Kristin Godtman Kling

Postdoktor|Postdoc

Background

I have a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Social Science, focusing on business administration and sustainable business from the School of Business, Economics and Law at Gothenburg University. After completing the program, I worked in the tourism industry in the Jämtland mountains for a couple of years before I decided it was time to continue my studies. 2015 I completed a one-year Master's program in tourism studies at Mid Sweden University, and was then given the opportunity to enter the PhD-program in tourism studies at ETOUR. I defended my thesis in January 2022.

Area of interest

Key words: Nature-based tourism, accessibility, social justice, conflict management, outdoor recreation, sustainability, mountain tourism, landscape

I wrote my licentiate-thesis in the project "Negotiating Pathways to Multifunctional Landscapes: A Pilot Model in the Jämtland Mountains". My research focused on how recreational trails can be a tool to manage land-use conflicts in the Southern Jämtland Mountains, and also how recreational trails can contribute to a sustainable use of the mountain landscape.

The second part of my PhD was about accessible nature-based tourism for people with physical disabilities. I focused on possibilities and challenges for developing a more inclusive nature-based tourism in Sweden. I was also interested in how public and private actors collaborate regarding the issue of accessible nature-based tourism, and in how the balancing of accessibility vs. nature-conservation can be handled.

The overarching theme of my PhD-thesis where the two projects connect is nature-based tourism in a context of social justice, where different groups in society have different access to tourism and where collaboration between actors to handle conflicts has a central role.

Research

- Accessible nature

The page was updated 2/10/2022