ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates and discusses the idea of a shared Nordic model of outdoor physical culture, a passion for nature – known in the Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and to international communities as friluftsliv (lit. ‘free-air life’). By introducing critical eco-cultural and eco-philosophical perspectives, the aim is to reveal significant paradoxes of friluftsliv as ideology, a diverse field of socio-cultural practices and discourses, a complex field of politics, and expressions of sustainable ways of living. The research methodology is to review Nordic state policy documents and related research, though with a particular focus on Norway for the sake of expediency, as it is the authors’ home country. Given this limited scope, we intend to open a new field for research rather than reach firm conclusions ourselves. However, we do suggest that there is in practice no shared Nordic model of friluftsliv, given the diverse eco-cultural adaptations of human-nature relations within and across the Scandinavian countries.
