Distinguished Visiting Professor Jarkko Saarinen awarded The Order of the White Rose of Finland

Date: Jan 11, 2021 | News

​Professor Jarkko Saarinen, a Distinguished Visiting Professor within the School of Tourism and Hospitality (STH) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), and a Professor of Geography, at the University of Oulu, Finland has been awarded with The Order of the White Rose of Finland, the prestigious honour granted for military as well as civilian merit.

The Order of the White Rose of Finland is one of three official Finnish orders established in 1919, all chaired by the President of Finland. The name of this most prestigious award stems from the nine roses argent in the coat of arms of Finland. The motto of the Order on the medallion is “For the well-being of Finland.”

Prof Saarinen received this prestigious recognition for his intellectual pursuit in the field of tourism development. His research interests include sustainable development, political ecology, tourism and development, responsibility in tourism, tourism-community relations, tourism and climate change adaptation, community-based natural resource management and wilderness studies.

Over the past 20 years, Prof Saarinen has been working extensively in the rural and peripheral areas of northern (Arctic) Finland and southern Africa. He is editor for the Tourism Geographies and Associate editor for the Journal of Ecotourism.

His recent publications include co-edited books: Resilient Destinations (2019, Routledge), Borderless Worlds for Whom? (2019, Routledge), Tourism Planning and Development (2017, Routledge), Political Ecology and Tourism (2016, Routledge) and Cultural Tourism in Southern Africa (2016, Channel View).