HOW TO CITE:

 

<insert-authors> (2021). <insert-abstract-title>. 29th Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research Shaping mobile futures: Challenges and possibilities in precarious times, 21-23 September 2021. Online. Retrieved: <insert-date>, from http://www.airth.global

 

Sustainable  Transformations  (STs)  are large-scale  shifts  towards  sustainability.  Central  for  such shifts  are  knowledge  co-creation  and  sharing,  collaboration  and  innovation. In  their  attempt  to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, tourism destinations, viewed as complex socio-ecological systems, have now the opportunity to undergo STs.  However, there is a lack of tools and methods that can assist tourism stakeholders, in particular companies and destination management organizations, in their attempts to move towards sustainability. The purpose of our study is to discuss possible tools and methods. This study reports our experience in developing and testing practical tools and methods aimed at promoting active participation, stimulating collaboration and fostering innovative thinking among destination’ stakeholders. Our  study  relies  on  central  ideas  from  practice-and  design-based learning theories, Theory of Change, Design Thinking and Sustainable Business Models. It includes a  series  of  three  workshops  promoted  by  the  local  Destination  Management  Organization  (fall 2020) and two students-enterprises workshops (fall 2020, fall 2021). Data were collected through participant  observations, field  notes, and  final oral  and  written  evaluations  by  and  with the participants. The data were analyzed identifying critical aspects regarding the participants’ satisfaction with the workshops,  possible  improvements  and  perceived learning  outputs,  in general and in relation to sustainability. Our study’s approach has resulted to have both potentials and challenges. We  argue  that  there  is  an  urgent  need  for  participatory  creative  methods,  and  our  study  is  a contribution  to  development  of  a  toolkit  of  such  methods  that  can  be  used  by  scholars  and practitioners interested in promoting STs of tourism destinations through innovation.