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Principles and Values from Cooperatives on Gotland: Fostering Sustainable Destination Development through Alternative Economies and Regenerative Practices

This research investigates the values and principles of cooperatives in relation to regenerative development and evaluates how these principles can be applied to foster SDD on Gotland. As alternative economies, cooperatives represent an opportunity to facilitate a regenerative type of development that is needed to face the issues brought by the capitalist system and the tourism industry. These many challenges were exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis and emphasised the need to find new understandings of the tourism industry and of the way business is carried out in our societies. The evidence gathered from seven semi-structured interviews with the members of a Gotland’s cooperative was analysed in relation to frameworks of values and principles of regenerative development and tourism. Based on the findings and the theoretical background, four Cooperative Principles for Regenerative Development [CPRD] were derived and their potential application for SDD argued. The CPRD include the Support of entrepreneurs, the Commitment and good intent to carry out projects for the community’s wellbeing, Cooperation among stakeholders, associations, and GUBIS companies, and the Contribution to create a healthy, lively, and liveable society. In relation to SDD, the principles can be applied by supporting tourism stakeholder and entrepreneurs so that they can find convergence points among themselves, co-creating across multiple domains to catalyse positive system effects. Additionally, the CPRD can foster SDD by facilitating a discourse about alternative types of exchanges that evolves around an holistic type of economic development that is embedded in the natural ecosystem and is based on circularity and inclusivity.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-485801
Date January 2022
CreatorsRodoni, Valentina
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och industriell teknik
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationSAMINT-HDU ; 22014

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