Arctic cities in workshop on sustainable tourism

Together with Luleå Municipality, the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board held a workshop on joint work for sustainable tourism under the theme “How to go from recommendations to actions in Sustainable Tourism in the Arctic?”. 14 Arctic cities in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Canada, and Alaska, USA have been selected to participate in the Arctic Urban and Regional Cooperation (AURC).

The AURC is a concrete tool for the implementation of the EU Arctic policy adopted in 2021 and focuses on the Arctic regions of the EU.

During the day, the Swedish Lapland Visitors Board presented its work on the Arctic Agenda Care for the Arctic – it’s our home, with its accompanying toolkit. It guides the destination’s main stakeholders – travelers, businesses and enablers – to make active and informed choices, make thoughtful and conscious decisions and take responsibility for a common vision: that Norrbotten should be the world’s most responsible destination.

The Swedish Lapland Visitors Board led a workshop entitled “From policy to agenda” where discussions focused on each stakeholder’s own ability to take responsibility.

The dialog revolved around the questions:

1. How do you see the relevance of a three-dimensional tool that involves the main stakeholders (travelers, industry and facilitators) for sustainable tourism?
2. Could this working model be used in your municipality?
3. Is there interest in modifying and adapting the tool to your destination/site priorities to meet local challenges?
4. Is this something we want to work on together within AURC?

The event was one half of a shared conference between Luleå and Oulu, where participants took part in a two-day program in each city.

A work in progress

The network has previously met in Whitehorse Canada, where Sustainable Tourism was the theme. At a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, young tourism entrepreneurs were invited. Among them was Pontus Frank from Explore Luleå. There they worked out a manifesto: Arctic Policy Hackaton Policy Recommendations.

Gällivare and Luleå are selected to participate in AURC

Cooperating partners support each other through exchanges and cooperation to overcome challenges linked to the Arctic geography. It is an active advocacy effort for the EU to broaden its vision of the Arctic and realize its policies for more sustainable regional development in close dialogue with the people living and working in the European Arctic. From Norrbotten, Gällivare and Luleå municipalities are participating. Read more about it here.

What is AURC?

AURC – an exchange tool for cities in the Arctic. The approach is based on bringing together Arctic networks, local representatives from the selected cities, and key stakeholders with similar priorities and challenges to work together on these issues.

The aim of the AURC project is for Arctic cities to collaborate and learn from other Arctic cities but the project can also be a good channel to communicate the challenges faced by the northern sparsely populated regions as well as to highlight the role of Arctic cities in future EU initiatives.

More reading

Read more about the AURC project here

Read more about the EU’s Arctic policy here and here