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The recent Covid‐19 pandemic highlighted rural–urban interactions, in particular the fact that cities are dependent on the accessibility of non‐metropolitan and rural spaces and vice versa. This article seeks to understand how these interactions contributed to emergent relational spaces of rurality during the Covid‐19 crisis. The article analyses politicised mobilities between localities and rural–urban linkages that are tied to the sustainability of rural change. The study focuses on two countries: Estonia and Finland, exploring thematic narratives on second‐home practices and related politics during the outbreak of the Covid‐19 crisis. The explored regions were the South Savo region in Finland and the island of Saaremaa and northern coastal villages in Estonia. The analysis indicates ways in which the mobility restrictions and disturbances triggered by the Covid‐19 pandemic attributed certain demands and hopes to rural areas and led the shift in rural–urban interactions. The article contributes to the understanding of co‐existences between im/mobilities and multi‐local living and sustainability in rural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human recognition, valuation, and communication lie at the heart of ecosystem goods and services. We explore how the wellbeing effects of ecosystems are recognized and communicated based on data obtained from an information campaign to increase public awareness of the health and wellbeing benefits of rural nature areas in Finland. Interested members of the public from different backgrounds were asked to outline and publicly share short descriptions of their personal recommendations for improving their wellbeing through interacting with rural landscapes. The results indicate that a wide variety of ecosystem types and functions are perceived to be important for producing a range of wellbeing benefits through experiencing and multisensory observations of natural landscapes. The importance of cultural and experiential ecosystem services were highlighted while provisioning services received only minor attention, and regulating services were almost entirely unnoted. [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]

Cross-border and international second home ownership is a worldwide phenomenon and growing in popularity as people seek desirable environments further away than before. As the desired landscapes are also likely to possess a considerable local and national value, research is needed to find out how host societies perceive and receive the newcomers. This paper explores the Finnish public debate on foreign second home ownership from 1990 to 2008, a period that has witnessed a considerable growth in foreign property ownership. The paper uses the concept of cottage landscape to analyse how second homes are positioned nationally and how foreign second home ownership is debated in relation to the national definitions and valuations. Based on changing emphases and fears related to the phenomenon, three periods of public debate are distinguished. The results demonstrate the iconic image of cottage landscape in the Finnish society by showing how foreign second home ownership is perceived as a threat to the Finnish way of life, landownership rights and national identity. From the perspective of the host society, foreign second home ownership is a complicated and emotional matter with potential to raise opposition and even conflicts when the foreign demand focuses on locally or nationally valued landscapes. Therefore research on the internationalisation of second home ownership can no longer ignore the perspective of the host society. [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]

Second homes have been interpreted as a significant indicator of the development of new patterns of mobility and dwelling in Western countries. However, changes in population distribution, population composition, family structures and tourism preferences pose a reason to challenge the general assumption that second home tourism would continue unchanged in the future. This paper reviews representations of the future of second home tourism in the Finnish media and policy discourse. Mainstream trends and emerging weak signals are recognized and further analysed in reference to the international context. As a result of the analysis four distinctive themes related to the future of second home tourism are distinguished: dual dwelling, internationalization, alternative forms and regional differentiation. These themes suggest a change in the traditional Finnish second home culture, often portrayed as a personal and national utopia. With the exception of dual dwelling, all the themes have so far been overlooked in the official policy discourse. The paper addresses a new theme in Finnish as well as international second home literature as so far only little has been published on the long term future of second home tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contact with nature is associated with numerous psychological, physiological and social health and well-being benefits. Outdoor recreation, such as rural second home tourism, provides extensive exposure to the natural environment, but research around health impacts of this exposure is scattered. We review current research on health and well-being impacts of nature and discuss how the characteristics of rural second home environments and their use and users can affect these potential impacts in Finland. We discover four key issues affecting the impacts. First, health and well-being impacts depend on the users; urban people can especially benefit from rural second homes, while child development and the performance of elderly people can also be supported by contact with nature at second homes. Second, the regularity, length and season of second home visits influence the potential to receive benefits as they have an impact on the intensity of nature exposure. Third, the type and quality of second home environment affect contact with nature, such as exposure to health-supporting environmental microbes. Fourth, practices, motives and meanings modify activities and attachment and crucially affect both physical and mental well-being. We conclude that rural second homes have extensive potential to provide nature-related health and well-being benefits and further research is needed.