The Vasaloppet as transformative nature sport event : Does the experience of participating in nature sport events influences sustainable practices?

Sammanfattning: The research for the master thesis was about the influence the participation in sport events taking place in nature has on sustainable behaviour of the individual. Although there is an understanding of what sustainability means in literature, each person defines its means for her or himself and acts differently. As there is not much research that looks at sustainability as something that can be experienced, this paper is an attempt to find out. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to identify how a participant of sport events, taking place in nature, is influenced by the experiences during the different stages of the event, including preparation, racing, and the time afterwards. As a theoretical concept for a change through experience transformation was chosen. As case for such an event the Vasaloppet 2018 was chosen. As there is a large variety of races during the events, the participation in the context of research includes individuals that join the full 90-kilometres distances during daytime. As a result, the sample is derived from the Vasaloppet (main run), and open spår (open trail). The concepts derived from literature encompass sustainability in relation with organisations, using the triple bottom line. In this context, the sustainability of events is conceptualized in conjunction with the ideas of people, planet and profit. After exploring concepts that are important on an organisational level, the three levels of sustainability by Cavagnaro and Curiel (2012) was used to get a better understanding of the role of the individual. Further concepts are serious leisure and consumption, as the participant of an event, for this research, is also someone who consumes products and services in relation to performing serious leisure. Also, the motivations to participate are examined. Additional, the meaning of experiences and possible experiences of events were elaborated. Finally, the concept of transformation for this paper were discovered. To reach the aim of the research a qualitative research approach, based on social constructivism was taken. The research was conducted by having interviews with six participants of the 2018 Vasaloppet. The obtained data was analysed by means of an inductive thematic analysis, creating themes from what was said by the interviewees. The key findings discussed are their understanding of individual and organisational sustainability, as well as transport, in the context of the Vasaloppet experience. Further a chapter about experiences that made the interviewees thinking about issues that might cause transformation is added. A chapter about actual found transformational experiences is added in closing. Eventually a reflection on the research process is given, before concluding the thesis.