Ruralities and Regions in Transition – A conference for Rural and Regional Researchers in Sweden

The conference was arranged as a part of SLU:s government assignment to strengthen and coordinate Swedish rural and regional research with the ambition to provide a constructive arena of exchange for scholars to collegially rethink how Swedish ruralities and regions may engage towards economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development paths. 

The conference was held 11-12 November 2021 at Runö Möten & Events outside Åkersberga.

Questions? Send an email to uppdraglandsbygd@slu.se

Download Book of abstracts 

Keynote speakers

• Karen Refsgaard – Research Director at Nordregio
• Sally Shortall – Professor in Rural Economy at Newcastle University
• Lisanne Raderschall – Policy Analyst, Regional Development and Multi-level Governance Division, Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities at the OECD

Themes

THEME 1: Sustainable countrysides: place-based development and rural livelihoods

THEME  2: Entrepreneurship and social innovations in peripheries

THEME  3: Demographic change and migration: policies and practices in shrinking geographies

THEME  4: The role of natural resources in rural transformation processes

THEME  5: Competences, skills and the evolution of the rural labour market

THEME  6: Territorial resilience in times of global societal challenges

THEME  7: Policies for rural and regional development

Conference programme

11 November Day 1

10.00 Registration – Coffee and sandwiches 

11.00 Welcome! Conference opens

11.15 Plenary speaker – Karen Refsgaard (Nordregio)

12.00 Lunch

13.00 Parallel session 1

14.00 Break

14.15 Parallel session 2

15.15 Break and check-in 

16.00 Parallel session 3

17.00 Break

17.30 Plenary speaker – Sally Shortall (Newcastle University)

19.15 Dinner

12 November Day 2

07.00-08.30 Breakfast

09.00 Plenary speaker – Lisanne Raderschall (OECD)

09.45 Break

10.00 Parallel session 4

11.00 Break

11.15 Parallel session 5

12.30 Lunch

14.00 Panel session – Sverker Lindblad (Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation), Klas Fritzon (Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth), and Ann Rodenstedt (Formas)

14.30 Gazing forward and concluding remarks

15.00 Thank you! Conference closes

Session schedule

Session 1

THEME 1: Susanne Stenbacka, Pelle Åberg, Caroline Ärleskog

THEME 3: Jayne Glass, Karen Haandrikman, Camilla Thunborg

THEME 4: Gun Lidestav, Sara Moritz, Arvid Stiernström

THEME 5: Mats Lundmark, Peter Hultgren

THEME 6: Maria Vallström, Paula Rytkönen

Session 2

THEME 1: Thomas Sjöström, Linnéa Eriksson

THEME 2: Bengt Johannisson, Richard Ferguson

THEME 3: Ildikó Asztalos Morell, Charlotte Löthman, Elisabet Öhrn

THEME 7: Hans Westlund, Gissur Ò Erlingsson

Session 3

THEME 1: Susanne Holm, Flora Hajdu, Yvonne von Friedrichs

THEME 2: Diana Morales, Jonathan Yachin, Helene Ahl

THEME 3: Emil Sandström, Sara Forsberg, Peter Gladoic Håkansson

THEME 6: Malin Tillmar, Cecilia Dalborg

THEME 7: Katarina Eckerberg, Elin Slätmo

Session 4

THEME 1: Marlene Ockander, Leneisja Jungsberg, Nils Björling/Malin Rönnblom

THEME 2: Anna Sörensson, Cecilia Waldenström

THEME 5: Brian Kuns, Tina Mathisen, Elin Ennerberg 

THEME 7: Alex Dubois/Rhiannon Pugh, Josefina Syssner, Patrik Cras 

Session 5

THEME 2: Margareta Dahlström, Håkan Tunón

THEME 4: Katarina Landström, Gun Lidestav

THEME 5: Martin Nordin, Kristin Sabel

THEME 6: Maria Vallström, Johanna Lindberg, Nils Björling / Malin Rönnblom

Participants and titles

THEME 1

Managing rural communities: The role of local civil societies, Åberg P., Nordfelt M., von Essen J., Hansen K. & Cras P.

Affärsmässighet & hållbar landsbygdsutveckling, Ärleskog C.

Re-thinking sustainability in Swedish agriculture: Integrating the overlooked social aspects into sustainability thinking, Hajdu F. & Eriksson C.

Strategies creating local development in rural communities in the Nordic Region, Jungsberg L.

Hållbara transporter i landsbygd? Eriksson, L.

Politics of Place: Beyond #neoliberalurbanprivilege, Björling N. & Rönnblom M.

Djursdala: The winding road to a straightforward co-productive development and research process, Ockander M., Lindenfalk B., Williams O., Käll J. & Fristedt S.

Rural Politics of Place: Beyond #nepliberalurbanprivilege, Björling N. & Rönnblom M.

Platsens betydelse för arbete med unga i landsbygd – En Sociomateriell analys, Holm S.

Service, Infrastruktur och Välfärd: om betydelsen av samverkan mellan fysiska och sociala strukturer, Stenbacka S.

När digital vård möter det sociala rummet, Sjöström T.

Mikrobryggeriernas identitetsskapande roll i lokalsamhället, von Friedrichs Y. & Dalborg C.

THEME 2

Rådgivning till entreprenörer inom gröna näringar i Sverige och Norge, Sörensson A. & Cawthorn A.

Samhällsentreprenörskapets renässans – landsbygdens räddning, Johannisson B.

Contexts for learning in agriculture: challenges for transformation of farmers’ practices, Waldenström C.

S3 as opportunities for green growth, Morales D. & Dahlström M.

Consuming the summer farm – a comparative study of summer farm tourists’ preferences in Norway and Sweden, Rytkönen P., Tunón H. & Bele B.

Women entrepreneurs and rural viability in Sweden, Ahl H., Berglund K., Pettersson K. & Tillmar M.

Spatial bricolage – Sustainable tourism development and place-based entrepreneurship in rural Sweden, Yachin J.

Alternative food production for safeguarding the biocultural heritage? Biocultural heritage as a mean to promote alternative food production? Introducing the project BIOKUMA, Svensson E., Dahlström M., Amundsen H. & Motrøen T.

Innovating rural agri-food enterprises and institutional change, Adamseged, M. E., Ferguson R., Grundmann P. & Langendahl P. A. 

THEME 3

Unga asylsökandes förutsättningar att etablera sig på mindre orter, Osman A., Thunborg C. & Bron A.

På väg mot integration? Från monologiska till dialogiska möten på landsbygden, Löthman C.

Utbildning och migration i landsbygd, Öhrn E., Beach D., Johansson M., Rosvall P. Å. & Rönnlund M.

Back to the land is Back and the Cultivation of a Reinvented Rurality, Sandström E.

Disembedded insecurities of unaccompanied asylum-seekers youth in rural Sweden, Asztalos Morell I.

International insights from initiatives to address population decline in sparsely populated areas, Glass J., McMorran R. & Atterton J.

New gateways? Residential trajectories of newly arrived migrants from a rural perspective, Haandrikman K., Hedberg C. & Chihaya G. K.

Rural boys, urban girls? The Mystery of the Diminishing Urban-Rural Gender Gap in Sweden, Karpestam & Gladoic Håkansson

Young people’s sense of place and dispositions towards mobility, Forsberg S.

THEME 4

Mining for welfare and sustainable development, Stiernström A.

Lågt hängande frukter i skogen, Lidestav G., Hedberg C., Heldt Cassel S. & Lundberg J.

Den subversiva vildmarksturismen? – Normkritik som mediering av kommersialiseringens ängsligheter, Landström K.

Mining in Sweden – local visions of the extractivist welfare state, Moritz S.

Understanding the multiple dynamics of the countryside – Examples from forest cases in northern Europe, Keskitalo E. C. H., Lidestav G., Westin K. & Lindgren U.

THEME 5

Kultur- och turismnäringarnas roll för utveckling på mindre orter i Bergslagen, Lundmark M. & Jakobsson M.

From Panic to Business as Usual: what a year of Coronavirus has revealed about migrant labor, food supply chains and the welfare state in Nordic countries, Kuns B.

Choosing not to wait? Narratives of work and life choices among workers in a small town/rural area, Lundberg J. & Enneberg E.

Strategisk kompetensförsörjning och organisatoriska värderingar i små familjeföretag verksamma i svensk landsbygdskontext, Sabel K.

Inkomstutvecklingen för Sveriges landsbygd och segregerade områden, Nordin M.

Att överbrygga ett socialt glapp. Om social sammanhållning och ett arbetsmarknadsprojekt i Lammhult, Hultgren P.

Beyond core and periphery: translocal mobility in rural artists work and creativity, Power D., Mathisen T. & Jansson J.

THEME 6

Peripheries within Economic Geography: Four “Problems”, Pugh R. & Dubois A.

Robust företagande i kristider, Dalborg C. & von Friedrichs Y.

Mind the gap – policies for rural digital transformation, Lindberg J., Runardotter M. & Ståhlbröst A.

A study of rural entrepreneurial practices, Tillmar M.

Hur resilient är lokalsamhället vid en exceptionell påfrestning? Pandemins följdverkningar i en svensk landsbygdskommun, Vallström M., Svensson L. & Vallström M.

Is there light in the windows? Livelihoods and island societies in Sweden during the Covid-19 pandemic, Rytkönen P., Merouani Y., Box M. & Larsson Segerlind T.

Lokal mobilisering vid skogsbränderna 2018, Ingridsdotter J. & Vallström M.

Resilience for resilience? A study of rural entrepreneurial practices, Tillmar M.

THEME 7

Plattformar för landsbygdens aktörer i Europa – sociala innovationer inom europeiskt beslutsfattande, Slätmo E.

Intra-municipal polarization? Centre-periphery variations in satisfaction with democracy and welfare services, Erlingsson G.Ó., Öhrvall, R. & Wallman Lundåsen S. 

A “third way” for rural policy? Westlund H.

Strategies for local economic sustainability in sparsely populated areas, Syssner J.

EIP-Agri in Sweden – Lessons learned from an ongoing evaluation 2016-2021, Bjärstig T. & Eckerberg K.

Integrating territorial perspectives – A study of “rural proofing” processes in Swedish municipalities, Cras P.