Doris Carson

Research

I am a human geographer with an interest in the future of small villages and communities in sparsely populated northern peripheries. My research has largely revolved around four broad areas: 1) the processes that hinder or facilitate a transition from ‘extractive’ to ‘attractive’ industries (particularly tourism); 2) the role of mobile and temporary populations in stimulating innovation; 3) the interplay between urbanisation, mobility and socio-economic change, and 4) new solutions for social and service infrastructures in sparsely populated areas. I am particularly passionate about case study based research involving qualitative, ethnographic and community-based research methods.

I completed my PhD in 2011 at James Cook University (Australia) on regional tourism innovation systems in remote resource peripheries. I was then a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Regional Engagement at the University of South Australia (2011-2014) before moving to Umeå in 2014 to conduct research into the role of tourism and lifestyle related mobilities in rural community development. I was appointed as docent/associate professor in 2023.

I am currently principal investigator on two research projects, which involves close collaborations with partners in Australia and Austria:

• Rural shop innovations in a post-Covid world: implications for community development in northern Sweden (Familjen Kamprads Stiftelse, 2022-2025)
• Social futures of small villages: inclusive social infrastructure in rural peripheries (Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2025-2029)

I was previously also involved in a number of other projects around:

• Climate Change and the Double Amplification of Arctic Tourism: Challenges and potential solutions for tourism and sustainable development in an Arctic context (Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2018-2022, co-investigator)
• Cities of the North: Urbanisation, mobilities and new development opportunities for sparsely populated hinterlands (Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2016-2020, principal investigator)
• Mobilities, micro-urbanisation and changing settlement patterns in the sparsely populated north (Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2016-2020, co-investigator)
• Modelling the demographic future of small villages in sparsely populated areas (Swedish Research Council FORMAS, 2016-2018, co-investigator)

I have also been the Swedish lead partner on the international FreeRange student network on rural community wellbeing (2018-2022, with funding from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council), which included partners and research students from Canada, Australia, Austria and Iceland. In this network we aimed to connect students with rural communities for their research projects and mentored them in their research design and community engagement strategies.

I have written both empirical and theoretical articles in a range of journals and books related to tourism, mobility, and economic  and demographic development in sparsely populated areas – check out my Google Scholar profile for further details. I have also edited several collaborative volumes, including:

• Eimermann, M., & Carson, D.A. (Eds.). (2023). Changing dimensions of lifestyle mobilities in turbulent times: impacts of Corona outbreaks and multiple crises. Special issue in Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 105(4).
• Carson, D.A., Carson, D.B., & Argent, N. (Eds.). (2022). Rural hinterland development in sparsely populated areas: new challenges and opportunities arising from urbanisation within the periphery. Special Issue in Journal or Rural Studies, virtual issue.
• Koster, R.L., & Carson, D. A. (Eds.). (2019). Perspectives on Rural Tourism Geographies: Case Studies from Developed Nations on the Exotic, the Fringe and the Boring Bits in Between. Cham: Springer.
• Carson, D.A., Brouder, P., & de la Barre, S. (2017). Communities and New Development Paths in the Sparsely Populated North. Special Issue in Journal of Rural and Community Development, 12(2-3).  
• Robinson, G.M., & Carson, D.A. (Eds.). (2015). Handbook on the Globalisation of Agriculture. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Carson, D.A., Carson, D.B., & Lundmark, L. (2014). Tourism and Mobilities in Sparsely Populated Areas. Special issue in Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 14(4).

Teaching and research supervision

I have previously taught courses Destinations & Regional Development (Master level), Introduction to tourism (Master level), Research design and methodology (Master level), Tourism geography (Master level), Tourism Destination Systems (Master level), Tourism Planning (Bachelor level), Consumer Behaviour in Tourism (Bachelor level). 

I am also involved in supervising Master’s students and PhD candidates. I welcome thesis proposals in the fields of:

• Rural/remote/peripheral/Arctic tourism
• City-hinterland relationships with regard to mobility (migration, labour, migration), regional development, and policy planning
• Local vs. regional innovation systems in peripheral areas
• Temporary populations and economic development in peripheral areas
• Rural service planning for sparsely populated areas (with a focus on digital and mobile service solutions)
• Local-level case studies of rural community development