Papers by Sanna-Mari Renfors
International journal of sustainability in higher education, Mar 8, 2024
Purpose-Higher education institutions and their lecturers are strategic agents and main drivers t... more Purpose-Higher education institutions and their lecturers are strategic agents and main drivers that contribute to circular economy transition. This requires them to understand the key circular economy competencies and how to integrate circular economy holistically into their curricula with the suitable teaching and learning approaches. This study aims to support them by providing an overview on the characteristics of education for the circular economy (ECE) and suggestions to lecturers to further develop their curricula. Design/methodology/approach-The data consisted of scientific articles (n ¼ 22) describing circular economy courses in higher education. Qualitative content analysis with quantitative features was performed on the selected articles to answer the research question. Findings-The findings confirm that the system's focus is the key issue in ECE. However, to integrate circular economy holistically into the curricula, ECE should be implemented more widely in the context of different industries and market contexts to find innovative teaching and learning approaches. The demand side needs to be incorporated in the courses, as systemic transformation is also about transforming consumption. All levels of implementation and circular economy objectives should be included in courses to promote systems thinking. In addition, innovative forms of real workplace interaction should be increased. Originality/value-As ECE has started to emerge as a new field of study, this article provides the first integrated overview of the topic.
European Journal of Tourism Research, Oct 31, 2023
Green skills are a prerequisite for a sustainable and resource-efficient tourism sector and an es... more Green skills are a prerequisite for a sustainable and resource-efficient tourism sector and an essential element in tourism employment. To support the sector's green transition, it is critical to bridge existing green skills gaps. Therefore, this qualitative research identifies the relevant and up-to-date green skills necessary when working in the tourism sector for the sector to become committed to a more sustainable world. The main data consisted of both secondary and primary (individual interviews, n=11 and a group interview) data sources. Five themes describing the green skills emerged from the data: (1) environmental management, (2) resource-efficiency, (3) carbon management, (4) green product and service development, and (5) sustainability communication. The findings have important practical implications for tourism education and training providers and tourism employers.
International Conference on Tourism Research
Tourism is a sector where circular economy unfolds extensive opportunities. Despite being classif... more Tourism is a sector where circular economy unfolds extensive opportunities. Despite being classified as a service sector, tourism depends on significant quantities and flows of exhaustible natural resources. As a result, circular economy in tourism has become an emerging field of study. This can also be ascribed to the fact that the topic of circular economy is currently high on the political agenda, especially in Europe. Because circular economy is receiving exponential attention from policy makers, it has also received more interest among tourism scholars. The aim of this paper is to increase understanding of circular economy in tourism research considering its systemic nature. The paper is based on a review of the scientific articles published in the years 2015-2022. The research question is: What are the recent developments and trends in the research on CE in tourism from a system-level approach? The findings indicate that the previous studies have mainly focused on the micro le...
Maaseutututkimus =, Dec 13, 2022
Matkailututkimus
The article provides a review of the recent developments and trends in the research on Circular E... more The article provides a review of the recent developments and trends in the research on Circular Economy (CE) in tourism and identifies possible research gaps. CE is becoming one of the hot topics in tourism research due to its increased importance in policymaking, especially in Europe. However, the review shows that research on CE in tourism is in its early stages. The studies have mainly focused on CE in tourism at the micro level from environmental and business management perspectives especially in hotels and restaurants. In addition, emerging research themes include circular consumption behaviour, CE and smart tourism, cooperation and networking with the local supply chain as well as circular tourism destination development. Thus, tourism scholars are encouraged to shift their perspective more from micro to macro level to get a holistic picture of CE in tourism. The article outlines some ideas for a research agenda on CE in tourism.
Tourism Planning & Development, 2020
Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. It conc... more Simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. It concerns the study of the operating characteristics of real systems. Typically, a simulation project consists of several steps such as data collection, coding, model verification, model validation, experimental design, output data analysis, and implementation. Among these steps of a simulation study this paper focus on statistical analysis methods of simulation output data. Specially, we explain how to develop confidence interval estimators for mean μ in terminating and non-terminating simulation cases. We, then, explore the estimation techniques for f(μ), where the function f(•) is a nonlinear that is continuously differentiable in a neighborhood of μ with f'(μ) ≠0.
International Conference on Tourism Research
The comparative study focuses on the resilience of small tourism enterprises in coastal and marin... more The comparative study focuses on the resilience of small tourism enterprises in coastal and marine tourism in three Baltic Sea countries - Estonia, Finland and Latvia. The research aim is to explore the response of the micro and small-scale tourism enterprises in Estonia, Finland and Latvia to COVID-19 and their development plans in the context of the pandemic. These countries share common strengths and weaknesses in tourism as well as their main tourism resources (e.g., the significance of natural resources), partially overlapping target markets. Data were collected in coastal regions in all three countries by using semi-structured interviews (Estonia N=12, Latvia N=12, Finland N= 5). Additionally, a quantitative data collection tool - a survey (N=51) was used in Finland. The content analysis generated several themes: (1) The ability of an enterprise to adapt to changes; (2) future expectations; (3) educational needs; (4) mind-set changes of entrepreneurs as a result of corona-pand...
Skills Development in Coastal and Maritime Tourism : Country report Finland
Kestävyyttä ja vastuullisuutta siniseen matkailuun
Matkailun myynnin toimintaympäristö on rajujen muutosten kourissa ja ammattikorkeakoulutuksen pit... more Matkailun myynnin toimintaympäristö on rajujen muutosten kourissa ja ammattikorkeakoulutuksen pitää pystyä reagoimaan ja uudistumaan muutoksen mukana. Myös opettajan työn kannalta on tärkeä tietää, mitä on koulutuksen tavoitteena olevien ammattien ydinosaaminen. Kehittämishankkeen tavoitteena olilaatia 20 opintopisteen moduuli ammattikorkeakouluopetuksen matkailun myynnin ammatillisiksi opinnoiksi. Hankkeen lähtökohtana olivat nimenomaan työelämän muutossuunnat ja osaamistarpeet, joista käsin hankkeessa määritettiin matkailun myynnin sisältöosaaminen. Painotus hankkeessa oli nimenomaan koulutuksen sisältökysymyksissä, ei toteuttamismenetelmissä. Hankkeen aineistona käytettiin opiskelijoiden tekemiä haastatteluja sekä valmiita dokumentteja; Travelli - osaamiskartoitus, Keski-Suomen matkailustrategia 2010 ja Suomen matkailustrategia 2020. Aineisto luokiteltiin, jonka jälkeen luokittelujen sisältöä analysoitiin. Apuna sisällönanalyysissä käytettiin ydinainesanalyysiä ja Bloomin (1956) ...
Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 2018
The aim of this article is to increase understanding of the process of curriculum design when inc... more The aim of this article is to increase understanding of the process of curriculum design when incorporating an international dimension into a curriculum in higher tourism education. The process of the internationalisation of the curriculum design is investigated against a theoretical basis and described from a practical perspective by presenting a case from the Central Baltic Area. In this case, the purpose of the internationalisation of the curriculum is to provide an aligned skillset and knowledge necessary to support the development of the Central Baltic Area as a common tourism destination. First, a relevant and mutual skillset was identified by reviewing the existing curricula (N=17) and national tourism strategies and plans (N=3) as well as by interviewing representatives of tourism organisations (N=103). Then, the identified skills and knowledge were translated into a joint curriculum and teaching processes.
Research in Hospitality Management, 2017
View related articles View Crossmark data Research in Hospitality Management is co-published by N... more View related articles View Crossmark data Research in Hospitality Management is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Informa UK Limited (trading as Taylor & Francis Group)
Journal of Studies in International Education, 2019
This qualitative study presents an example of the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) in... more This qualitative study presents an example of the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) in a non-English speaking country, Finland, by including the lecturers in the debate. The topic is highly relevant, as IoC is becoming a focus area in Europe, and internationalization has been identified as an area in need of improvement in the Finnish system of higher education. The findings demonstrate that many lecturers are familiar with the meaning of IoC, but its implementation is highly dependent on the priorities at the institutional level. The lecturers can incorporate inclusive curriculum content and perspectives of the future profession in their teaching, but they do not have competencies, resources, and tools to adapt their teaching styles to an international, culturally diverse teaching and learning environment. Thus, IoC in Finland calls for the establishment of a new program design culture supported by the institution with the focus on international and intercultural learnin...
Onnistunut asiakaskohtaaminen matkailu- ja ravintola-alalla
Outdoors Finland : Satakunnan vetovoiman kehittäminen valtakunnallisena ja kansainvälisenä luontomatkailukohteena
Luonto matkailijan hyvinvoinnin lähteenä : green care -toiminnan mahdollisuudet Satakunnassa
Kansainvälisen matkailun kasvu vaikuttaa alan osaamistarpeisiin
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Papers by Sanna-Mari Renfors