This article engages with knowledge management in governing vulnerable polar areas and tourism. Since the 1870’s Svalbard has been a cruise tourism destination. Due to less ice during the summer period, the number of tourists visiting the remote northeast corner of the archipelago has increased significantly and the potential negative impact on this vulnerable natural environment has become an ...

Informed by the concept of diversity, this article discusses the issue of municipalities’ facilitation of ethnic diversity and integration in two cities in northern Norway. Municipalities are in a position to accommodate ethnic diversity in more pragmatic ways than the nation-state through local policies. We explore diversity policies in three different areas: democratic participation, urban planning, ...

In the Nordic countries, we are witnessing a proliferation of novel and more experimental ways of citizen and authority interaction within the field of urban planning and governance. These formats are seen in urban regeneration projects and planning experiments that endorse more inclusive interactions between public authorities and local actors than in the traditional formal hearings. The intention ...

This issue discusses the concept of social innovation (SI) as a potentially transformative factor in urban planning and local development. SI represents an alternative to economic and technology-oriented approaches to urban development, such as that of ‘smart cities’, ‘creative cities’, etc. This is thanks to the emphasis SI puts on human agency and the empowerment of local communities and citizens ...