Final report

Consultation  activities do not appear to be 

provided by public administrations, most likely 

because this is thought of as best left to the 

private sector  or professional associations. 

Interview data revealed that local administrations 

commonly  co-fund research  and  development 

programmes aimed at mentoring, consortium 

building, grant writing, and identifying solutions 

which are delivered via partnerships with other 

levels of government and the private sector

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.  

 

 

Several of the DMO representatives interviewed highlighted that 

DMOs have an important role in creating the collaborative 

environment and preparing and nurturing the spaces of 

engagement, education and consultation in the destination 

environment.  

 

The survey suggests that Nordic countries appear to receive only educational support even though the SME survey 

demonstrates that the region has some of the highest levels of digitalisation. This finding is inconsistent with the 

interview data, which uncovered several examples of extensive consultation, mentoring, education and prototyping 

initiatives. The survey sample included only a small number of local administrations (17%), and a more extensive 

survey of this group of stakeholders might reveal a greater variety of activities that are not included in the survey’s 

closed question responses.  

 

Interview data consistently pointed to the importance of 

bottom-up capacity-building initiatives, and collaboration 

across stakeholders at the local level was essential, 

especially with respect to