With the covid-19 pandemic, we are facing a health and economic crisis of an unprecedented kind. Tourism is one of the hardest hit sectors with a decrease of international tourism worldwide of around 45–70% in 2020. The pandemic has caused a lot of destruction but has also contributed to reductions in greenhouse gases and forced constructive solutions among companies. These and other solutions could form the basis for innovations to tackle climate change and other sustainability challenges. Tourist companies and destinations have developed solutions in the current situation of uncertainty and limited information on what the "new normal" will look like after the pandemic. Regardless of what it will look like, the new normal will not be freed from sustainability challenges. This project aims to help develop knowledge about how to navigate in the future with solutions in relation not only to the pandemic but to climate change and other sustainability challenges. To this end, by looking into the cases of Gotland and Dalarna, we want to gather the good ideas that have arisen to deal with both the pandemic. We want to explore these ideas and further develop them together with tourism companies. Collaborative design methodologies are particularly useful and suitable for use in situations of limited knowledge and change. Co-creation of knowledge, where we project partners together with companies and organizations work together, is the most adequate way to work in situations of uncertainty. This project therefore benefits both the companies participating in the study, and in wider circles, where the results are transferable to other destinations, in their work to deal with the covid-19 pandemic and sustainability challenges and contributes to increased knowledge of flexibility and adaptation strategies for destinations. By meeting theory and practice, a space is created where new knowledge can be generated.
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