Mid Sweden University

In this chapter, we discuss how immigrants’ experiences of outdoor recreation are influenced by social capital, and how these activities, in turn, can promote social integration, leading to increased environmental awareness. Engagement in domestic tourism and outdoor recreation exposes interconnected challenges in multicultural societies, highlighting immigrants’ perceived disparities, social and environmental vulnerabilities, as well as issues of inclusion and justice in outdoor activities. We suggest that outdoor recreational activities play a significant role in the ‘green integration’ of immigrants. Through the concept of green integration, we emphasize the empowering social role of outdoor settings by fostering elements of social capital, such as socialization, networking, trust and social norms, enabling immigrants to gain societal advantages and develop environmental attitudes. This dual benefit underscores the importance of immigrants’ engagement in outdoor activities, expanding the scope of sustainability research by exploring the linkages between social aspects and environmental attitudes of immigrants in the post-immigration period. This creates a social bridge between immigrants and natural environments, leveraging mutual social and environmental outcomes. Empirically this chapter is based on interviews with immigrants in the north of Sweden, a region known for its nature and outdoor pursuits. 

Hur kan vi skapa miljömässigt hållbara evenemang inom idrotten och friluftslivet? I detta kapitel undersöker vi hur formatet för alltifrån stora idrottstävlingar till mindre friluftsevenemang kan utformas med miljöhänsyn. Trots att många evenemang har uppenbara miljöeffekter erbjuder de även möjligheter att engagera lokalsamhällen och öka miljömedvetandet. Vi belyser vikten av att redan från start planera evenemang med en helhetssyn som kombinerar optimerade transporter, energieffektiva och förnybara lösningar samt hållbar avfallshantering. Bland annat lyfts samordnade evenemangsportföljer som strategier för att fördela miljöbelastning. Slutligen betonar vi vikten av utvecklade tillståndsprocesser och lokal förankring för att möjliggöra effektiv hantering av kumulativa effekter och säkra långsiktig motståndskraft i våra naturmiljöer

This paper examines how major sport events can be integrated into regional development agendas by analysing the legacy initiative created around the 2019 Alpine and Biathlon World Championships in Jämtland, Sweden. Although presented as a legacy program, research indicates that long-term value is more effectively generated through strategic leverage. This case study draws on a framework analysis of a regional development strategy and a focus group with key stakeholders to assess, first, how effective the program was as a legacy initiative, and second, what reframing it in terms of strategic leverage would have entailed. Findings show that the program fostered business networking and collaboration between national sport federations, but lacked measurable outcomes, strategic anchoring, and public-sector leadership. The study contributes to debates on legacy vs. leverage by highlighting the importance of early policy alignment and governance structures that embed events within long-term regional objectives. 

This article explores the role of domestic tourism, specifically outdoor recreational sports and events, in fostering immigrant integration, with a focus on Jämtland County in northern Sweden. While friluftsliv (outdoor recreation) holds a central place in Swedish leisure and domestic tourism culture, immigrants are often underrepresented in such activities. Rather than framing this solely as a matter of cultural difference, we investigate how immigrants perceive outdoor engagement, the barriers they encounter, and how social connections shaped through social capital can offer empowering, integrative experiences. The study draws on in-depth interviews with thirty-four immigrants, adding new knowledge to how outdoor recreation intersects with social capital, social sustainability, and integration. Our analysis highlights three key themes: belonging to outdoors, barriers to participation, and the role of sports and events in shaping social connections. We argue that outdoor engagement can support integration and enhance social sustainability, offering insights into both theory and inclusive practice in domestic tourism and recreation planning.

Event portfolios play a crucial role in regional development, fostering economic growth, community identity, and destination branding. While economic impacts of events have been extensively studied, their social impacts-especially at the portfolio level- remain underexplored. This paper addresses this gap by applying Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to measure the non-use value of a regional event portfolio in Jämtland, Sweden. Using survey data from 414 regional residents, we assess willingness to pay (WTP) for twelve prominent events, capturing the perceived social value beyond direct participation. Findings indicate significant variation in WTP across different event types and demographic groups, with sports and cultural events eliciting distinct patterns of valuation. Results suggest that non-use value is a viable metric for assessing the social impact of event portfolios, providing policymakers and event managers with actionable insights for strategic planning. This study contributes to event portfolio research by demonstrating how CVM can be systematically applied to quantify social value, offering a framework for more informed event policy and funding decisions.

Events are often seen important elements in regional development strategies, including strengthening community cohesion and identity, and shaping destination branding (Chalip, 2017). For communities that host a range of events throughout a year, the combined effect of these events for residents is often left unexplored. In contrast to singular events, which largely result in short-term economic and social impacts, such event portfolios (i.e. the collective assortment of various types of events staged within a community or region) are suited to generate long-term, sustainable benefits for communities by fostering continuous engagement and boosting the destination's attractiveness year-round. Distributing benefits over a broader timeframe creates a more balanced resource allocation and offers resilience against external shocks that can affect singular events (Anderson et al., 2014; Ziakas and Getz, 2021). 

While considerable research has focused on assessing the economic and logistical success of individual events, there remains a critical gap in the evaluation of entire event portfolios. This research gap is especially pronounced when it comes to assessing the social impacts of these portfolios. Unlike economic impacts, social impacts are challenging to define due to the lack of a clear consensus on what they encompass. Especially, efforts to compare and assess social impacts across event portfolios constitutes a methodological and epistemological challenge (Fredline et al., 2003). Without reliable methods for assessing the social impacts of event portfolios, policymakers and event managers are left with a skewed understanding of the values that events provide. The risk here is that decisions about resource allocation, community engagement, and strategic planning are made without an assessment of the social benefits that various events bring to the table (Chalip, 2006). 

Previous event literature on social impacts encompasses, among others, community pride, social cohesion, and cultural exchange, yet there is little consensus on how these impacts should be compared across a comprehensive portfolio (Fredline et al., 2003). One of the core challenges in assessing social impacts lies in their subjective nature, as they depend on individual perceptions, cultural context, and how deeply the event is embedded in the community fabric. A pragmatic approach to evaluating social impacts across an event portfolio is measuring these impacts quantitatively. The contingent valuation method (CVM) is an economic valuation technique used to measure the value individuals place on non-market goods and services, including public goods and cultural assets (Mitchell & Carson, 1989). CVM has been applied to a range of areas, including cost-benefit analyses, public policies, or event studies. However, it has not been applied to evaluate entire event portfolios. 

This paper suggests that (CVM) can be used to evaluate the social impacts of event portfolios that are partly funded publicly, particularly with non-use values. The latter is a measure that captures the value residents place on an event, even if they do not directly participate in it but still can contribute to social impacts, e.g. pride (Bateman et al., 2002). Our study involves 12 major events as part of the event portfolio of the Swedish region Jämtland. The region positions itself as a tourism and event region, as - compared to other regions - a relatively higher share of people is employed in tourism sectors and part of the region’s sustainability strategy includes establishing ten annually recurring events by 2030 and one mega event every at least third year from 2030 (JHT 2016). The aim is to enhance the destination’s brand identity attracting both local and international audiences, focusing on sustainability and community involvement to enhance the appeal and impact of its events. 

A survey was distributed to a panel of regional residents which generated a representative sample of 414 responses, weighted according to gender, age and education. Respondents were asked how much they would be willing to pay in local taxes[1] to support the event if organizers could no longer fund it, even if they didn’t personally attend. The events in the study included nine sports events (four annual tournaments, four home games of local sports teams and one proposed bid for the Winter Olympics 2026) and three cultural events (two annual markets and one annual music festival). We applied inferential design using ANOVA and t-tests to identify group differences. Results show that the highest degree of public support is enjoyed by annual tournaments whereas the lowest rates of support were found to be connected to an annual market. Interestingly a potential one-time winter Olympics ranked highest in terms of willingness-to-pay. Further analysis shows that there exist statistically significant gender differences where women tend to have a higher willingness-to-pay and a more positive attitude and towards the public support of events. Also, the difference between age groups is statistically significant, indicating a general stronger support of the younger populations with regards to cultural events. 

Whilst non-use value has been applied to events before, it has to our knowledge never been used on an event portfolio basis. By demonstrating the applicability of CVM to event portfolios, we contribute a methodological framework that addresses the critical gap in social impact assessment. Policymakers should consider incorporating CVM assessments into regular evaluation cycles to inform funding decisions and policy formulation. The active involvement of residents in evaluative efforts would likely also serve to strengthen the sense of ownership of and support for, efforts to develop the regional event portfolio. Recognizing and accommodating diverse demographic preferences will enhance the sustainable development of regions, ultimately contributing to community cohesion, identity, and well-being. As limitation, this study relies on self-reported willingness-to-pay that may be influenced by hypothetical bias. Also, a quantitative perspective does not provide a full understanding of social impacts and may be complemented with more qualitative insights. 

In this research, we discuss how immigrants’ experiences in outdoor activities are influenced by the social capital, and how these activities can promote immigrants’ social integration leading to their environmental awareness and pro-environmental behaviors. Engagement in domestic tourism exposes interconnected justice challenges in multicultural countries. Immigrants’ perceived disparities, social and environmental vulnerabilities, inclusion in outdoor activities, and justice are some pressing issues considered in the research. Moreover, integrating justice into domestic tourism discourses is urging the re-evaluation of our understanding of sustainable tourism through the lenses of justice and sustainability. Recognizing and including the immigrants’ diverse voices is essential in generating new insights on sustainable transformative options, developing theoretical and empirical foundations to guide tourism communities and national and regional policy responses, especially within the outdoor setting, which brings up both social and environmental concerns. This research discusses how the holistic approach to both social and environmental aspects of outdoor recreation through the ethnic or immigrant lens can address the complex web of sustainability challenges, fostering more just and sustainable future of tourism. We adopt a social capital lens to understand the social and environmental implications of domestic tourism within the context of outdoor recreational activities. Empirically, this chapter is based on interviews with immigrants in the north of Sweden – a region known for its nature and outdoor pursuits. 

Immigrant-receiving societies, like Sweden, underscore the importance of immigrant integrationinto mainstream life. While integration through leisure activities and outdoor recreation has beena focal point in Europe (Gentin, 2011), academic research on this aspect is lacking in Sweden. This is significant given Sweden's strong social and economic ties to outdoor activities. Sweden, renowned for its vast forests and natural environment, places importance on outdoor recreational activities, winter sports, and international events. Major sports events not only impact regional economies but also contribute to positive social outcomes, including a sense of pride and improved quality of life (Wallstam et al., 2020). The popularity of outdoor activities among Swedes, with one in three Swedes ages 6-80 engage in sports (Idrottsstatistik, 2022) and one-third in outdoor recreation (Public Health Agency for Sweden, 2018), make the mintegral to daily life. Sports and outdoor activities serve as potential avenues for immigrants to connect with natives, acting as social bridges for integration (Ekholm, 2019; Elbe et al., 2018). Previous research highlights the potential for integration through events and leisure activities, with factors such as race (Qian & Cobas, 2004), and cultural differences (Kalmijn & Tubergen, 2006) influencing cross-group interactions. This study focuses on the social integration of immigrants in Jämtland County, Sweden, exploring socially sustainable tourism perspectives, social capital (Putnam, 1993), and integration frameworks (Ndofor-Tah et al., 2019). Insights from 34 immigrants reveal events as potent settings for building interactions and networks. However, the study emphasizes that time and active involvement in events are fundamental for integration, placing a substantial responsibility on immigrants. Moreover, the study reveals that immigrants perceive events differently from other leisure activities, particularly sports, underscoring a significant and multifaceted information gap. Recognizing the distinctive role and importance of events in their social lives during the post-immigration period is crucial, calling for increased awareness among both immigrants and relevant stakeholders.