Cryotourism in a warming world: Co-exploring glacier and snow-based tourism development in southern and northern peripheries

Research project Our partnership around cryotourism is novel and relevant given the current global environmental crisis, and the need for climate change action worldwide. Interdisciplinary, international collaboration and knowledge co-creation are key components of safeguarding a habitable planet and crafting an equitable future for coming generations.

Cryotourism is a distinct form of tourism in which glaciers and snow constitute the main attraction. Consequently, the conditions of the ice and snow cover are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. While a considerable body of literature addresses the cryotourism-climate change nexus in the North, little is known about the situation in the South. This project addresses this gap by creating an expert network for studying cryotourism in southern and northern peripheries.

Head of project

Pamela Bachmann-Vargas Postdoctoral fellow

Email

+46 90 786 69 89

Project overview

Project period:

2023-11-14 – 2025-06-30

Funding

STINT, The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education.

150 000 SEK

Participating departments and units at Umeå University

Department of Geography

Research area

Human geography

Project members

Cenk Demiroglu Associate professor

Email

+46 90 786 79 25

Project description

While a considerable body of literature addresses the interrelationships between tourism and climate change in Arctic and sub-Arctic locations, little is known about the tourism-climate change nexus in southern peripheries (Navarro-Drazich et al., 2023). Several unanswered questions remain regarding the significance of this type of tourism for local communities and the specific challenges encountered by the tourism sector and policymakers, in the context of rapidly changing climate conditions. This project aims to fill this gap by establishing a strategic expert network between Umeå University and four higher education and research institutions located in Chile and Argentina, to foster a holistic understanding of the cryotourism-climate change nexus in southern as well as in northern peripheral regions.

This project aims to provide opportunities for South-North research and knowledge exchange, both in research and education.

The objectives in relation to research are as follows:

Facilitate the exchange of academic knowledge between the South and the North.
Encourage the exchange of staff members among the partnering higher education and research institutions.
Collaboratively develop an interdisciplinary research agenda that addresses the multifaceted challenges of cryotourism in southern and northern peripheral regions.
Contribute to bridging the research gap between the northern and southern peripheries.

The objectives related to higher education are as follows:

Facilitate the exchange of academic knowledge between the South and the North.
Encourage the exchange of Master and PhD students among the partnering higher education and research institutions.
Support comparative Master and PhD theses that build on a South-North perspective.
Collaboratively develop a bi-annual PhD course with a focus on South-North Cryotourism

Latest update: 2024-01-19