Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen, from an internationally recognised university. Also required is Introduction to Sustainable Destination Development.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• describe outdoor recreations' and nature-based tourisms' dependence on the resources, values and services of the ecosystem and landscape
• explain the environmental economic methods to evaluate nature tourism and the effects of environmental impact
• describe nature tourism's importance for sustainable regional development
• summarize governance and management strategies for outdoor activities and nature tourism

Content

The course introduces and categorizes nature-based resources, services and values as a basis for outdoor recreation and nature tourism. The concepts of natural resources, ecosystem services and geosystem services are needed to describe, value and manage the diversity of the qualities of both the ecosystem and landscape. The course also addresses environmental economic theory and methods for the socioeconomic valuation of outdoor recreation and nature tourism as well as for the costs of environmental impact. Different governance and management systems to restore, maintain and protect natural environments are studied in the context of sustainable nature-based destination development.

Instruction

Teaching is conducted in the form of lectures, exercises, literature seminars, study visits and project assignment.

Assessment

Written exam (7 credits), exercises and seminars (3 credits) as well as oral and written presentation of project assignment (5 credits).

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.