My first research update article for The Place Brand Observer is out!
As a newly appointed Associate Editor for Research, I couldnāt have asked for a better start - diving into one of my favorite journals, Place Branding & Public Diplomacy, and their special issue on AI and diplomacy.
Read the full research update here:
https://placebrandobserver.com/place-branding-research-human-element-age-of-ai/
Have research insights or projects to share? Iād love to hear from you!
We had a great day in Varberg, wrapping up the FramHall project - a journey all about shaping the future places of Halland.
Over the past year, the project explored future studies and foresight methods to strengthen long-term, sustainable place development.
Funded by ShiftSweden, Vinnova, and Region Halland, FramHall brought together a wide range of actors: RISE, Halmstad University, municipalities of Halmstad and Varberg, Fredblads Architects and others.
Read more: https://www.ri.se/en/expertise-areas/projects/framhall-places-of-the-future-halland
The Elgar Encyclopedia of City and Place Branding is now officially published! š
A great project, bringing together contributions from more than 120 scholars worldwide, offering diverse insights and perspectives on city and place branding.
I contributed two entries, on food tourism (coauthored with Stuart Reid) and wine tourism, highlighting the growing role of local food, wine, and culture in strengthening place brands #placebranding #food #wine
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/elgar-encyclopedia-of-city-and-place-branding-9781035319633.html
āThe Elgar Encyclopedia of City and Place Branding is a must-read for anyone interested in the field of place branding. It covers an extensive number of relevant topics, written by an impressive number of contributors. The contributors are leading researchers and practitioners in the place branding field. It is a remarkable publication worth reading.ā ā JoĆ£o Freire, IPAM - The Marketing Business School and ICNOVA, Portugal
How nice to arrive at the office this morning and find the freshly published book copy waiting for me š
2075 ā Future(s) of Food Tourism is officially published:
https://www.channelviewpublications.com/page/detail/?K=9781845419196
Happy to contribute with a chapter on futures of food tourism in Sweden, where Stuart Reid and I explore challenges and opportunities of the sector (including wine tourismš·of course) in SkĆ„ne.
The future is small-scaled, meaningful, and closely tied to local communities.
This book explores the future of food tourism in 2075 and beyond. It uses the principles of multiple futures to demonstrate, analyse and examine different paths that food tourism may take using scenario planning. It is timely given the issues of global food supply, climate change and the rise of food tourism as the core of the experience economy.
Happy to be part of what has turned into a nice yearly tradition!
Thank you, Dr. Roberto Bruni, for once again inviting me as a guest lecturer to your course in Place Marketing and Branding at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy, now for the second spring in a row. It was a pleasure to join the students online and explore the many dimensions of place branding in Sweden.
Looking forward to continuing this collaboration next season.
There is always something special with rebranding. An airport in Japan has recently renamed āits air hub Oita Hello Kitty Airport to lure fans and touristsā.
The six-month rebrand, which runs from now through October 13, will inject the otherwise sleepy airport with an extra dose of the countryās quintessential cuteness ā or ākawaiiā in Japanese.
An interesting idea, weāll see where it will lead the brand
https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/17/travel/japan-oita-hello-kitty-airport-rebrand-intl-hnk/index.html
Iāll be joining the upcoming World Creativity and Innovation Day event as a guest speaker on April 22 at 12:00 a.m. CET. This live podcast is hosted by the Malaysia Green Building Council, in collaboration with the Solar Energy Research Institute and MILA University, Malaysia.
Weāll explore creativity and innovation in smart city development and branding.
Watch live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7sqen_YMo
