Nordic Archipelago Cooperation
Finland-Åland-Sweden
info@skargardssamarbetet.org
Within the Baltic Sea region and the connecting sea there occurs a fair amount cooperation. In the past we were totally dependent on the sea, especially when it came to shipping. To this day, we still are. In this short article however, the focus is on the archipelago areas and the perhaps quite unexpected circumstances.
Employment and entrepreneurship both in Stockholm- Åland and South-West Finland archipelagos are literally on a solid bedrock. These areas are characterized of high numbers of small business owners. The livelihoods are often combinations of diverse income sources and are therefore also somewhat secure ones. The challenge is to split the total income (statistical data) to estimate the value of each share. Additionally, the archipelago or island society is a complex web, an ecosystem dependent on diverse factors.
Factor one: accessibility and the time consumed from point A-B. The travel and transport costs affect the daily life of the residents in the archipelago. Sea transports are in average 5 times more expensive and 3 times more time-consuming in Stockholm archipelago compared to transportation on mainland. In fact, according to our migration report, this is the most crucial aspect regarding the decision to move to, remain or to move from your island. Infrastructure and connections that are continuous and reliable is the spine not only to stabilize an all-year-round life, but to stimulate the economy.
Factor two: major seasonal fluctuations. We all are aware of the popularity of archipelago as such, during holidays in July. Nordic Archipelago cooperation is currently finalizing a mobile-data analysis. The preliminary results shows that at least 35 million visited the sample area during the year 2022. Both the mainland of Åland and Pargas are excluded, due to challenges in identifying the difference of visitors and permanent residents. The data include visitors and the majority share of these are second-home owners. If this data is compared with for example Finnish National parks, altogether 3.5 million visitors in 2022. The amusement park Gröna Lund hosted 1.2 million visitors the same year. However, these results cannot be compared totally directly, as different calculating tools have been in use.
Even more interesting is to compare the visitor per capita. On a European level the most visited cities are Dubrovnik; 36 visitors per capita and Venice; 21 visitors per capita. Comparing the visitor numbers of the archipelago to the areas referred “tourist to local ratio”, e.g., in Sandhamn Sweden where the resident population is only 106, the visitors per capita is 969. In Korpo Finland, where the resident population is 880 the annual visitors per capita is 18. When comparing the numbers gained by mobile data, 11 million visitors in South- West Finland (mainland Pargas excluded) the tourist to local ratio is even more astonishing. There are less than 20 000 inhabitants in the sample region, meaning at least approximately 550 visitors per capita.
Factor three: the seasonal fluctuations create a schizotopic pattern. This new concept is described in the article “Welcome to Schizotopia: understanding co-production for sustainability in Swedish island communities”. The paper describes the state of a split landscape and the severe effects of it in terms on pressure on infrastructure, water resources and other environmental and social perspectives.
Factor four: the archipelagos in the Baltic Sea region have great potential and an opportunity to transform into a more sustainable tourism business. A change into sustainability both in economical (in form of a prolonged season), environmental (pressure on nature resources) as well as social perspectives. To ensure accessibility and future regional planning, a dialogue with authorities is required. Commitment in between entrepreneurs and a more specified co-marketing and common development would make a difference e.g., easily booked services. In both Finland and in Sweden there are several actors working on this, many of them are projects, for example “Light in the Dark - Increasing resilience in rural and coastal tourism in the northern Baltic Sea Region by developing off-seasons experiences”. The project unites the common interests and possibilities in coastal areas, involved in this project are The Baltic countries, Finland, Sweden and Åland. In order to gain success in a sustainable way, the key word is cooperation.