The Nordic Regenerative tourism podcast - Episode 03
[Music] welcome everybody to today's episode of this podcast series by the Icelandic tourism cluster Our Guest today is she's the general manager of the SN Regional Park or s in Icelandic rlda has been a partner in the nor project from the very beginning and we are very happy to have the opportunity today to speak to her so welcome raer thank you it's nice to have you thank you for finding your way to reik to record this podast today um so you have been with in the noric project from the very beginning can I ask you how you first heard about the project and what were your first thoughts like what was it that made you want to be with in this journey yeah um I I don't really remember exactly how it started but uh the regional park and sness is 10 years old now and I'm the only member of Staff but of course uh to to get something done you need to work with people so we are always open for projects and we have the regional park of selness have been involved in uh International and uh national projects every year since we we started our work but of course we're always working in selness but if uh if projects uh fit to our goals and and um yeah just I I will sound very self-centered but uh but you if you have one member of Staff uh the board have to use our time wisely we we cannot uh spread too much so we the the people of snif nness they collect the owners of the regional park they collect our main projects every year and of course it's also a small world I I knew ol and I knew AA and and then um now I know you and Jessica and Cil and there so many other people and and also I have to admit that uh having low foot in in the team and and having this Nordic regenerative tourism uh it just gave me some um stomach feeling that this would be good I mean kind of continuing with your work just on a bigger scale and connecting to people all over Iceland and internationally in the nordics yes that that's that's one of the thing with thought we gained but U I have to admit that when I first heard of Nordic regenerative tourism I thought being this middle-aged woman that I am okay another word and you know what does this really mean and uh and I think I was not the only one because we spent a lot of time the first year just to make sure that we have the same understanding and working with the definition of the word and uh uh I am so proud now to to have been part of this from the start because now I'm hearing regenerative tourism you know all over and and and also in other groups that I'm working with and international groups people are thinking okay it's a great idea with regenerative tourism uh maybe we should do something and then I I I can say okay we we have already done that and we have to find it yes you can you can almost say that but just just to finish this thought about the word and the definition um from my point of view uh and and from our exper experience in sness we first started to talk about sustainability sustainable tourism and then like yeah 10 years after that plus we start to talk about responsible tourism and this is also of course what what was happening in Iceland and the the pl and and you should you know yeah security and and you should take responsibility for yourself and U now the the regenerative uh word and I feel of course we are always on the same track we're just developing but I was always missing the community part when we are talking about because of course we are still working on sustainability and we are still working on responsibility everyone like if we think of uh tourists that that travel around snif nness we say there are no dangerous places but it this dangerous behavior and then our homework have to be so that people can get home safe and sound and we do want this to be economic benefit and and uh benefit for nature and everything but it's also so important that there are benefits for the local community and you can say that it was easy for us to say yes to regenerative tourism uh project because this is what we are doing in the Regional Park we because you have probably been around the world on beautiful peninsulas and with with a lot of Nature and culture and and people are not living this because it's so expensive it just goes for summer holidays and and and the tourism is kind of fake in a way so this is what I understand with regenerative tourism in selness that it is it it takes into consideration the homework of the people it involves the people and connects the people with Scientists with with the companies [Music] yeah yeah and you can also say that the the Nordic work on that should uh be able to be a role model for many other parts of the world without us being arrogant that we also of course have a lot to learn from others but it is this equal right and and this democracy and this you know between yeah you know what I mean that that and and the and the the workers right and and this holistic approach that you don't live in a vacuum with your tourist uh company that you to to be able to thrive you need to give something back you need to make sure that others grow around you and uh if that are Farmers producing food that you use in your restaurant or or if you if you share good knowledge about Behavior with domestic and and wild animals around you all those things so you you you take responsibility and and also working together having people with different um interests sitting together at the table and and for example example I use very much at home um when when fishermen were saying I need to be able to get the fish from the boat and and without tourists being everywhere and then having the people from the municipality saying yes of course I understand that let's make paths let's make um you know places where the the tourist can be safe and still enjoy this local work of life and and look at the real snif lessness and this is so winwin because I I believe that most of us both locals and our our guests want to behave in a responsible sustainable way and then if we are working regeneratively and now we talk about regenerative agriculture and regenerative sectors so yeah I think we finally understand the the words and the definitions yeah but I think also like what you just say they want to be uh responsible or regenerative or they just want to behave in the way that it yeah that the area can benefit but I think the problem is that many don't have the knowledge right and then they don't even think about that they are behaving maybe not responsibly yes if we talk about the regenerative tourism in your life because we you know we talked a lot about definitions and then we went into people environment business and tied this all together but if you look at your life be it now private or professional do you have an example of what regenerative tourism could be because it's like not one big concept we said also in our project it consists of so many little Deeds so many little examples do we have one for us yeah um well if I if I focus on this project and what we have learned from also all those wonderful Partners in in the countries around us one big step is just not to be afraid just just jump into the deep end of the pool and uh and like for example if I quote Thor who has been a coworker with us from the start the hotel manager of of Hotel selness he says this is the way to go those of us in the tourist sector who will not understand regenerative tourism will be left behind this is what our guests require and and if I quote the the Storyteller group that also have been involved with the regional park in this project from the start in selness they are getting um tourist um um um what is the right word for it they people are coming to and buying their service because they are working in in with regenerative tourism and then and we will probably talk more about the the biggest project that we did last year as a case study in in snif nness with the seals yeah but but just to to underline that restaurants and hotels around uh a a place where land owner in in our case itka are willing to open up their area for inhabitants and guests and we look at that as we look at that as a a gift in a way and we want to work with all the people and and we also welcome tourists we want tourists we we really understand how how good it is to have all those guests and how how important this can be for for all sectors and and for the economy of selness and for Iceland but we still also understand that it put pressures on infrastructure and and the interests don't always go hand in hand so if if people are ready to do their best I think we can get the best solution so so for example if if restaurant and hotels around itka say okay come and sleep with us eat our delicious food and then it's only 5 minutes or 10 minutes or you know 20 minutes to go to this great place where there are paths and parking place and signs and and and then going the extra mile going going all the way so that they and I really believe that's a win-win situation and behave according to you know do the right thing for the seals because we want this to be also next week next month next year and we want yeah so um I would say like examples from my professional life uh um is just for example learning from Sweden what they are doing with with their breakfast table that not everything have to be offered to guests but the guests have to know before and then they have preferences and they they say okay I'm going to eat that much and and then you don't have to throw away a lot of food and this is a win-win situation like like we know and and this is also what I have experienced since I finished my education in environmental science late last century that uh this is the way to go this is the only way to go we have to treat our nature and our environment like our home and and with respect and and all all those things and we have to we have to have the courage to do everything that we can and and I sometimes feel that people get so overwhelmed over the big questions the big problems that they decide to do nothing and that is the most stupid thing of all yeah so because the solution is that we all take those small steps exactly all these little actions that we also mentioned in noric yes that's true so so and we have been able to jump over so many steps by just learning and having this net of willing people who do understand and year the and have the same understanding of of what we are working on so for example we didn't do exactly like Sweden because we had a we we choose a little bit different path because we we are all going to learn from each other but but we did have a survey about local food and we did work and we involved those who wanted in sness of of and we have many companies that are are uh really working and developing their tourism so so uh a survey more knowledge and uh what do people think what what are the local food yeah they have been interesting yeah it's still it's still ongoing in all the countries this this survey which is super interesting to see what people actually say and I think that again um goes into this awareness part right I just um have to think about it because in Germany me and my family we are running a little coffee house in a historic building and we only offer like one the season offers like if it's strawberry season we have strawberry cakes and sometimes people are requesting strawberry cakes in the Autumn and strawberry season is in May and then we then explain oh no that uh only when Nature offers okay so it's awareness thing that not everybody is a is aware of that nature has a certain Rhythm and regenerative tourism also means to go with this Rhythm I know which is a learning effect what you just also mentioned yes and I also think what you mentioned now this you know knowing factor is so important that also gives us hope and uh then I I think of the sister of my grandmother who who used to live in itka and and uh and is one of the owner of the the seal bits and and built that up with respect for for the seals from the start and I remember when because she was and her husband they they were one of the first who started tourism in selness so it it is a quite young sector and have been growing very very first and I remember her making um wonderful jam and uh with wild berries that she picked and uh serving on her breakfast table and once she she mentioned that she thought it was so sad to wash the dishes after the breakfast and have to throw away all this Jam that she had put so much effort into and then someone told her why don't you put a label on the table homemade jam and after that she never have to throw anything because people were just licking their their dishes so so I think it is different to work with people in tourism than fish for example because you know you get the response right away and and people not everyone at least are idiots they are thinking and if they if they if it's something they like they they continue to come and if they don't like it they don't come so so we really have to do our homework again and and for us and for them and also this people most of us want to make difference we want to leave uh not only money but also if we can contribute to some citizen science project or or and we want to collect experences and and one of that can be eating a local Jam but then you have to know that it's local you have to know what berries you can find in Icelandic nature Etc and I sometimes feel that we haven't sometimes we don't understand how how much Beauty we have in those simple things and and sometimes we don't have to change a lot just to label it just to talk about it and educate about it I agree and especially now I see this also a lot in social media the society is changing a little bit especially the younger generation towards wanting more quality high quality local food so that fits very well for us we did are working in regenerative tourism yeah [Music] ra now you just mentioned citizen science which is a good keyword because a very important part of our noric project is citizen science and especially our project leader ol at she puts a lot of emphasis on driving this part of the project further and uh just like in a nutshell one can say that citizen science is a collaborative effort that involves researchers and this can be professional or amateur researchers the local community and the Wizards to do some research project together and the idea is that the research doesn't happen like only among researchers in Laboratories but it's made more accessible to the locals and to the visitors and uh that can even lead to that visitors feel more connected to the area like you also mentioned before by knowing more by being involved and that can deepen their experience and also connect them better to the locals and the locals in turn can feel more connected to tourism like you said not feeling that tourism is an obstacle but actually something that is helping and um you are part of this work package in our project citizen science and you contributed to creating a seal project in sness can you tell us a little bit about it yeah um yeah I will just um jump right into describing because I would like to tell you a lot about it but to make a long story short we um we ended up with uh picking TKA which is this beats on the south side of sness where there have always has been a lot of Shields and uh long before the definition of regenerative tourism this couple the the sister of my grandmother and and her late husband and and their sons started tourism and they protected the seals and and that led to this uh colony of seals that yeah so so it's a a great spot where people can look at seals and and inhabitants and guests have always been welcomed to come and join and and uh and of course they have been working with a lot of good people and and uh scientists Etc but in with those eyes and also again I I'm I just I I don't know anything else than just being honest so I'm just going to tell you so also this citizen science I I think I am um you know up toate in many things and but but still you have to chew on the words sitz and science what is it and and you read up the definition and but I have to had to I know more about the now when I have tried it and uh I do know that it have to be a real question there have to be because we don't want any green wash here and you have to have to know what you're doing and if you are asking people to do give something of their time they have to be secure that we do use the information and there are scientists on the other end so just to make a long story short we uh put together in this project boat I sometimes think of the projects as as boats and a very important step for me as being the only member of Staff in the regional park is to when we have when the board have decided okay we are going to participate in this project then I have to be sure that I have the right people on board because one person don't do anything it have to be and they have to be the right people and they have to work together that's a very nice metaphor yes I I because I'm married to a farmer and I I used to have all the metaphors from agriculture but of course fishery is very important in sness so I've been practicing that's very nice sailing on a project boat and also Magdalena you can think of the the project of the regional park now for 10 years some project are big and they're supposed to sail forever and some boats are uh I or the regional park is in charge and and and we hire the crew and we pay for the petroleum and everything some boats we are not even on them we are just standing on the Harbor and waving you know so so the regional park can have different roles in the project spots we continue with that metaphor and in this project I had the responsibility uh on the behalf of the regional park to to get the boat floating and uh and get the right people on board and I do have a Facebook site for the the tourist sector and and uh I put out there for example okay we are participating in ntic regenerative tourism we are going to have a citizen science project who wants to join okay so it was uh um mainly professionals or was it only Al just like individuals living in sness well uh the the the project idea was to have a place where there are a lot of seals having tourist companies who who would uh um invite their guests to participate and they had to L binacular because that was one of the thing because it's to again we don't say citizen science okay go to itka and look at seals that's not citizen science but we created with very good help from scientists who knew exactly what citizen science was and I I'm so grateful for Jessica for Cecilia for santra and and the seal Center in Kon we had wonderful team of very good scientists that was linked to the Nordic regenerative tourism so that was one one foundation and then my part was to get the right people on board from snif nness those who would like to and of course in the beginning I thought I always want to make it big and get everyone involved but then again the scientist said R relax you know we're just starting this journey let's we don't we don't don't need 100 people we don't need thousand people we just need one hotel who will really understand that be involved and train their stuff and the people who come to Hotel sness in this case many of them are uh eager bird watchers have their own binoculars Etc but also the hotel had two of them and we had calculated that to participate in the whole project you would need maybe up to four hours and that's a lot when you think of people are strict in time and and the best time to watch the seals are on low tide so we have to inform them we have to give them information of what is the best time there are two types of seals that live around Iceland gry seal and harbor seal you can see others who but they don't live here can you say and uh one species is in dangered and the other is in trouble so that was the The Burning question how many are they how how how are they behaving are they on land are they in Sea uh do we see more of them when the weather is like that or or da da da so again to make a long story short if you would do the the total project absolutely according to the books it would you would walk 1.6 kilom 2. a point B Point C you would have a a a form to fill out you would count seals you would try to find find out are the gray seals are the Harper seals are they in the sea you would write down the weather and uh is it rainy Etc and and your comments and you would uh fill out you you there was a CER code so there was a survey and you could take pictures and send them via email and I really loved this but but I think we learned and learned and learned and even though I I have so deep respect for the researcher and they did so wonderful work and I think this was a brilliant project but still it can be improved it was so great to to hear the students from on all ages they because children are so clever and and both they were curious about do they pee you know in the sea or Etc but but also does the weather in you know have impact on their behavior and and and this when tourists think that the seals are posing that is a sign of a stress so we again we need to learn we have to understand and we always do uh but it's getting less and less and I hope this project have also helped we do get phone calls from well-meaning tourists who are maybe huging a seal pop and saying well is the mother I've been waiting here for an hour and the mother is not coming and then I I we have to explain would you please go away because the mother is just waiting for you to go away so learn understanding let's say if I'm a guest in hotel sness like um if I am interested in the citizen science first of all how do I hear about it as a guest when I'm staying there and what is the problem that I'm solving because I'm pretty sure there must be some kind of problem statement why these guests are encouraged to be part of this right can you maybe say this in a nutshell like how this is introduced to the guests yeah but uh but I have to say that this is not ongoing right now because we we did this in a period of time and now we have wrapped it up in a report and we are having workshops about it and then the next step is another meeting with all these wonderful people about how we continue but to answer your question um we trained the staff of hotel snif lessness and Thor of course being in charge and being active in Nordic regenerative tourism and uh we did have have papers we they have printed out materials and uh also when people were coming to the restaurant or they would sleep there would be available uh you would see the you know in a frame and lying on on a yeah on the counter or something and so that would maybe cut your eyes and then also they were trained so that okay those are people interested in in birds or or those are enthusiasts they would really tell them about it but all the guests and also inhabitants who came to hotel snn for half years could land binoculars and we had also trained the staff of all the visitor centers and we had trained the the we had informed the people of snel SN so everyone could have participate but we in this citizen science project we were only taking the guests who did the whole packets okay okay because we were learning from that and you are asking what are the problem they are helping to solve and that is we have to learn more about the seals we have to know how many harbor seals and how many gray seals are there in this case in itka how are they behaving how are they behaving you know when there's a lot of people When there's less people and uh how do do you follow up with the guests like do they somehow get the reports or do they see the results at some point point they yeah those who who uh clicked the the quer code they were part of the the um survey and and they gave us their email and also those who who left uh in paper form and and they get a followup okay that is so interesting and so important yes you're right that is very important because if you give in this case up to four hours of your precious time in Iceland you need to get and that is completely right and we have learned that we have to make sure that uh everything is on the table but it also have to be fun if you had to answer super spontaneously what is the biggest learning that you took so far from the noric project we are two years in we have one more year to go what would you say is the biggest takeaway for you so far just that there are so many great people out there and there are so many wonderful tourists opportunities and the best ones are also designed for the inhabitants in some way that and and also if you I I think you are agree with me that when we go abroad we would like to participate in something that the inhabitants also would like to participate in and and uh so if you get connected to local food local culture local wildlife and you you learn and and maybe even transform your life you become a better person and now I'm going I know I'm going going taking it maybe a little bit too far but but the best moments of the of this project have brought me there they've just brought tears in my eyes of of like respect for all these wonderful people that we do have and I have also so much uh I I believe in that when universities and and knowledge connects to local knowledge and and the world of work wonderful wonderful people things can happen and if we also have the schools on the site I I sometimes say snif is a wonderful place to try out some case studies like this because the people of sness are trained in working together and they they want to work together we totally do not always agree because that would be unhealthy but we we do share the same goals and we're willing to to work on it so and to be a to see that also in fire Islands Norway Denmark you know [Music] Wonderful like in the last question because noric is a three-year project we are two years in now we are in our third and last year now um once noric is finished which will be in the beginning of next year or spring how do you plan on making sure that regenerative work in your professional and also private life continues but let's focus on on the professional life how do you let noric or regenerative tourism keep on living yeah I I think uh that uh this is just a a you know next step in what we have been trying to do and and the regional park will really try to work on this path with now stronger tools than before and also using this in our other project we are hopefully becoming UNESCO men and biosphere area in 2025 I think that perfectly into regenerated tourism if you ask me we also have like Earth Tech certification in sness now for 15 years that's about sustainable tourism and and also about regenerative tourism and uh so I I think I'm just going to say it again like those who are not going to take this path they are going to lose and and I don't know what they will lose will they lose their Community will they lose their nature will they lose their tourists I think that is the you know this is the way to go to to understand your environment understand your community and work together and we have to you know I I know not all tourists are thinking about this I know that but but the a very important part of the tourists are and and this is also the best part to work with so so that's like a win-win again yeah and maybe that's also part of regenerative tourism to kind of uh attract these tourists that are thinking about that yeah and uh keep them yes okay that was very interesting talking to you R I think we should stop here and uh thank you so much for coming today and sharing your thoughts with us thank you for having me [Music]
2024-11-25 02:10
