Download the Book of Abstracts from the 1st Nordic Conference for Rural Research.
Sweden 2010
Last changed: 11 March 2024
Nordic Rural Futures: pressures and possibilities Research conference on the future of Nordic rural areas, May 3–5 2010, Uppsala.
Welcome to the first Nordic research conference on Nordic rural research. The aim of this conference is to establish an arena for researchers with an interest in the Nordic rural areas as an empirical field and to offer young researchers an arena to discuss their ongoing research with key scholars from the region. For this purpose, a biennial conference circulating between the Nordic countries are planned inviting established researchers as well as PhD-students from the fields of political science, anthropology, sociology, human geography and rural economics etc. In addition to plenary sessions and group work the conference therefore also hosts a PhD-course.
This first conference is held under the theme ‘Nordic Rural Futures: pressures and possibilities’, and has the following subthemes: New understandings and use of nature and landscapes; Flows of people, ideas and images; Politics and policy. The thematic focus has been developed by the Nordic planning group and we want to thank the Nordic participants of this group:
- Karl Benediktsson, Professor of Human Geography, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland,
- Marit S. Haugen, Research Manager, Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim, Norway,
- Hanne Tanvig, Senior researcher and adviser, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen,
- Hilkka Vihinen, Professor of Rural Policy, MTT Agrifood Research Finland,
- Michael Kull, Principal Research Scientist, MTT Agrifood Research Finland.
This research conference is the outcome of a long process. The research council Formas, The Swedish Board of Agriculture and especially the Swedish National Rural Network have been important partners in this process and both the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the Swedish National Rural Network are partners in the organisation of the conference. Special thanks to: and we also want to thank the members of the planning group:
- Leif Berndtsson, Research coordinator, Swedish National Rural Network,
- Lars Pettersson, PhD, Swedish Board of Agriculture and Jönköping University
Book of Abstracts
Planning Committee
Cecilia Waldenström, Assistant professor, Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Ann-Kristin Ekman, Professor in Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Leif Berndtsson, Research coordinator, Swedish National Rural Network
Lars Pettersson, Ph.D, Swedish Agricultural Board and Jönköping University, Sweden
Hilkka Vihinen, Professor of Rural Policy, MTT Agrifood Research Finland Michael Kull Principal Research Scientist, MTT Agrifood Research Finland
Hanne Tanvig, Senior researcher and adviser, Forest & Landscape, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Marit S. Haugen, Research Manager, Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim, Norway
Karl Benediktsson, Professor of Human Geography, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland Conference coordinator Stina Powell, Research Officer, Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Conference Programme
Monday, May 3
12.00–13.00 Lunch
13.30–14.00 Welcome and information
14.00–14.45 Keynote 1: The increasing use of foreign labour in European agriculture: Reflections on some unintended consequences.
Professor em Ottar Brox, Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Oslo, Norway
14.45–15.15 Coffee
15.15–17.15 Workshop Session 1
18.15–19.00 Mingle
19.00– Dinner
Tuesday, May 4
08.30–10.00 Workshop Session 2
10.00–10.30 Coffee
10.30–12.00 Workshop Session 3
12.00–13.00 Lunch
13.15–14.00 Keynote 2 Places and spaces between urbanity, network society and traditional rural areas.
Professor Johannes Nørgaard Frandsen, Institute of Literature, Media and Cultral Studies, University of Southern Denmark
14.00–15.00 European rural policy: old wine in old bottles: is it corked? challenges for 2013-20.
Professor John Bryden, Research Professor NILF, Norway Emeritus Professor University of Aberdeen, and UHI President, International Rural Network
15.00–15.30 Coffee
15.30–17.30 Workshop Session 4
18.30– Dinner conference program
Wednesday, May 5
08.30–09.15 Keynote 4 So little time, so much to do! A note on the urgency of futures studies.
Professor Erik Westholm, Institute for Future Studies, Stockholm, Sweden
09.30–11.30 Workshop Session 5
11.45–12.30 Conclusions/Summing up
12.30–13.30 Lunch
Workshops and Location
Theme 1 new understandings and use of nature and landscapes
wg 1:1 Theorising rural change – Lugnet, Receptionen
wg 1:3 Outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism
in rural areas – implications and challenges – Gabriella, Receptionen
wg 1:4 Rural entrepreneurship – theory and practice
of business development in rural economies – Henrietta, Receptionen
wg 1:5 The rural and the beast – Matilda, Brunnsvik
Theme 2 flows of people, ideas and images
wg 2:2 From rurality to ruralities: an inquiry into the
new rural spaces- Ida, Receptionen
wg 2:5 Invisible populations – second home mobility,
tourism and rural change – Emil, Receptionen
wg 2:7 Immigration to rural areas – Klara, Brunnsvik
a) Rural development, immigration and ethnicity
b) Is everything on the move? Methodological challenges
wg 2:9 Doing rural – identity, generation and
development – Lukas, Receptionen
Theme 3 Politics and policy
wg 3:1 Rural service provision and local care regimes – August, Receptionen
wg 3:3 Social sustainability – what, why and for whom? – Sebastian, Receptionen
wg 3:2/3:5 Nordic politics of the rural – Elvira, Receptionen
wg 3:6 Forest governance – Filippa, Receptionen
wg 3:8 Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional
development in rural areas – Mälarhallen, Lustgården
wg 3:9 Rural landscapes in transition – the need for new
integrated planning and policy approaches – Alexander, Brunnsvik