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economy. Safety and security management in the tourism industry requires novel approaches
that are not within the spheres of traditional organisation safety and security management. The
actors in the Tourism Safety and Security System in Finnish Lapland have noticed that new
developments in safety and security take place within networks and value chains that require new
methods and tools.
The purpose of this briefing note is to describe and disseminate the approaches, activities and
actors of Tourism Safety and Security System in Lapland and, in so doing, raise awareness of this
regional innovation, following the guidelines of the Finnish Arctic Strategy (2013) referred to
above. The aim of this dissemination is to enhance safety and security operations in sparsely
populated areas through the more effective use of existing resources.
Finland has long been a pioneer in providing a broader understanding of safety and security, for
example, within the initiatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the
Northern Dimension, the Rovaniemi Process and the Helsinki Process. Furthermore, developing
safety in tourism fits well with the general national image of Finland.1 This briefing note is a
deliverable of the European Dimension on Tourism Safety and Security project (ESF, 2012-2014). It
explicates the best practices of Tourism Safety and Security System in Lapland and international
network building (ESF 2012-2014). The consortium acknowledges the support of the European
Union and is grateful for the input of all partners, who made this project possible – the Tourism
Safety and Security System in Lapland and the corresponding work within the international
Tourism Safety Network.
Theory: Safety and Security as Concepts
As concepts, safety and security have many meanings. In everyday speech they have several
connotations. They refer to the subjective experiences of individuals as well as social relations.
Safety and security can be understood as the absence of a threatening factor (van Steen 1996) or,
for example, the presence of a negligent state of mind (e.g. Laitinen 1999). According to statecentric and traditional safety and security understanding, the sovereignty and sanctity of a state
are crucial. This realist and neo-realist approach understands safety and security as “given” from
state structures in which the important actors in modern society include military organisations,
the police and, for example, border guards (for safety and security as “given” see Waltz 1979 and
for a critique see Wendt 1999.)
Gradually safety and security have changed from a state-owned and state-defined virtue to a
societal value and aim. The growth of interdependency, globalisation, environmental and climate
change, cross-border interaction and the network society have challenged the traditional statecentric approach. New approaches to safety and security require the extension of our
understanding of safety and security. This refers to the discussion on the transnational, idealistic
and constructivist approaches that focus on social and civilian safety and security. The approach
widens the agenda of the discussion by bringing the environment and economics into the
discussion on safety and security (see e.g. Buzan et al. 1998). Environmental questions have
appeared as security issues in questions related to environmental disasters and sustainability (