Negotiating Improved Multifunctional Landscape Use: Trails as Facilitators for Collaboration Among Stakeholders

Kristin Godtman Kling, Annika Dahlberg and Sandra Wall-Reinius
Additional contact information
Kristin Godtman Kling: Department of Economics, Geography, Law and Tourism, Mid-Sweden University, Kunskapens väg 1, S-831 25 Östersund, Sweden
Annika Dahlberg: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Sandra Wall-Reinius: Department of Economics, Geography, Law and Tourism, Mid-Sweden University, Kunskapens väg 1, S-831 25 Östersund, Sweden

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 13, 1-21

Abstract: Trails are significant features in landscapes, and many ancient pathways have developed into routes of great importance for recreation and tourism in contemporary societies. Nevertheless, international research on recreational trails has hitherto mainly focused on managerial and environmental aspects of trails and less on trails from a social science perspective, such as conflict management. This study explores the role of recreational trails as a potential tool for managing conflicts in a multifunctional landscape. The findings originate from a case study of the southern Jämtland mountain region in Sweden, an area where land-use conflicts exist and where tourism is a major concern. The study examines the recreational trail as an applied example where actors in the mountain landscape “negotiate” and collaborate. through the recreational trail, dialogue and discussions are made possible among stakeholders. Findings show that trails can function as facilitators for communication and can thus enhance the possibilities of building trust and promoting collaboration between actors. This research contributes to the existing literature on handling multiple land-use interests and adds to previous knowledge by taking on a rather new approach, where the recreational trail becomes a facilitator for communication.

Keywords: trails; tourism; conflict management; collaboration; communication; mountain landscape (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3511/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/13/3511/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:13:p:3511-:d:243231

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().