Upplevelsebaserat lärande på landsbygden - En hållbar besöksnäring med fokus på slöjd och hantverk

Abstract

Handicrafts such as woodwork and weaving have for years been an additional source of income for rural entre-preneurs. By broadening their businesses and having more than one string to their bow, rural entrepreneurs have had the opportunity to remain in the location they wish to live in. One of these extra strings might be the possi-bility to offer tourists and other visitors the chance to experience these handicrafts at first hand through experien-tial learning activities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences offered by a number of rural entrepreneurs within the field of experiential learning. The study aims to find out if the entrepreneurs see any interest from tourists and visitors and if they believe in the idea of offering experiential learning activities. The brochure Smultronställen i Sjuhärad has been used as a starting point to identify entrepreneurs who offer this type of experience. The bro-chure includes entrepreneurs who are in some way working towards sustainable tourism in the experience indus-try. The objective of this study is to ascertain if the concept of experiential learning has worked in this context and which aspects or forms of handicraft that have been of interest to visitors. My hope is that the essay can sensitize and inform more rural entrepreneurs about the concept and inspire them to start up or expand their existing busi-nesses; this in turn can help to boost the importance of creative crafts and industries as a part of rural develop-ment. In summary, the study describes how the entrepreneurs feel that profit is not the important factor in this enter-prise rather that experiential learning activities have been a compliment to the existing business which has added value to the business as a whole.