This dissertation contributes to developing knowledge on the commercialization of natural resources through tourism. This is achieved by means of understanding the main avenues through which natural resources are commercialized, and analyzing the operational setting of tourism firms. The focal area is nature-based tourism– a type of tourism, taking place incomparatively unmodified natural areas, which has emerged as a powerful gravitational force, integrating an increasing variety of natural resources into the commercial domain. The point of departure is the assumption that fornature-based tourism firms, nature is simultaneously the main object of commercialization and the operational setting, where this commercialization happens. The attention here is, therefore, on the supply side, i.e. on the smalland micro firms, acting as the agents of commercialization. The empirical data come primarily from a nation-wide survey among the nature-based tourism firms in Sweden, generating the most comprehensive information about this sector to date. Additional data come from in-depth interviews and observations among the nature-based tourism firms in Sweden, as well assecondary sources (official statistics on natural resources and a survey in Norway). This is a compilation thesis, i.e. it consists of a cover essay and five individual papers. The cover essay offers a bird’s eye view on all the papers, frames them theoretically and synthesizes all the findings into a coherent contribution. Papers I and II create the foundation, necessary for understanding the processes of nature commercialization and the operational setting of naturebased tourism firms, while Papers III, IV and V provide supplementary insights into these areas of inquiry. Paper I starts by building on existing knowledge in outdoor recreation to approach nature-based tourism. Paper II focuses on the operational setting, conceptualizes and explores its dimensions. Building on this, Paper III looks at how the presence of various amenities in the operational setting can explain the localization patterns of the firms on various geographical levels. Paper IV focuses on the operational setting dimensions omitted in the previous papers, i.e. the continuous efforts of the firms to negotiate the inherent uncertainty within the setting. Finally, Paper V looks at various characteristics of nature-based tourism firms to understand the specifics of sustainability strategies. The main findings in these five papers demonstrate that the nature-basedtourism is an active integrator of a wide variety of natural resources into the commercial domain, and approaching them from the supply perspective provides an additional understanding of the sector. This approach suggests that the nature-based tourism supply could be understood not only from the perspectives of tourist activities offered, but also from the perspective of operational setting preferences (e.g., the axes of high-low specialization, and high-low dependence on specific setting features), providing a new insight into the ways of nature commercialization through tourism. The operational setting itself becomes an important resource, being simultaneously part of the supply and the environment of a tourism system, bringing together a multitude of dimensions and actors. The resources nature-based tourism depends on defy ‘commercialization-friendly’ criteria, creating a context of uncertainty and demanding higher levels of creativity and agency on behalf of the firms. Commercialized nature experiences become important not only for specialized, skill- and equipment-intensive activities, but also for rather simple and relaxed ones, on both international and domestic markets. This suggests the growing importance of commercial nature-based tourism, linked to growing sustainability challenges. The sustainable resource use within the Scandinavian nature-based tourism context, however, is deeply entrenched inunique local specifics, and the entrepreneurial characteristics are not always compatible with market-based sustainability policies, suggesting the need for more fine-tuned approaches.

Abstract The popularity of nature-based tourism has increased worldwide and peripheral areas with conservational value, like protected areas, are attractive destinations. The recreational use and construction of tourism facilities can cause environmental degradation and decrease the conservational and recreational value of areas if not well planned and managed. The aim of this thesis was to improve our knowledge of recreation and tourism induced changes in northern boreal environments. Direct and indirect impacts of recreation on vegetation and birds in protected areas were examined. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of ski resorts in terms of changes in vegetation and soil, threats from non-native species and water pollution were investigated. In protected areas, the size of the disturbed areas around campsites was found to be mainly determined by the distance between the main tourism facilities (wilderness hut and campfire-site), and the mountain biotopes were more sensitive to disturbance than forests. Recreational use had induced changes also in the bird community. The occurrence and the composition of birds were affected, and the open nesters nesting on the ground were found to be the most sensitive. The construction, revegetation and management practices of ski runs had increased the nutrient concentrations, pH and conductivity of the soil, and changed the original vegetation notably. Non-native seed mixture species, used in revegetating the ski runs, were found to be favoured by management practices (disturbance and peat addition) in an experimental study, but, eventually, were not able to be established themselves into study plots. Ski resorts’ construction and management have also affected the water quality. Concentrations of nutrients were higher in ski resort lakes in relation to reference lakes and were comparable to lakes polluted by agriculture and forestry. The results of this theses give new information on tourism and recreation induced changes and are applicable for planning and management. Nature-based tourism and recreation can cause long-term changes in terrestrial and aquatic environments, which should be considered at all levels of planning and management. For sustainable tourism development, it is essential that impacts are regularly monitored and preventative means are developed and used to minimize environmental degradation.

Bakgrund: Människors ändrade levnadsförhållanden har under de senaste årtiondena resulterat i ökad psykisk ohälsa. Naturens påvisade hälsofrämjande effekter har varit grunden till den rehabiliteringsform som benämns naturunderstödd rehabilitering, NUR. Rehabiliteringsformen har visat sig vara effektiv för personer med stressrelaterade tillstånd. Syfte: Vårt syfte är att undersöka hur professionella inom NUR hanterar sitt eget emotionella och deltagarorienterade arbete och hur de upplever deltagarnas rehabilitering.Metod: Vi har intervjuat sex professionella inom NUR. Empirin har analyserats med hjälp av socialpsykologiska teorier för att förstå relationen mellan professionella och deltagare.Resultat: Professionellas medmänskliga förhållande resulterar i trygga sociala band, vilket har en positiv effekt för deltagarens återhämtning. Vidare visar resultatet på att de professionellas förståelse för deltagarnas situation reducerar stigmatisering vilket bidrar till ytterligare en salutogen faktor. Professionellas ospecificerade roll mellan privatperson och yrkesutövare kan orsaka känslomässig belastning men att det blir en positiv effekt för deltagarna, då relationen och känslorna blir mer konkreta.Slutsatser: Relationer i naturunderstödd rehabilitering är en bärande faktor för en välfungerande NUR-verksamhet. Passion för arbetet har i slutändan mer värde än yrkeskompetens. / Background: In recent decades, peoples changed living conditions have resulted in increased mental illness. Nature's proven health-promoting effects have been the basis of the rehabilitation form, called nature-based rehabilitation, NBR. The form of rehabilitation has proven to be effective for people with stress-related conditions.Purpose: Our purpose is to investigate how professionals in NBR handle their own emotional and participant-oriented work and how they experience participants' rehabilitation.Method: We have interviewed six professionals working with NBR. Data has been analyzed using social psychological theories to understand the relationship between professionals and participants.Results: The professionals’ humanitarian relationships result in secure social bonds, which has a positive effect on the participant’s recovery. Furthermore, the results show that the professionals’ understanding of the participants’ situation reduces stigma, which contributes to another salutogenic factor. The unspecified role of the professionals between being civil and professional can cause emotional strain but it results in a positive effect on the participants as the relationship and feelings become more tangible.Conclusions: Relationships in nature-based rehabilitation are a key factor for a well-functioning NBR. In the end, the passion for the work has more value than professional skills.

The diploma thesis deals with a new form of tourism - glamping in Czechia. Based on the analysis of the Czech glamping offer explains the current development and potential of glamping in Czechia. The first part of the thesis focuses on the theoretical framing of glamping tourism as part of tourism and its general characteristics and latest development. An important point of the thesis was to define the geographical distribution of glamping in the world. Based on the identified characteristics, a qualitative research of glamping in Czechia were created, the methods of which are the analysis of market supply and demand and the method of semi-structured interview and field research. The empirical part of the thesis is based on an analysis of the current state of glamping in Czechia. In this part, the locations of glamping and the preconditions for glamping destinations in Czechia were defined, which contains also a general characteristic, which also deals with the target group and the seasonality of glamping. The thesis was written during the Covid-19 pandemic, and therefore examines its effects and consequences especially on glamping tourism. The main benefits of this work include the provision of the first comprehensive view of the phenomenon of glamping in the Czech environment, which no one has...

Flooding over the last few years has become the most frequent and devastating of the natural disasters. This has accounted for approximately half of the death-rate and a third of economic losses as a result of weather-related events. Though these flooding events affect many cities across the globe, it is often the less fortunate who are disproportionately impacted by such events. There are many factors as to why this is the unfortunate case, with a high number of the underprivileged urban population finding themselves living in informal settlements. These settlements are often developed on environmentally-fragile land on steep sites or floodplains and lack the adequate waste and drainage systems that control the flow of water, further aggravating the flood risk within these areas. These uneven hardships are no different to Cape Town metropolitan region. Flooding has become an annual recurrence for the city during the wet winter months between May and September, with the informal settlements in the Cape Flats low-lying area bearing the brunt of this impact. The research therefore aims to explore how integrated flood control design within urban development can contribute to creating social and environmental sustainable interventions for flood resilience in informal settlements within the Cape Town municipality. One of the most important findings was the strong relation between waste as one of the largest contributors to the flooding events in these settlements, which became a key driver for investigation within the research. Kosovo informal settlement is one of the hardest hit communities during Cape Town’s high rainfall winter seasons and will used as the case study area for the research. The objective of the study is to investigate the existing condition and the involved stakeholders to develop well thought design strategies and toolbox for the municipality, planners, and residents. The design strategies and toolbox provides mechanisms to rethink flood prevention measures by shifting from creating barriers [interrupt], to mechanisms that engage with floodwater [interact] within a case study area. This research has attempted to position the community at the centre. Community participation and collaboration with key stakeholders will allow the residents to contribute with their local knowledge, experience and voices, sharing their views on the design solutions that are required to be integrated into their spaces.

Agriculture-based interventions fall under the umbrella of nature-based interventions, meaning social and care interventions such as rehabilitation, habilitation and daily activities in conjunction with animals and/or nature. The purpose of the study was to examine Grön Arena-organizers' experiences working in green care based on the questions of "what makes one choose to work in green care?" and "which factors encourage and inhibit organizer motivation in their work with green care?". During march of 2021, eight semistructured interviews were performed on the subject. The transcribed material was then analyzed with thematic analysis. A total of three themes were identified: Humanitarian action, Resistance and obstacles with the two sub-themes (Negative attitudes and experiences as well as Economics and politics), and Conviction in method. The results of the study shows the presence of both significant motivational and demotivational factors that affect the drive and motivation of the organizers. A need for the organizers to help and work with other people became clear, as did a desire to be closer to nature and animals. Furthermore, a deep-seated belief in the healing bond between humans and nature was a central and recurring motivational theme. On the other hand is a sense of external resistance springing from a lack of public knowledge about green care initiatives, as well as assumptions surrounding organizers' motives in opening green care facilities, coupled with difficulties of economic sustainability and reliability. The study shows that there is room for further research into the nature of these initiatives, as well as significant potential for these types of interventions to complement a traditional care model going forward. / Lantbruksbaserade insatser går in under paraplybegreppet naturbaserade insatser som innebär att sociala och vårdande insatser som rehabilitering, habilitering, daglig verksamhet kombineras med djur och/eller natur. Studiens syfte var att utforska anordnare inom Grön Arenas upplevelse av att arbeta med grön omsorg utifrån frågeställningarna "varför arbetar man med grön omsorg? samt "vilka faktorer främjar och hämmar anordnares motivation i arbetet med grön omsorg?". Sammanlagt genomfördes åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer i mars 2021. Transkriberat material analyserades utifrån metoden tematisk analys. Totalt tre teman identifierades: Humanitärt intresse, Motkrafter och hinder med två underteman (Negativa attityder och erfarenheter, Ekonomi och politik) och Övertygelse om metod. Resultatet visar att det förekommer både motiverande och demotiverande faktorer som påverkar anordnares drivkraft och motivation. En stark vilja att arbeta med och för människor framträdde tillsammans med en önskan om närhet till djur och natur som positiva motivationsfaktorer. Vidare beskrevs en tilltro till det band som finns mellan människa och naturen och de fördelar som kommer med detta band. Demotiverande var det upplevda yttre motstånd som låg kring en liten kännedom om fenomenet grön omsorg, negativa uppfattningar kring anordnares motivation till att starta en grön omsorgsverksamhet och en viss svårighet kring stabilitet gällande grön omsorg som inkomstkälla. Studien visar att det finns utrymme för utökad forskning kring området och en stor framtidspotential för konceptet som komplement till sedvanlig vård.

Psykisk ohälsa är ett stort problem och dess negativa konsekvenser drabbar individer, närstående och hela samhällen. För att komma åt problemen är det viktigt att det finns flera framgångsrika rehabiliteringsinsatser. Forskning har visat att naturen kan användas för att rehabilitera människor mot psykisk ohälsa. Syftet med examensarbetet var att undersöka de yrkesverksammas upplevelser av naturbaserad rehabilitering för individer med psykisk ohälsa. Sex semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med sju yrkesverksamma inom olika naturbaserade rehabiliteringsinsatser. Insamlad empiri analyserades därefter med hjälp av en tematisk analys. För att förstå och tolka empirin användes teorier inom socialpsykologi och en teori som berör naturens påverkan på människan. Tre huvudteman identifierades genom resultatanalysen: (1) kunskap; (2) läkning genom natur och djur; och (3) relationer. Inom huvudtemat kunskap visade resultatet att de yrkesverksammas yrkeskunskap och yrkeserfarenhet hade flertalet positiva konsekvenser i deltagarnas rehabiliteringsprocess. I det andra huvudtemat framkom insatsernas för- och nackdelar. Fördelarna var många och betydligt fler än nackdelarna. Den positiva påverkan berörde deltagarnas fysiska, psykiska, kognitiva och sociala mående och fungerande. I det sista huvudtemat framkom det att relationer hade en viktig roll i rehabiliteringsprocessen. Detta handlade om att deltagarna kom in i en gemenskap och att de yrkesverksammas förhållningssätt gentemot deltagarna var betydelsefullt för deltagarnas rehabiliteringsprocess. Naturbaserad rehabilitering, och de yrkesverksamma, kan därmed sägas vara viktiga faktorer för individers tillfrisknande. / Mental disorders is a major problem and its negative consequences affect individuals, relatives and entire communities. To address the problems, it is important that there are several successful interventions. Research has shown that nature can be used to rehabilitate people against mental disorders. The purpose of the study was to investigate the professionals' experiences of nature-based rehabilitation for individuals with mental disorders. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven professionals' in various nature-based interventions. Collected empirical data were then analysed using thematic analysis. To understand and interpret the empirical data, theories in social psychology and one theory concerning the effects of nature were used. Three main themes were identified through the analysis of the results: (1) knowledge; (2) healing through nature and animals; and (3) relationships. Within the main theme knowledge, the results showed that the professionals' knowledge and experiences had a majority of positive consequences on the participants' rehabilitation process. In the second main theme, the advantages and disadvantages of the interventions emerged. The advantages were many and significantly more than the disadvantages. The positive impact affected the participants' physical, mental, cognitive, and social well-being and functioning. The last main theme emerged that relationships played an important role in the rehabilitation process. This centered about the fact that the participants entered a community and that the attitudes of the professionals towards the participants was important for the participants' rehabilitation process. Nature-based rehabilitation, and the professionals, can therefore be said to be important factors for individuals' recovery.

Around the globe, sensitive nature destinations suffer from media-mediated mass tourism. Especially, the social media network Instagram is often made responsible for these events as its emphasis on visuals is claimed to foster people’s ambition to reproduce photographs of themselves in the epic sceneries they see online. Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) face a particularly big challenge in using Instagram. While they aim at attracting enough tourists to satisfy the local tourism industry’s needs, they need to apply a careful promotion to avoid attracting more tourists than the natural environments can cope with. Focusing on Sweden as case study, this thesis aims at identifying and exploring how Swedish DMOs currently promote vulnerable nature destinations on Instagram and what significance these economically driven communication agencies thereby attribute the protection of the natural resources. Theoretical implications from sustainable destination management and environmental psychology are employed to develop different communication strategies that enhance the destination’s sustainable image as well as attempt to encourage pro-environmental behavior among tourists. A mixed method design is applied which is dominated by an extensive quantitative content analysis and complemented by a more limited qualitative semiotic analysis. The findings reveal that the implementation of sustainable communication strategies is of varying importance for the six Swedish DMOs considered in this study. In general, their effort of using communication tools to enhance sustainable nature-based tourism is still very low. Future research is advised to investigate in the production as well as audience site to gain further insights in how economic interests might hinder a more sustainable branding and to examine how effective the developed communication strategies actually are in influence people’s behavioral intentions.

In response to social trends whereby children are spending less time outside, school administrators have developed certified Nature Explore Outdoor Classrooms (NEOCs) intentionally designed to support whole-child learning within a natural environment. Despite the documented benefits of nature-based education, the literature and NEOC sites report challenges in facilitating this type of space. The purpose of this study was to investigate what prevents teachers in a certified NEOC from facilitating student/teacher engagement with the natural outdoor environment. Kolb's, Piaget's, and Vygotsky's theories of constructivism served as the study's framework to explore the problem from the teachers' perspectives. A qualitative case study was used to gain insight into the potential barriers to facilitating a NEOC. Eight teachers were recruited using purposeful sampling. Participant criteria included (a) >18 years of age, (b) >3 years early childhood teaching experience, (c) >1 year experience in selected NEOC, (d) prior NEOC training, and (e) willingness to share experiences. Data collection included classroom observation, individual interviewing, and review of relevant documents. All data were analyzed using comparative and inductive analysis and coded into 5 emergent themes. Identified barriers included teacher involvement, rules and regulations, volunteers, materials, and weather. By creating a 3-day professional development program that supports the benefits of nature-based learning environments and introduces strategies to overcome identified barriers, this study may promote positive social change in nature-based education. Children, families, and communities may expand their nature-based knowledge and interaction skills to pass to future generations.

Increased urbanisation and climate change are negatively affecting the water cycle and are increasing floods and creating concerns for the built environment and human wellbeing. This has created a need to research sustainable water management in cities. Nature-based solutions (NBS) can offer more sustainable ways of water management, but conventional systems are still favoured in governance. Hence, the aim of this thesis is to identify opportunities and challenges of implementing NBS at Årstafältet in Stockholm and the related governance processes from a Socio-Ecological-Technical system perspective in order to bring a holistic view on sustainable urban stormwater management. The methods used in triangulation for this case study are interviews, a site visit, and desktop study of associated planning documents. The collected data is analysed with an analytical framework that investigates the Social-Ecological-Technical System (SETS) dimensions, in relation to governance. The results show that the implementation of NBS at Årstafältet has been largely successful, due to contextual factors, as well as an adaptive and reflexive governance approach. However, identified system dynamics, interrelations and tensions have shown that there is room for improvements. By increasing transdisciplinarity in early stages of the process to overcome rigid governance structures and techno-centricity. The application of the SETS framework has proved to be successful in identifying dynamics, interrelations, and tensions but there are issues related to uncertainties in how to categorise system components. Nevertheless, the SETS perspective has been useful for identifying challenges and opportunities related to governance and planning processes of implementing NBS.