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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| Format: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Language: | Swedish Inglés |
| Published: |
2022
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| Online Access: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/ |
| _version_ | 1855572921301336064 |
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| author | Reinisch, Anna-Sara |
| author_browse | Reinisch, Anna-Sara |
| author_facet | Reinisch, Anna-Sara |
| author_sort | Reinisch, Anna-Sara |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | 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. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU17590 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Swedish Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU175902022-03-05T02:03:28Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/ The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system Reinisch, Anna-Sara Landscape architecture 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. Urbana grönområden tillhandahåller ekosystemtjänster, har en positiv inverkan på människors mentala och fysiska hälsa och ger utrymme för friluftsliv. Forskning visar att friluftsliv inte bara förbättrar hälsan utan också gynnar ekonomin, utbildningen och integrationen. Under COVID-19-pandemin fick tillgången till grönområden i städerna större betydelse och fungerade som en plats för att umgås och samtidigt kunna hålla avstånd till varandra då andra inomhus- och utomhusaktiviteter blev begränsade. Denna information gav en inblick i hur viktigt det är att skydda och tillgängliggöra urbana grönområden och natur. Jag hörde om ett EU-projekt där de för närvarande utvecklar en långdistansvandringsled genom Estland, Lettland och Litauen. Utöver det är vandringslederna i Lettland inte lika utvecklade som i Sverige och jag bestämde mig för att tillbringa lite tid i Lettland för att lära mig mer. Jag har tagit fram ett föreslag på en utvecklingsplan för naturparken Talsu pauguraine med syfte att förbättra möjligheterna att vandra och att öka människors tillgång till vandringsleder och därigenom främja förbättrad hälsa genom friluftsliv. Jag undersökte även hur friluftskulturen ser ut i Lettland och hur de befintliga lederna i Lettland planeras och sköts. Lettland har långa traditioner kopplade till naturen men på grund av Lettlands historia och kultur är friluftslivet inte djupt förankrat i samhället. Genom utbildning och förbättrad tillgång till naturen med hjälp av en infrastruktur för friluftsliv kan kulturen för friluftsliv i Lettland förändras med kommande generationer. I Lettland är planering och förvaltning av vandringsleder relativt nytt och ett antal utmaningar måste lösas. Planeringen och skötseln av vandringsleder skulle kunna förbättras i Lettland genom att hämta inspiration från andra länder som Sverige och till exempel implementera en friluftssamordnare som förenklar utvecklingen och samarbete. Med enkla åtgärder kan vandringsinfrastrukturen förbättras i Talsu pauguraine. Det som är utmanande är att nå en överenskommelse med de inblandade aktörerna i ett sådant projekt. Dessutom behöver förvaltningen av lederna ske kontinuerligt, arbetet behöver utvärderas och utvecklingsplanen måste uppdateras regelbundet. För ett snabbare resultat bör en av aktörerna vara projektledare och driva frågorna att förbättra vandringsledernas infrastruktur. 2022-03-01 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf sv https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/1/reinish_a_210215.pdf Reinisch, Anna-Sara, 2022. The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system : a case study of the Nature Park Talsu pauguraine in Latvia. Second cycle, A2E. Alnarp: (LTJ, LTV) > Dept. of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management (from 130101) <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-644.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-17590 eng |
| spellingShingle | Landscape architecture Reinisch, Anna-Sara The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title | The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title_full | The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title_fullStr | The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title_full_unstemmed | The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title_short | The missing links in Latvia’s hiking system |
| title_sort | missing links in latvia’s hiking system |
| topic | Landscape architecture |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/17590/ |