An Ecological Approach to Contemporary Rural Identities: The Cases of Tourism Farms in South-East Estonia

Vosu, E and Kaaristo, M (2009) An Ecological Approach to Contemporary Rural Identities: The Cases of Tourism Farms in South-East Estonia. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 3 (1). pp. 73-94. ISSN 1736-6518

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Abstract

We focus* on how tourism farmers use the potential of their living environment, consisting of both cultural and natural elements, for designing and mediating certain affordances for activities that can be performed in their farms. From the ecological perspective this living environment, perceived through the set of everyday and tourism related activities, may become an important part of individual rural identities of the tourism farmers in Rõuge and Haanja municipalities in Võru County, south-east Estonia. We analyse different activities practised in tourism farms, related to particular environments as “taskscapes” and show how these “taskscapes” participate in the formation of contemporary rural identities as they are related to farm tourism and tourism farmers individual place identities.