The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system
Urban green spaces provide ecosystem services, have a positive influence on human’s mental and physical health, and give room to perform outdoor recreation. Research shows that outdoor recreation not only improves health but also benefits the economy, education, and integration. During the COVID-1...
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | sueco Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2022
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| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/ |
| Sumario: | Urban green spaces provide ecosystem services, have a positive influence on human’s mental and
physical health, and give room to perform outdoor recreation. Research shows that outdoor recreation not only improves health but also benefits the economy, education, and integration. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, access to urban green space gained greater importance as a place to socialize and at the same time be able to keep distance from each other as other indoor and outdoor
activities became limited. Those facts gave an insight into how important it is to protect and give
access to urban green spaces and nature.
I heard about an EU project where they are currently developing a long-distance hiking trail through
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Beyond that, the hiking trails in Latvia are not as developed as in
Sweden and I decided to spend some time in Latvia to explore more. I have proposed a development plan for the Nature Park Talsu pauguraine with the purpose to improve the possibilities to hike and
to increase people’s access to hiking trails and thereby promote improved health through outdoor
recreation. I also researched about how the culture of outdoor recreation looks like in Latvia and how
the existing trails in Latvia are planned and managed.
Latvia has long traditions connected to nature but due to Latvia’s history and culture, outdoor recreation is not deeply anchored in society. Through education and improved access to nature with help
of an outdoor recreation infrastructure, the culture of outdoor recreation in Latvia could change with
the next generations.
In Latvia, the planning and management of hiking trails are relatively new, and several issues need
to be solved. The planning and management of hiking trails could be improved in Latvia by taking
inspiration from other countries like Sweden and, for example, implement an outdoor recreation
coordinator who simplifies the development and cooperations.
With simple actions, the hiking infrastructure can improve in Talsu pauguraine. What is challenging
is to reach an agreement with the involved actors in such a project. Moreover, the management of
the trails needs to take place continuously, the work needs to be evaluated and the development
plan must be updated regularly. For a faster result, one of the actors should be the project leader
and push the issues of improving the hiking trail infrastructure forward. |
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