Research project In the Nordic regions, culture and the arts are often overshadowed by nature tourism. Inclusive Centres of Culture—Collaborative and Inclusive Cultural Tourism Through Nordic Cooperation (ICCE) aims to change this by creating more inclusive cultural venues where local communities and tourists can connect. Through cross-border collaboration between research, culture, and tourism, the project seeks to strengthen the role of culture in sustainable tourism.
ICCE aims to strengthen cultural venues as dynamic meeting places for both local residents and visitors, where culture and the arts become a central part of the travel experience. By promoting inclusion and accessibility, the project seeks to make cultural centres more relevant and contribute to more sustainable tourism. Between 2024 and 2026, the initiative will be carried out in collaboration with research institutions, cultural actors, and the tourism industry in Sweden and Finland.
In many Nordic regions, nature tourism dominates, while the potential of culture often remains untapped. Destinations such as mountains, forests, and the northern lights attract large numbers of tourists each year, yet cultural centres struggle to reach the same audience. Additionally, many local residents rarely visit the cultural institutions in their own communities, creating a barrier between cultural heritage and society. Inclusive Centres of Culture (ICCE) aims to change this by transforming cultural centres into vibrant and inclusive meeting places where tourists and locals can interact and experience art and culture in a more accessible way.
Through research and co-creation processes, the project explores how the role of culture in tourism can be strengthened. The first step involves mapping international examples of successful cultural centres to identify effective methods that can be adapted to the Nordic context. This knowledge base serves as a foundation for the next phase, where researchers, cultural actors, and representatives from the tourism industry collaborate to develop new ways to make cultural centres more inclusive. By using co-creation methods such as service design, cultural design jams, and artist-led research, the project examines how cultural institutions and museums can become more relevant both to those already engaged with culture and to those who currently do not see these places as a natural part of their daily lives or travel experiences.
Once these methods have been developed, they are tested in pilot projects at selected cultural centres in Sweden and Finland. Here, the project evaluates how changes in exhibition formats, educational activities, and visitor experiences can influence engagement and interest among different target groups. By experimenting with and analyzing new approaches, the project creates a model for how cultural institutions can evolve to both attract more visitors and strengthen their role as part of the local community. The project’s findings are shared through international symposiums, a series of podcasts, and publications aimed at inspiring more stakeholders to integrate culture into sustainable tourism development.
ICCE is a collaborative project in which researchers from Lapland University of Applied Sciences and Umeå University work alongside cultural actors and tourism developers in both Sweden and Finland. Partners include Konstmuseet i Norrin Kiruna and Skogs- och samemuseet in Lycksele, both of which play a key role in the project. Through this interdisciplinary and cross-border collaboration, ICCE aims to reshape the perception of Nordic tourism and strengthen culture’s position as a central part of societal development.
