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Following the growth of nature-based tourism, national parks and other protected areas have become important tourist attractions and tools for regional development. Meanwhile, research on the impact of nature on human health and well-being is increasing and taken into account in park management. This study examines health and well-being benefits perceived by visitors to Finland's protected areas. It is based on survey data from five national parks and one strict nature reserve in 2013–2015: an on-site visitor survey (N= 3152) and an Internet-based health and well-being survey (N= 1054). The study indicates that visitors’ perceived benefits to their well-being were highly positive. Visits to protected areas promoted psychological, physical, and social benefits. In particular, park visits were found to provide strong and multi-faceted, long-lasting, embodied and sensory well-being experiences as well as escape from everyday life and work. Overnight visitors reported more well-being benefits than day visitors, and different types of park had different well-being benefits. The study suggests that the potential benefits of protected areas for public health are significant, emphasizing the need to integrate health and well-being arguments into the neoliberalist politics assessing the economic benefits of protected areas and their role in regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the late twentieth century, many developed countries have experienced population deconcentration, labelled as counterurbanization. There has been an academic discussion on the meaning, validity and universality of this concept, drivers of counterurbanization and its impacts on rural areas. To date, research on counterurbanization mostly apply static and discrete definitions of residence, migration and population, which is an increasingly simplistic view in the contemporary reality of a growing multitude of forms of mobility, often related to dual residence. Particularly large-scale quantitative studies on counterurbanization are confined by existing statistical practices. This paper attempts to overcome this obstacle and describe the transformation of the settlement system in Finland acknowledging the role of second home mobility. To achieve this goal, it introduces two alternative measures of population, seasonal and average population, and analyses their spatial dynamics between the years 1990 and 2010 based on georeferenced grid statistical data. The study finds that although registered population has been concentrating during the period in analysis, seasonal population has been increasingly dispersed due to the growing number of second homes. It shows that the counterurbanization process, though not noticed by conventional statistics, does occur in Finland, manifested by seasonal rather than permanent moves. The article concludes that various forms of mobility should be taken into account when analysing the urban-rural population dynamics and transformations of settlement systems as well as in rural development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sparsely populated northern resource communities have been marked by flows of out-migration and an aging population. However, rural places are also becoming the locus of a range of leisure and work related mobilities. The aim of the paper is to identify different forms of rural mobilities and analyse their economic and socio-cultural importance for peripheral development. We introduce a framework of temporary mobilities to study the range of seasonal and temporary movements and mobile groups. The framework is applied to a forestry dependent community in eastern Finland, and a second home community in Finnish Lapland. These northern communities have traditionally been dependent on the use of natural resources. Our analysis shows that during past decades however, their development has become increasingly defined by tourists, recreationists, second home owners and seasonal workers. Our findings highlight the importance of fixity, stopping and staying when evaluating the consequences and potentials of mobilities for rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiencing nature and enjoying natural amenities have long been identified as key motives for rural second home tourism. However, the more people travel and spend time in the natural environment, the more it is disturbed by their actions and activities. In this paper, we examine how people perceive the environmental impacts of rural second home tourism and how they justify their views. The study focuses on Finland where rural second homes are widespread. Analysis is based on a questionnaire survey conducted among Finns in 2012 (n = 1189). Responses from different groups of respondents (second home owners, regular users of second homes and non-users) are quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The results indicate that the Finnish respondents generally think that second home tourism poses some degree of harmful environmental impacts. However, it is the second home owners who are least worried about these environmental impacts. They generally justify their opinions using a “place-related” perspective, that is, by referring to their own experiences and actions at the cottage site. In contrast, the non-users see environmental impacts more often from a broader perspective by referring to the wider environmental interconnections with second home tourism. In our discussion, we introduce the notions of place-based (relative) and phenomenon-based (relational) environmental perceptions as a potential framework for future research on this topic. In mitigating the increasing environmental impacts of second home tourism, understanding the environmental perceptions and awareness of second home owners and users is crucial to be successful in mobilising sustainable options and environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism produces an increasing share in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These are mostly derived from transport emissions, and long-haul air travel in particular. Short-haul domestic tourism is believed by some to be a potential substitute for long-haul tourism. Using the example of Finland this paper examines the extent to which domestic second home tourism can substitute for other leisure trips and therefore contribute to reductions of travel-generated GHG emissions. Survey data are used to evaluate the CO2emissions caused by travel to domestic second homes, and to create statistical models that verify if the owners of domestic second homes travel to other leisure destinations less frequently than others, and if they cause less emissions by their leisure mobility than others with comparable economic and demographic background. We find that although the owners and users of domestic second homes travel for other leisure purposes less frequently than others, this does not mean their leisure mobility generates less emissions. Overall, owners of second homes produce significantly more CO2by their leisure mobility than non-owners. The use of second homes does not seem to be a substitute for high emission long-haul travels, but rather a part of an overall highly mobile leisure lifestyle. It is therefore necessary to better understand and influence the entire range of individual mobility behaviours in order to reduce travel-related GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russian purchase of second home properties in Finland has been the subject of heated national and local debate in the Finnish media. This study examines the attitudes of permanent and second home residents to Russian second homeowners in Savonlinna, Eastern Finland ( N = 494). Three separate attitude groups were identified in relation to the effect of Russian second home owners in property prices; the Russians as an economic opportunity; and, the Russians as a threat. Negative attitudes were common, and it is possible that the relations between the Russian second homeowners and local residents will become more contested over time. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Second home tourism is one of the most popular forms of nature-based recreation in Finland and other Nordic countries. A recurrent explanation for its popularity is the idea of postwar Baby Boom generation's return to their roots in the countryside. Younger generations, however, do not share a similar life history in the countryside and human-nature relationship than older generations. This generational shift may have consequences on the future of second homes as well as rural economies. In this article we ask is Generation Y interested in second home tourism? How important are second homes to their leisure patterns? And what is the role of nature for visiting second homes? The study is based on a survey sent to 4,000 Finnish citizens. The results suggest that interest in second homes will not decline with Generation Y. The youth had access to second homes equally often as older respondents and they were even more eager to get a second home in the future. There were no differences in the valuation of amenities at second homes and the youth did not appreciate services and leisure facilities any more than older respondents. The centrality of the cottage in Finnish life will likely remain strong for many years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper focuses on the representation of post-productive countryside in Finland by exploring how the rural is presented in the context of second home tourism. Being an integral part of rural areas and their history, second homes are an established example of the post-productive consumption of countryside. The international and Finnish literature on rural images provides the theoretical framework for the paper. Research on rural visions has been active in recent years with an emphasis on the Anglocentric interpretations of the rural idyll. This paper contributes to this discussion by providing an empirical review of Finnish popular discourses of second homes. The review is based on an analysis of second-home owners'' motives and media representations. The second home countryside is analysed as a farmscape, wildscape and activityscape. The results suggest that the Finnish second home landscape is seen as wilderness (1), life at second homes imitates visions of traditional rural life (2), and the environment is used for traditional consumptive and leisure activities (3). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]