The artful balance between tech and outdoor life

The artful balance between tech and outdoor life

Bolder was once again invited on stage during this week’s Nordic Edge smart city conference in Stavanger, where our resident active tourism and technology expert and UiS associate professor Truls Engstrøm shared his thoughts on how technology can contribute to the evolvement of a modern, active lifestyle.

Truls Engstrøm is an associate professor at UiS and Bolder’s resident expert on experience tourism and technology.

The theme for this year’s Nordic Edge conference is “Life Actually”, focusing on how smarter cities and infrastructure, technology and integration affects individual citizens every day – all key aspects of all and everything Bolder is focused on.

The parallel session entitled “What About Humans, Nature and Culture in a Smarter City” brought up some very interesting discussion points on a number of issues, among them how people adapt to technological change as citizens and as a society, and Truls Engstrøm shared his thoughts on how our own, individual approaches to an active, outdoor lifestyle have gradually changed in the wake of technical revolutions:

“We used to go outdoors to escape technology; to get away from it all. Now, we crave more sophisticated experiences. Technology can help with that. We have more attention to detail; tech can give that. And we are all more conscious about every decision we make. Tech can help us with that as well. But the key is balance.”, said Engstrøm.

“We need to decide what is too much technology; how will it affect our overall experiences? It can enhance them, but we need to introduce it carefully, especially when it comes to experience tourism. Technology can put you in charge, but you need to remain in control for long-term benefits. It’s a balance between the pureness of nature, immersion, pure tech and the overall experience”, he added.

The University of Stavanger (UiS) has recently put in place a brand new interdisciplinary research initiative focused on smart city technology and concepts across seven faculties, with Mr. Engstrøm’s extensive experience (and subsequently Bolder) in the field adding perfectly to the mix.

The questions and discussions raised this week are 100% on point in relation to Bolder’s long-term ambitions and values, and we appreciate the chance to share our visions. Stay tuned!

 

To learn more about the opportunities and challenges related to technology and experience tourism, options, advice and discussion, feel free to contact Mr. Engstrøm at truls@bolder.no

 

 

No Comments

Post a Comment