A somewhat unorthodox approach

Within the scope of the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor, there is occasionally time for conducting your own research. Last week, I participated in a combined field course and research retreat that took place in a cabin in Finland's Pyhä-Luosto National Park, an hour or so north of the Arctic Circle. A total of 15 students and researchers from Canada, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden met here. We started our international cooperation in the 2000s, as a thematic network within the UArctic with the aim of establishing a joint master's degree programme with a focus on tourism.

Together, we have found an approach to collaborative research and education that may be somewhat unorthodox, but we have managed to keep it going for almost ten years. You may wonder what motivates us. The answer is simple. We are driven by a common interest in developing knowledge about tourism in Arctic conditions, for ourselves and for students. Together, we offer courses that no one could provide alone. At the same time, we produce scientific publications and have fun being together.

As for the master's degree programme, after several years of intense but fruitless discussions, we realised that no one wanted to be held back by seemingly insurmountable administrative obstacles. We decided to establish a course package of three 10-credit courses. Students who complete all 30 credits are awarded a UArctic Certificate, which certifies that the student has specialised in Arctic tourism. Today, universities in Iceland and Finland provide the courses, to avoid costly fees for students from non-European countries. However, all universities make educational contributions. The course collaboration means that virtually all participating teachers instruct within their own areas of research. This gives the courses a certain distinction and variation. Students at Umeå University can take these courses as part of their own master's programme or as extra courses, which most do. The other universities have also chosen their own ways of including the courses in their respective master's programmes.

In addition to the educational activity, we conduct an annual research workshop in relation to the sites we visit. Study visits are interspersed with informal discussions and seminars. One of the colleagues within the collaboration represents an Arctic Five Chair for tourism and climate change - and thus has also taken on a role as research leader for the collaboration. This has resulted in various reports, articles and book chapters. The fact that the research meeting takes place at the same time as the field course has created a platform where researchers and students can meet. For the students, this means seeing their teachers in a combined research and educational context, as opposed to only in the role of teacher. As a result, several former field course participants who have gained a good insight into the research process have gone on to apply for doctoral-level education themselves. Based on these positive experiences, we have now decided to conduct a doctoral course hand in hand with the field course and the research workshop. In addition, this year's meeting also resulted in a joint book project.

The financing of the collaboration has never been a major issue. The educational activities are mainly financed by a Nordplus grant. Mobility for researchers has been funded over the years through the Arctic Cooperation Programme of the Nordic Council of Ministers, and now also through funds from the Arctic Five Chair initiative and other individual grants.

I am already planning for next year's visit to Pyhä-Luosto. The activities within this collaboration have a high priority.