ACTOR: Arctic Climate Change, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation, 2009

This research project studies how climate change may affect tourism and outdoor recreation in Northern Norway and Svalbard, and assess the implications of these changes. Northern Norway and Svalbard are experiencing rapid changes in the climate and these changes have environmental, societal, and economic consequences. Hence, climate change will most likely have considerable impact on the regions' tourists and tourism industry. The project includes identification and assessment of links and dependencies between climate parameters, tourists, and tourism as an economic and governmental sector. Moreover, the project includes projections of changes in climate elements of particular relevance to tourism in Northern Norway and Svalbard up to 2050; assessment of changes in tourist interests and activities based on projected climate change; assessment of the vulnerability of the regions' tourism industry to climate change impacts and climate-related events; and assess the adaptive capacity and adaptation strategies for the tourism industry. The project uses various types of available data and combines expertise from a number of disciplines. It is also organised as a partnership between institutions already formally linked through the establishment of the Oslo Centre for Interdisciplinary Environmental and Social Research (CIENS).