This conceptual paper argues that there are unrealized benefits from a cross-fertilization between research on sustainable tourism and sustainability transitions studies. With the aim to stimulate such cross-fertilization, the paper identifies three contemporary streams in sustainability transitions studies that are particularly relevant for sustainable tourism: deep transitions, transitions in practice, and the geography of transitions. These three streams present complementary perspectives, which can help reach a more nuanced understanding of transition processes in the tourism sector. The paper concludes that while research on sustainable tourism can benefit from theories, concepts, and frameworks from research on sustainability transitions, research on sustainable tourism can support further conceptual developments in sustainability transitions studies.

BackgroundIn Sweden there is a debate how urban areas can be planned compared with the societal context in the future. An important starting point is that city destinations are very attractive for visitors (Maitland & Ritchie, 2009). In addition, in Stockholm there has been a discussion for several years how to cooperate and organise the whole region more efficiently concerning tourism and the tourism and travel industry. In a development project “Besökskraft” in Stockholm a new sort of destination organisation and governance is investigated on a regional level. It is led by “Region Stockholm” and its regional development office. A formal project organisation is developed using a steering committee, a project group, a main working group and several reference groups. The project is financed by EU and internally by the regional development office.

Research purposeThe research purpose is to investigate and analyse how institutional governance and Destination Management Organisations (DMO) can support the development of city visitor destinations based on reasons for visitors´ travel. The following six analysis themes are used: City and sub city areas, Governance principles, Destination development areas, Actor networks, Destination Management Organisation (DMO) and Positioning based on travel motivation.

Research methodThe first project phase of the development project “Besökskraft” is November 2022 – October 2023. This will be studied, but the plan is to follow the project for three more years. The chosen destination case is the Stockholm county region. As a “companion researcher” I am conducting a case study based on action research using a regional planning perspective. As sub methods interviews, workshops, observation, action studies, webpage investigations and destination report studies are being used. This paper can be considered as a progress report.

City and sub city areasIn Stockholm centre there are eight regional cities and in addition a large peri-urban area (Stockholm county council, 2018). This is a foundation for empowered communities and place prosperity, which is discussed in the long-term regional plan RUFS 2050. It i  important to find typical functions for these regional cities in order to use the strengths of the place. The functions is closely related to visitors’ travel motivations. This is discussed in the project during 2023. Furthermore, the responsible tourist behaviour will be considered, such as overtourism in cities.

Governance principlesOverall governance principles have been discussed in the development project. For example, Hall (2011) has identified four types of governance: Hierarchies, markets, networks and communities, and Cizel, Ajanovic and Cakar (2015) propose that stakeholders´ ideas related to destination governance in Antalya were extracted under three main themes: shared vision, goal congruence and interaction. Bellini & Pasquinelli (2017) propose that cities are developed with their suburbs by specific actor groups, such as the tourist and travel industry through innovation, entrepreneurship etc. However, the overall governance principles, will be developed in the second phase of the project in 2024.

Destination development areasAs a starting point the question “What to DO within the region of Stockholm county?” has been used in the development project. The idea has been to find possible working areas and later on to discuss the planned destination organization. Therefore, during the first destination workshop twelve important development areas were identified for the region. After an analysis by the project group three starting development areas have been chosen: competence, infrastructure and positioning. In the next phase about ten more development areas will be chosen. In order to find potential development areas benchmarking with other destination has been conducted. Besides the Smart City Concept could give new ideas in the development project in later phases. For example, Smart City Sweden (2022) proposed that with economic rethinking the areas: climate, energy & environmental, mobility, digitalisation, urban planning and social sustainability could be used.

Actor networksThe destination project uses the quadruple-helix method. The general principle is about collaboration between four actor groups: government, industry, research institutes and society. In Stockholm these destination actor groups are related to each other in a complex network. Andersson (2016) has developed an analysis model of the tourism department’s network, where the following six network content dimensions were found during the literature review: stakeholders, reciprocal relations, relation exchange, network driving forces, network management and purpose. One can also ask who has potential how to take the lead position and if there should be a top-down or bottom-up planning approach in the region. Wray (2015) support that the state should take a lead position in managing and coordinating destination stakeholder activities related to tourism product and experience development, destination marketing and management, and sustainable tourism planning. So far the regional office has taken the lead position, but all actors are aware of that only guidance can be used.

Destination Management Organisation (DMO)The destination and its network is complex and dynamic. Therefore, DMOs are an important organisational unit. The DMOs need to embrace and engage all bodies (public and private) who are concernd with actions that engage the industry to develop and to improve supply (Spyriadis, Fletcher & Fyall, 2013). There are different levels within the region’s destination structure. On the one hand there is a local destination organisation which has a physical representation task and it works with concrete business products. On the other hand, there is a regional destination organisation which has a digital representation task and it works with supporting activities for tourism. During the development project about 20 more formal DMOs have participated in focus group interviews. It is obvious that local DMOs is really working with local products and individual tourist. However, the biggest DMO owned by the municipality of Stockholm has already taken marketing and planning initiatives which often cover the whole Stockholm region. Therefore, it has to be a coordination of working areas for Visit Stockholm and a planned overall regional DMO.

Positioning based on travel motivationThe character of the destination will give some ideas about visitors’ travel motivation. In addition, these travel motivations have to be prerequisites for destination trademarks in relation to the destination image. Within the development project this development are visitors. Furthermore, some cities’ conditions are associated with both positive and negative image, but they have still a great potential (Andersson & Abbasian, 2018). Attractive image of city and regional centres with positioned city tourism products is a prerequisite for new destination structure and actors.

Tentative conclusionsThis is the first preliminary research report and the project will continue until at least December 2024. However, some tentative conclusions can be proposed. Within the actor groups in Stockholm there is a positive attitude to a new formal regional destination organisation, even though there are several questions about it: such as financing and the organisations’ objectives. Connected to the development project in Stockholm several governance principles will be discussed in later reports, such as the use of the quadruple principles in the destination network. Furthermore, the role of different DMOs will be discussed and their relations to the whole city and sub-cities. There is also a consensus on what development areas are important to start to work with in Stockholm, such as transportation. A model of different development areas, city area structure and related destination organisation questions will be developed.

ReferencesAndersson, G. (2016). An analysis model of tourism academic networks: a Swedish case study triangulated with an EU research project. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 16(3), 195-212.Andersson, G., & Abbasian, S. (2018). Analysis Dimensions of City Destination Character and Image Positioning. Almatourism-Journal of Tourism, Culture and Territorial Development, 9(17), 33-54.Cizel, B., Ajanovic, E., & Cakar, K. (2016). Prerequisites for effective and sustainable destination governance. Anatolia, 27(2), 155-166.Hall, M. (2011). A typology of governance and its implications for tourism policy analysis, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19:4-5, 437-457.Maitland, R., & Ritchie, B. (Eds.). (2009). City tourism: National capital perspectives. Cabi.Mehraliyev, F., Cheng Chu Chan, I., Choi, Y., Ali Koseoglu, M., & Law, R. (2020). A stateof-the-art review of smart tourism research, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 37:1, 78- 91.Rivera, J. P. R., Gutierrez, E. L. M., & Roxas, F. M. Y. (2022). Re-thinking governance in tourism: Harnessing tourism’s post-COVID-19 economic potential. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 1-27.Stockholm county council. (2018). Regional Development Plan for Stockholm – RUFS 2050.Wray, M. (2015). Drivers of change in regional tourism governance: a case analysis of the influence of the New South Wales Government, Australia, 2007–2013, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(7), 990- 1010.

Today there is a discussion how urban areas can be developed in the future compared with the numberof residents, public sector and industry in Sweden.

The city regions are also very attractive for visitors(Maitland & Ritchie, 2009). However, will the Corona pandemic demand more local sustainable productswith reduced transports?In Stockholm destination there are eight regional city centres and also a large peri-urban area(Stockholm county council, 2018).

The tourism industry influence strongly on the development of cities with their suburbs throughinnovation, entrepreneurship etc. (Bellini & Pasquinelli, 2017). The companies have to consider todevelop new attractiveness concept which is even more important after the pandemic, such as newhybrid products and local product packages based on visitor streams.

The destination character is a base for the supply and its matching image. Some suburb environmentare associated with negative image, but still they have a great potential (Andersson & Abbasian, 2018).

The research purpose is to investigate the visitor attractive functional supply in a regional city and itsimage, and how it can be related to visitors experience demand.

The visit functional supply is investigated by in-depth interviews of tourist experts, and the visitorexperiences by semi-structured interviews and a quantitative investigation using the AnalyticalHierarchical Process.

Typical visit functional supply based on visitor streams in regional city centre, and typical experiencedemand for various visitor categories are identified and developed into a model of smart city centres. Inaddition, attractive image aspects of city and regional centres, and transformed city tourism productswith new destination actors.

Destinations and their visitors are crucial to study in city tourism. Valls et al. (2013) proposed that identifying destination characteristics related to visitor segments and their holiday can help in the interpretation of contemporary urban tourism flows in Europe, facilitating city strategic planning in order to boost competitiveness. It is a challenge to identify the destination attributes and their benefits that the individual market segments value the most (Reisinger, Mavondo, & Crotts, 2009).

Within destinations in Sweden there is a lack of knowledge about visitor streams. For example, there are no available official statistics for detailed tourism streams in Stockholm (The statistical analyst at Swedish Agency for Eco­nomic and Regional Growth, 2018). The problem, though, is how qualitative information and statistics can be collected and analysed with the limited resources available. In addition, the statistics are too static, because they are not connected to a tourist’s whole trip. New approaches will be demanded for tourism statistics and study techniques. Exploring tourist spatial behaviour based on social media big data is a new research field (Tang & Li, 2015).

There is a discussion how to use mobile data points in Sweden in order to understand pattern of travel to destinations and concentration of people at a destination during a specific time. In addition, there are difficulties such as the lack of knowledge of a person's background. However, the use of mobile data and other Internet sources is rapidly developing.

The purpose of this study is how visitor streams can based on the destination characteristics and visitor segments be analysed and discussed in order to improve the destination by destination organisations? This is an ongoing research project about visitor streams.

This research included analysis of about 100 destination plans, a pilot study of statistics and qualitative destination information about Stockholm, tourist segments studies, in-depth interviews and a literature review. Statistical data and qualitative information in this research are used as “knowledge indicators” rather than as “unambiguous facts”.

The case study of the visitor segment “cruise passengers” to Stockholm has been chosen as an empirical example. During the high season, there could be between 2,000 and 16,000 cruise passengers in the centre of Stockholm on any given day. These sightseeing tours mostly use just three or five activity points, which are based on visitor attractions, restaurants, shopping, guided tours, outlooks and exploring independently. This means that a very small city area is used by cruise passengers.

 In order to develop the tourist products and marketing there is a need for the destination organisations to understand the most important tourist segments and their segment streams within the regional and local destinations, using statistics and qualitative indicators. For example, the DMOs and local incoming companies need to coordinate the marketing, attraction development and logistics regarding their cruise products in the central of Stockholm. The stream content could be: defined visitor segment, visitor data, spatial destination data such as points and routes, time information and tourism product. However, there is also a need for understanding overall city people streams in order to plan the city's infrastructure, where big data could be used. As a result this will hopefully improve the destination logistics and reduce overcrowding.

The streams can be of different types, which demand different investigation and presentation techniques. The cruise passenger’s visitor stream routes are of regular character. But the segment “private car travellers” are of irregular character, where the tourists can be analysed in visitor sectors connected to an investigation technique, when moving around individually.

Finally, this research propose the visitor stream concept and future research of various visitor segment streams and the city's people movement pattern. A basic method for analysing visitor streams is suggested: defining “regional and local destination” and its characteristics, investigating quantitative and qualitative destination information, identifying important visitor segments, analysing segment streams and overall movement patterns of people with new destination tools.

City tourism, with its unique character and image, has increased considerably over the last decades. At the same time, the complexity of destination development and image marketing has increased, and there is a lack of analysis tools for image positioning. The purpose is to investigate city destination image and character as prerequisites for destination mar­keting and development and how the image and character position can be analysed. City destination character, visitor destination image and visitor segments are used as the main theoretical framework.  An exploratory qualitative study approach has been chosen with an image case study of destination Stockholm. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the visitor segment international students and destination specialists. The study shows that desti­nation specialists have assessed a combination of city destination characteristic areas, which can be developed. Furthermore, visitors have a mind­set of several image aspects and holistic expressions for city destinations that can be used in destination marketing to change the current image position into the desired one. In order to determine a desired position, six analysis dimensions have been found useful: Desired positioning, Demand and supply, Visitor segmentation, Destination generalisation, Visit process and Expression type. The analysis dimensions are based on relevant dichotomous aspects. The effects of the used dimensions are called “positioning leverage effects”, and their main aim is to obtain a competitive advantage and to differentiate to other destinations.

Most tourists to Sweden come to urban areas, but a dilemma is that there is a lack of visitor attractions to offer experiences in the cities. Therefore, the shift from heritage being only preserved to also being experienced by different tourist segments is welcome.

Different tourist segments have their own unique heritage experiences. The “classical” experience aspects proposed by Pine & Gilmore (1999) can be used to explain the experience. However, special aspects of experience at heritage sites have been pointed out, such as Must See, Must Learn, Must feel and Must evolve (Poria, 2012).

Visit Sweden (2018) focuses on three tourist segments, such as Active family. Our empirical studies show that the experience-related motives of visit are somewhat different for these three segments. The study also shows that human senses are strongly connected to the experience, but the importance of the senses differ. Another empirical implication is that smart cities give prerequisites for what Mossberg (2007) call experiencescape.

The purpose of the present study is to clarify how tourists' experiences of heritage attraction can be analysed into aspects of experience for different segments of tourists, and how this may be further applied in the market segmentation. An overall case study method will be used to study three maritime tourist attractions.

The research contribution is to show how meaningful aspects of experience can represent the experience of heritage attractions for different target groups. This is based on that aspects of tourist experience can emerge from the sensory impressions (Agapito et. al, 2014). Ano­ther contribution is how these aspects of experience can be used in marketing segmen­tation using the smart city tourism concept. Finally, this research will hopefully give attraction developers new tools to market well-attended and efficiently marketed heritage attractions.

Abstract from the presentation of:

City destination image

- How destination characteristics can be interconnected with visitors' destination image

Göran Andersson & Saeid Abbasian

Tourism Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden

Email: goran.andersson@sh.se

Destination Management Organisations (DMO) package the city image into a clear brand in order to attract foreign visitors (Eringa & Zhou, 2015). Still it is a complex task to analyse visitor segments' image experiences (Stepchenkova & Mills, 2010). Unique characteristics of tourism destinations are exploited by DMO:s and tourism companies, such as their identity (Valls et al., 2012), in planning and marketing products for different visitor segments. Besides, big cities are typically more well-known and organised destinations which opens for new forms of image marketing (Lucarelli & Berg, 2011).

The purpose of the research project is to investigate the characteristics and interconnected images of a city destinations; and visitor segments' experiences of city images based on image attributes. A multidisciplinary approach with an explorative purpose is used. The theoretical framework consists of city destination characteristics and images, image experiences, and visit motivators.

Typical characteristics and visitor segments were identified in the case of destination Stockholm in our pilot study. The results have been used in a qualitative investigation about the city image and its attributes, and also visitor's image expectations and experiences. Furthermore, an overall case study of Stockholm city will be conducted.

The knowledge contribution relates to new city destination characteristics connectivity to images. Furthermore, the image impact on visitor travel motivators before and after visiting the destination. A model will be developed about “visitors' image positions”, based on the visitors' assessment of destination image attributes. This knowledge will support tourism companies and DMO:s to develop image marketing tools.

The purpose of this research is to investigate and develop an analysis model of a tourism department network using an explorative approach. Strategic stakeholders have been identified for the tourism department and organised into partner groups. An analysis model has been developed based on four network types: formal organisation, informal organisation, formal individual and informal individual. For every type, the following six network content dimensions were found relevant to analyse: stakeholders, reciprocal relations, relation exchange, network driving forces, network management and network purpose. The investigations have shown some focused network strengths such as network permanency, with corresponding weaknesses such as rigid relations. Some typical implications of the strengths and weaknesses for the department have been identified, and some network techniques to handle the implications have been proposed. An annual network development process for a tourism department is suggested. The resulting network is summarised as the Professional Tourism Academic Network (PTAN).

In society today there is a heated debate about sustainable development. It is argued that event organisations must take responsibility for sustainability, although they may lack appropriate development tools. The purpose of this article is to study how event companies and organisations can develop a sustainability process in a societal system context and the need for certification in their events. The analysis was based on the study of relevant literature, an investigation in Sweden and a systems analysis. A triangulation technique was used to combine the different methods. It is argued that there is a sustainability event system in a societal context, within which event organisations have a central role. A model of sustainability and certification process for an event organisation and its events is developed, which consists of criteria, activities, certification, effects and obstacles. This recognised certificate could be a motivator and guideline for sustainable event development. The certification's focus has to be on the event organiser's management. However, event organisers need to certify their own organisations, either including all future events or only some specific events. This would give the organisations and the event industry a positive image and recognised role in a sustainable world.

There has been a paradigm shift from heritage being only preserved, to also being shown as a tourist attraction. One of two diverse approaches amongst scholars to define heritage tourism is to use a visitor-experience perspective (Apostolakis, 2003). Different segments of tourists have their own unique experiences of the heritage. Specific aspects can be used to explain the experience, such as the “classical” aspects by Pine & Gilmore (1999). In addition, in the last few years other experience aspects have been identified, such as kick, comfort, competence and contact (Kairos Future, 2011). The concept of “the experience room” (Mossberg, 2003) is used to present an experience context. The assumption of this study is that the experience landscape is made up of perceptive signals that cover the human senses. Although one can ask how this approach supports the development of attractions. Cognitive and affective experiences were discussed at conferences on memory tourism in Estonia 2013-14, used in the pilot study to this research. The purpose of the present study is to enhance the knowledge about how tourist's experiences of heritage attraction can be analysed into aspects of experience for different segments of tourists, and secondly, how the human senses influence the tourist's cognitive and affective experiences. An overall case study method will be used to study four maritime tourist attractions. The study consists of unstructured ethnographical interviews, experimental observation of tourists, and tourist's own evaluations during the experience. The research contribution is to shed light to how meaningful aspects of experience can represent the experience of heritage attractions for different target groups. This is based on an analysis on whether tourist experience aspects can emerge from the sensory impressions of tourists' experi­ences (Agapito et. al, 2014). Another contribution is to figure out how the sense perception can be connected to affective and cognitive aspects that result in a joint experience of an attraction. The pilot study showed that enhanced customer investigations of tourist's experiences are needed, which will be further more analysed. In the end this research will hopefully give attraction developers new tools to generate innovative and well-attended heritage attractions.

All tourism destinations have unique characteristics that constitute their identity (Valls et al., 2012). Tourism companies, in turn, exploit these when planning and marketing product concepts for different market segments. In recent decades, the cities in the Baltic Sea region (BSR) have undergone a change considering their profiles as more well-known tourism destinations. Meanwhile, even the degree of professionalism in the tourism industry has increased. This opens opportunities for new forms of image marketing (Lucarelli & Berg, 2011). In order to understand city tourism better a comparison between urban and rural tourism will be made. Each destination and the associated companies have to develop their products and marketing campaigns in order to effectively promote themselves to various tourist segments. The purpose of this research project is to investigate the characteristics of city destinations, and how tourist segments translate them into destination images, and further how the image influences motivations for travel choice. Our theoretical framework consists of city destination concepts, destination characteristics and images, tourist segments' motivations and destination branding. In our pilot study, typical characteristics and tourist segments were found in the case of destination Stockholm. This result will be used when investigating how different tourist segments translate characteristics to an image perception. The planned research will take a multidisciplinary approach with an explorative purpose. A case study of two typical BSR-cities will be conducted, using interviews, statistical data, web site analysis and destination document studies. The knowledge contribution relates primarily to new forms of city destination characteristics and their impact on visitor travel motivators. Furthermore, a model for investigating segments' “image positions” will be developed based on a new kind of demand of city tourism and a more professional tourism industry, even though it is a complex task to determine image positions (Stepchenkova & Mills, 2010). Our hypothesis is that tourist segments are more interested in what city destination can offer today, but the supply side needs more knowledge how to influence the segments' travel motivators. We hope that the acquired knowledge will support destination organisations (DMO) and tourism companies to develop their tools for image marketing.

City destinations are central in the study of tourism. But how can visitor streams related to the destination characteristics and visitor segments be analysed and discussed as a basis for improvement of the destination? This research used statistical data and qualitative information as “knowledge indicators” rather than as “unambiguous facts”. The research included analysis of about 100 destination plans, a pilot study of statistics and qualitative destination information about Stockholm, and a literature review. It resulted in the development of the visitor stream concept, which can be used in future research on the integration of various visitor segment streams. A method for analysing visitor streams is suggested: (1) defining “focused destination” and its characteristics, (2) investigating quantitative and qualitative destination information, (3) identifying visitor segments, and (4) analysing streams with new destination tools. The knowledge gained will introduce and address new issues concerning statistics for measuring, monitoring and assessing the actual value of tourism, particularly urban tourism.

There is a debate about responsible and sustainable development in tourist destinations. One could argue that event companies have a responsibility for sustainability, but they lack the analyses tools. The purpose is to investigate and analyse how companies working with events could develop a certification process of sustainability, and how decisions about an event’s sustainability certification could be supported. The analysis is based on both the study of relevant literature and investigations carried out and by using multi-criteria decision-making systems. A sustainable certification process is developed which consists of external company sustainability criteria, such as social, cultural, economic and ecological dimension, and also internal criteria such as using a sustainability plan. However, in this study certification obstacles have been found, for example certification costs. When developing the sustainability certification process a need is recognised for a decision support tool. Therefore a triangulation multi-criteria decision-making model is proposed consisting of six steps: 1. Problem formulation, 2. Computer criteria definition, 3. Definition of measures and rules, 4. Data collection and registering, 5. Total evaluation of the alternatives' results and 6. Final analysis and choice. When using the model there is a need for an integrated manual assessment by the evaluator and the computerbased expert system support. Therefore, triangulation of mainly qualitative research methods is used starting with qualitative interviews with an inductive approach by the evaluator, continuing with computer-based expert system analysis (the DEXi-system) with a logical interpretation approach and ending with the evaluator's deep interpretation of both manual and computer-based results.

Stockholm hosts nearly eleven million commercial guest nights annually, and is ranked as one of Europe’s top ten destinations.The county population is 2.1 million (Stockholm Visitors Board,

2014). In order to pursue economic, effective, and sustainable tourist destination development, it is important to understand its characteristics. In this study “city destinations” are focused on using sub-characteristics such as “visitor attraction clusters”. For understanding these characteristics, a clear definition of destination has to be used (Framke, 2002). The following components can be used to conduct an analysis of a destination: geographical place, visitor, image, complete tourist product, and interacting business and public sector (Andersson, 2013). Tourist destinations can be studied at the following different geographical place levels: the regional (e.g. the Stockholm region), the local (e.g. the old town) and the attraction-based destination point (e.g. Friends arena). The Stockholm Tourism Strategy 2020 project group has proposed a number of criteria that must be fulfilled before a destination can be considered mature. In order to gain an understanding of the demand (and revenue) side of destinations, unique criteria can be used for visitor segmentation in the city, such as visitor purpose. There are changing patterns of visitor streams in Stockholm, however, such as the dramatic increase in the number of cruise passengers (Stockholm harbour, 2015). Therefore the visitor stream planning has to be up-dated. By using criteria for visitor segmentation and characterization of the destination, economically strong and reachable visitor segments such as city-breakers can be identified. Visit Sweden has identified a number of segments, such as “double income no kids” (DINKs), that can serve as an overall category for citybreakers. Research purpose: To obtain deeper understanding of how regional, local, and point destinations can be developed using knowledge of the destination character and visitor streams within the destination. The theoretical framework is based on the concept of destination, the characteristics of city tourism, visitor segments, and streams. Methodology: As a starting point, approximately 150 destination plans have been written by my undergraduate students, and a pilot study and a literature review have been conducted. The next step will be a main case study on regional, local, and point destination levels in Stockholm and the associated visitor streams. The final step will be to draw conclusions about the model of visitor streams in city destinations.

The Professional Societal Academic Network (PSAN) of

Tourism Department Partners

– A Swedish Case Study Triangulated with the EU-Project TARSI

GÖRAN ANDERSSON

 (Södertörn University, Department of Tourism Studies, Stockholm, Sweden[1])

Universities are not isolated from society. Throughout the world and at the highest political level, there are pressures on the higher education sector to network with its surrounding society. This whole idea of networking is supported by the European Bologna process in connecting academia more closely with business and society and in new and innovative ways. Nevertheless, at universities there is a lack of knowledge on how to structure societal networks and a lack of experiences in network building. This causes problems with regard to effective co-operation between the university and its societal partners. The fact that universities are not isolated from society can also be recognised by the public debates on education, research and community engagement. Nevertheless, there are almost no research articles written about universities' societal networks.

       The purpose of this research is to investigate university networks critically and to develop an analysis model for strategic partner relations and the underlying network structure within a Tourism Department's network.

       A case study methodology has been used with the Tourism Department at the author's university being the object studied, in order to study the network building process since it was established in 1999. Experiences from the EU-project TARSI (Tailored Applied Research and Implementation) have been triangulated with the results from the case study.

       Furthermore, a literature review has been conducted in order to identify which stakeholders appear in the literature of higher education-society interrelations and to find underlying dimensions to the university network structure. The theoretical framework is based on network theories, where network strategy, network partners, relation purpose, networks' formality, individual and organisational networks, network principles and obstacles are important themes.   

       For the Tourism Department, the following strategic partner types with associated relation purposes have been identified: the academic staff, current students, alumni, the tourism industry, public tourist organisations, non-profit tourist organi­sa­tions, macro-environment partners and the higher education sector. Every main stakeholder group has been organised into partner groups at the Tourism Department. The benefit of this approach is that special university objectives can be reached more easily if the Tourism Department has known part­ners in formal sub-groups already in place. In every sub-group there are typically questions depending on the Department's relation purpose.

       A relation structure network model has been developed, where the dimensions of formal-informal and organisational-individual have been found relevant in order to structure the network. The model is based on the four main opportunity building principles of permanency, openness, motivation and trustfulness. However, there are also corresponding main obstacles of cost-benefit misunderstanding, relation burden, strategic unconformity and non-network opportunities.

       There is a challenge in increasing the community engagement activities when using more resources. However, the benefits for the university and the surrounding world will be positive in total. It is of great importance for European university academies to use network strategies in their overall planning in order to be a natural part of society, which is summarised as the Professional Societal Academic Network (PSAN). Finally, the interaction of universities with society is regarded as a never-ending journey in a global world.

KEYWORDS: Strategic network, Tourism Department, Community engagement, Network partners, Networks' formality, Individual-organisational stakeholders

[1] For correspondence: Södertörn University, Department of Tourism Studies, 141 89  HUDDINGE, Sweden; e-mail: goran.andersson@sh.se

I denna rapport slutredovisas uppdraget ”Kundundersökning av hundsporten i Stockholm”. Undersökningen är utförd på uppdrag av Huddinge kommun. En sammanfattande slutsats för denna studie är att ett stort intresse finns för hundägande och hundsport idag. I Stockholms län finns 80 tusen hundägare och 102 tusen hundar. I Huddinge kommun finns fyra tusen hundägare och 5 tusen hundar1. Utifrån rapportens resultatredovisning per frågeområde kan både idéer och konkreta förslag utläsas om hur hundsporten kan utvecklas både i Stockholms län och i Huddinge kommun. En generell slutsats är att det finns en en stark efterfrågan på professionella hundanläggningar (hundcenter), egna familjens hundaktiviteter på allmänna platser, lokala hunddagis, kurser, hundomvårdnadsprodukter, mat- och hundutrustningsprodukter och hundägararnas egna trivselprodukter.

The importance of community engagement is debated by academics at universities and stakeholders in the higher education sector. Ideas from the EU-project Tailored Applied Research System Implementation are analysed to see how they can be implemented in an academic tourism department, and a community engagement model developed. Exploratory research is conducted using a qualitative method approach with case studies. Conclusions: 1. focused objectives for each stakeholder group which will be influenced by the tourism academy´s community engagement, 2. important prerequisites for the tourism academy engagement in the community and 3. potential co-creative actions, which the Tourism Department has possibilities to conduct.

The relation of educational and community engagement activities is explored in the EU-project Tailored Applied Research System Implementation via action research case studies. The important activities found are Assignments, Internship, Alumni, and Tourism Organisation and Business Contacts. Effectiveness is assessed as educational expediency, network building and labour market partnership. Problems include: lack of resources, and serving academic and community demands simultaneously may cause quality problems.

The purpose is to consider ideas from the EU-project Tailored Applied Research System Implementation, and investigate network actions by an academic department. The theoretical framework's themes are educational pedagogy, course content, education openness, external assignment, contract courses, internships and network groups. An exploratory research with 9 case studies has been conducted using our own Tourism Department as the study object. It is important for academic departments to work with stakeholder related network actions organized into a tool box concept.

This is the final general project report by the Tourism Department at Södertörn University covering activities undertaken and results obtained from the EU-project TARSI (development and implementation of the system of tailored applied research) during the project period October 2009 – September 2011.

Vad är ett professionellt möte, vem arrangerar, vem är kunden, vilken plats används? Hur kan infrastruktur och planering skapa bättre möten? Hur inverkar image- och relationsmarknadsföring på att sälja in platsen?

Detta är några av de frågor som Göran Andersson behandlar i denna rapport, som dels är en studie av det komplexa fenomenet professionella möten, dels beskriver och förklarar förutsättningarna för professionella möten i en storstadsregion som Stockholm.