Paper short abstract:

This paper examines processes of transformation and re-shaping taking place when cruise passengers walk from the cruise berth, located on the outskirts of Visby, into the city centre. During a route on which passenger becomes visitor and the city a heritage destination.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper autoethnography is used to study the 1.3 km long route which cruise passengers coming to the island of Gotland are supposed to walk from the cruise berth to Visby’s historical centre, by following signs and maps. By analysing the information provided on the signs as well as the sensual experiences of the path I investigate how path, signs, texts, and maps shape the city as a cultural heritage destination and transforms the passengers from being cruise passengers into becoming visitors.

Theoretically I combine theories of materiality and of performativity in order to ascribe agency to both materiality and text.

By using autoethnographic method and walking the route myself, I get a deeper understanding of how it is experienced by cruise passengers by using all of my senses. The main material for my study is therefore my field notes and the information texts provided on signs and maps. I also use articles from local newspapers and interviews with official actors within the tourism industry to place the route in a bigger context.

This paper is based on a pilot study conducted within the scope of a doctoral thesis in Nordic Ethnology, in which I study how cultural heritage discourse is shaped and re-shaped in interplay with or in conflict with tourism, with the islands of Gotland and Åland as case studies. The aim is to examine what is included, or excluded, in the cultural heritage discourse in a place that is very much defined by its history.

Paper short abstract:

The report presents several recently published guidebooks of Bulgarian cultural heritage sites abroad. The selection of essential topoi and (re)imaging a national cultural space beyond the political boundaries are studied based on interviews with the authors and content analysis of the publications.

Paper long abstract:

Recently, several guidebooks containing a selection of Bulgarian holy places, cultural heritage sites, and monuments abroad have been published in Bulgaria. The authors and messages of these books are various – a nationalistic political leader, journalists, scholars, an anonymous collective – and they all contribute to the rising interest in the national (religious, cultural, historical) heritage abroad. Not only the trend draws the scholar’s attention but the time – all of them have been issued in a couple of years, and there are no previous publications.

The report presents these publications and their authors through the idea of (re)imaging a national cultural space that does not depend on political boundaries and cultural policies of the conquest of influence and territories. The leading analytical lines are the author’s selection of essential topoi, the significance of tourist visits on commemorative routes, and the desacralization of religious routes through their inclusion in the national space.

The study is based on interviews with the guidebooks’ authors, as well as on the content and discourse analysis of publications, on the feedback they received, and on representations of books in the media. The report is part of the authors’ work on the project “Constructing a National Cultural Heritage Abroad. Cross-Border Pilgrimage and Memorial Practices”, funded by the Bulgarian National Science Fund.

Paper short abstract:

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between people and nature - more-than-human, in the north-west of Iceland. I use the term geosocialities to describe these connections and promote the proximity of these relations.

Paper long abstract:

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship between people and nature - more-than-human, in the north-west of Iceland. I use the term geosocialities (Gísli Pálsson, 2017) to describe these connections. Geosocialities refer to more-than-human relationships and promote "belonging as the world" (Wright, 2015). That humans are of the same material as the environment and are produced simultaneously geologically and socially (Yusoff, 2013).

In the research I talk to people in tourism, rangers (nature conservation) and local authorities in the region. The research shows different geosocialities among participants which can be connected to their relations to the place. Three types of geosocialities are discussed here; utilization of nature where nature is a resources for human communities to thrive; dangers caused by nature; and nature conservation where nature is vulnerable and in need of protection.

Paper short abstract:

The paper reports on part of a project conducted in the small Grímsey island on the Arctic Circle north of Iceland. It reevaluates the branding of the remoteness and ‘Arctic-ness’ of Grímsey in connection with tourism, and asks what will be the best way forward for the fragile island community?

Paper long abstract:

Grímsey is a small and remote inhabited island, 40 km off the north cost of Iceland. It has been defined as ‘fragile community’ by the government since 2015 due to changes in access to fisheries and consequently decreased resilience of its community and depopulation. Like many remote places in Iceland, the municipality looks to tourism as the predominant possibility for the small community to ‘turn the tables’.

The present study contributes to regional development, as well as tourism and island studies by reevaluate the branding of the remoteness and to some extend insularity of Grímsey. It will ask if it is possible to reserve the harsh nature of the arctic island and at the same time respect and - not only sustain - but strengthen the community of people living there all year round. It will also ask if marketing and branding of Grímsey as a tourism destination is the right way ahead, due to the small islands scarcity and limits? And if so, what is the way for marketing and managing this ‘gem on the Arctic Circle’?

The part of this research project presented here is the findings of a content analyses of public documents, media and releases and promotional material on Grímsey island, its nature and community. It is a part of a bigger study with mixed method approach comprising documentary research, interviews, survey and participant observation. The main empirical data collection will take place in February through August 2022, and the research material will be analysed simultaneously.

Paper short abstract:

This project deals with a botanical garden and dimensions of sustainability. Turning to narratives and visuality in combination the analysis demonstrates how and why sustainability changes over time for different actors due to human interests and preferences.

Paper long abstract:

This project deals with a 170-year-old botanical garden in Visby, Gotland and dimensions of sustainability. “The loss of gardens is one of the biggest environmental threats to urban life”, is a common narrative. There are many more when it comes to gardens. Turning to narratives and visuality in combination the analysis demonstrates how and why sustainability changes over time for different actors due to human interests and preferences. Another aspect is how stories about sustainability and gardens are shaped in relation to other stories, for example about cultural and natural heritage, private and public ownership and about tourism, which contributes to new hierarchies in society.