FINAL HANDBOOK THE JOURNEY OF “SELF-DISCOVERY” THROUGH THE UST PROJECT There is a lot of good that comes out of prescriptive frameworks like GSTC where you have to consider pre-defined issues and solutions and self-assess along the beaten path. On a destination level the discussion becomes one of policy upon which action may follow. The approaches and good practices of Falköping, Xixona and Scandiano show that there is also a lot of actions outside of the municipal governance window that could use policy to support them. The role of facilitator becomes an even more important part where listing is the key skill as well as translating what is being said into a common “sustainability language” to be shared within the group. Words are filled with meaning and words filled with meaning create calls to action between stakeholder groups which includes the local people on the destination. No longer people to build policy around but rather people to include in policy making and governance decisions. 32 CHANGES TO STRATEGIES, POLICIES OR WAYS OF WORKING We have adopted broader stakeholder approaches as a consequence of the work with UST, implemented strategies both for our own organisation where a wider range of stakeholders are included and also influenced our broader network of municipal stakeholders throughout Sweden to include voices from the local perspective. There is also something to be said about where these approaches are applicable and not. Falköping, Scandiano and Xixona are all small municipalities. When you go bigger the municipal governance structure has more of a gap toward local perspectives. We have therefor started breaking down policy work to include the micro perspective, meaning that larger governance structures need to be segmented in order for the UST approach to work. These local self-assessments can then be grounds for strategic policy making, which has been successfully implemented in Kungsbacka and Laholm municipalities as a consequence of them following the project, attending dissemination seminars and applying the tools. THE WAY FORWARD Part of what we do is consultancy work, part of what we do is being a part of the larger development of Swedish policy discussions through key note appearances at national and regional conferences. With mostly regional and national clients, we offer a toolset for free to strengthen municipalities on their journey promoting sustainability and creating more resilient local communities with tourism as a toll. The UST toolkit with self-assessment at its helm and the e-learning platform to support we will continue to advocate for dialogue based approaches to sustainable development so that everyone can take part, not only on a strategic level.
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