30 years in the service of regional research
By Jesper Manniche, Senior Researcher, CRT
This year marks CRT's 30th anniversary as a research institution. Like other major birthdays, this one has also given rise to reflection on important events and trends that have influenced developments on Bornholm and other outlying areas, and which are reflected in CRT's long list of publications, which can be found hereto.
Since its establishment in 1994, CRT's research on regional development, which has undergone significant change, has been marked by global trends and local challenges. CRT's journey illustrates how research can illuminate and help navigate the upheavals facing both rural and urban areas in Denmark and the rest of the world. Due to its location on Bornholm, Bornholm throughout the centre's lifetime has often served as a case for how more general regional dynamics unfold in the face of changing economic, technological and environmental conditions and currents.
1980s - Collapse of fisheries and transition to a new economy
The centre was established in 1994 as part of the Nyrup Government's “Bornholmer Package”, which consisted of a series of initiatives to address the challenges caused by the collapse of the cod fishery in the Baltic Sea a few years earlier. Fishing and fishing industry were then a cornerstone of the Bornholm economy, but today are largely shut down on the island. The economic transformation and structural development towards a service and knowledge economy, which has been the dominant growth track in Denmark and many other countries since the 1990s, bypassed Bornholm, which for many years after the collapse of the fishing sector struggled with massive unemployment problems mainly for a large unskilled workforce. The question “What will we live on in the future?” has thus been a central theme in local debates on Born-holm during all the years of CRT's life. Many ideas have been brought to the table and pursued - and studied by the CRT.
1990s - Geopolitical integration in the Baltic Sea region
After the fall of the Wall, the Baltic Sea region was an international geopolitical hot spot, to which the first chairman of the research centre's board, then county mayor Knud Andersen, was strongly committed to and saw great opportunities in for Bornholm. One of my first CRT publications from 1998 was a collection of conference contributions from Danish and foreign researchers from all Baltic Sea countries entitled “Searching and Researching the Baltic Sea Region”. Bornholm's entry into this new geopolitical stage of crossborder integration and cooperation did not indicate a new bright path for growth and job creation on Bornholm, but has nevertheless led to the establishment of important institutional cooperation and networking relationships with the other Baltic Sea countries, which today help to draw significant development funds to Bornholm through the EU's in-Terreg programmes.
Towards the Millennium - The Digital Transformation
Another theme that opened up new perspectives and opportunities for regional development on Bornholm and elsewhere in the 1990s was the emergence of the then fledgling digital technologies, which were called “information and communication technologies” — or ICT (see, for example, the 2000 report “Prerequisites and opportunities for future ICT development on Bornholm”). It is thought-provoking that we, as researchers at the time, seriously asked the question whether there were real benefits and development prospects for companies on Bornholm linked to the use of “that internet”. Although the development quickly demonstrated the enormous potential for economic development associated with the Internet and the later emergence of “social media”, the years have at the same time documented and cemented the advantages and position of large cities as centers of innovation of advanced technology and the more passive role of rural areas as takers and users of it.
00's - The rise of local food and the experience economy
Around the turn of the century, a new agenda of regional development and renewal intruded. A circle of talented, forward-thinking entrepreneurs on Bornholm were among the pioneers of a new Nordic trend of developing “local food”. These were, for example, companies such as Lehnsgaard's Rapesolie, Svaneke Bryghus, Lille Gadegård and Thorkil Boisen's ice cream. In the Danish food landscape, which at the time was exclusively dominated by industrial standard goods, food with special local qualities was an unknown phenomenon, but many small food producers in the rest of the country looked enviously to their Bornholm counterparts for inspiration. This wave of entrepreneurship was an eye-opener for politicians on Bornholm in relation to the possibilities of creating new businesses and jobs, based on small-scale producers and experiential production, which also included, for example, handicrafts and outdoor tourism. For me, these developments created the empirical basis for a series of scientific papers and a PhD thesis, Territorial Knowledge Dynamics and Alternative Food. The case of Bornholm.
10's - Sustainability and Circular Economy in Tourism
In the 10s, sustainability and climate became centrally placed themes in both political and economic discourse. For example, the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. Companies began to integrate sustainability into their business strategies, and public and private investment in renewable energy such as wind and solar increased markedly.
Together with my CRT colleagues, Karin Topsø Larsen and Rikke Brandt Broegaard, I participated in the INTERREG South Baltic project CIRTOINNO in 2016-2019, which dealt with the “circular economy” in tourism and had partners from Poland, Lithuania and Sweden. The report of the project “Destination: A circular tourism economy” was among the very first academic publications in the world to examine opportunities and obstacles for circular economy with a focus on tourism. The report therefore led to invitations as a panelist at the EU Tourism Day in Brussels, speeches at a webinar and a tourism conference organized by the United Nations Tourism Organization WTO, and presentations on a master's degree program at Gran Canaria University. At the same time, the report is the publication on my ResearchGate profile that has been read and downloaded the most times without comparison.
The 20s — Sustainability and green transformation take hold
In recent years, the sustainability and green transition agenda has firmly established itself as a central theme in my and CRT's research. Together with my colleague Andreas Skriver Hansen, I have had the opportunity to examine the “Possible prospects for further development of Bornholm as a testing and development environment for green energy and technology”, which is connected with the national plans to establish an energy island on Bornholm. Since the Bornholmer package in the early 1990s, these energy island investments are by far the largest and most important external event on Bornholm. Compared to the Bornholmer package, which in business policy terms must be seen as retrograde and a form of “compensatory aid” for the island's struggling traditional industries, the energy island plans point technologically and economically forward. Both by virtue of their volume and content, the energy island plans contain opportunities for structural renewal of Bornholm's economy and labour market, which has been wanted since the collapse of fisheries. However, in order to be realised, these opportunities must be grasped and lifted locally, and in this field it is ironic that the energy island plans have caused a great deal of controversy in Bornholm's municipal council about the strategic direction of the island's business.
Now and Beyond - Challenges and Opportunities in the Green Transition of Rural Areas
Today, the rural challenges and opportunities of the green transition are one of the most important research agendas for CRT. At present, I am working with Anders Hedetoft and Jesper Viemose, Efiko, on the project “Rural Business Challenges and Opportunities in the Green Transition”. This project aims to clarify the geographical aspects of the ongoing green transition in business, i.e. where in the country the green transition entails the loss of jobs, for example in particularly “black” industries, and where the transition rather provides positive business opportunities and the development of new “green” companies.
These historical breakdowns in CRT's research over 30 years are evidence of various waves and trends that have influenced regional and local development not only on Bornholm, but in Denmark and abroad in general. The research shows that outlying areas are not just passive recipients of development initiatives, but can be a laboratory for innovation and a source of new growth strategies tailored to local strengths and needs. From local food production to the green transformation of energy systems, CRT's research has demonstrated how regional development is not just about economic growth, but about creating dynamic, resilient communities that can adapt to and capitalize on the trends of the time. The continuous adaptation and learning in CRT has contributed to a broader understanding of how our research can support and accelerate local renewal and resilience in a changing world.
