 Figure 4: Material element between six practices 68 Figure 5: Elements of nature-based tourism enterprise in Swedish Lapland 71 Figure 6: Elements of nature-based tourism enterprise in Swedish Lapland 72 5 II. Executive summary Rewilding is a new conservation initiative initiated by Rewilding Europe and has been introduced in nine areas across Europe. This new form of conservation is creating wilder and larger European natural areas, and is therewith creating possibilities for nature-based tourism