| Summary: | Svalbard has nearly transitioned from an economy based on coal mining to a more diversified economy with tourism, research and higher education as key contributing factors. These changes are driven by the Norwegian national Svalbard policy, with environmental protection and a stable Norwegian population in Longyearbyen as overall goals. Locally, they are communicated and adopted as strategies for becoming a sustainable tourist destination and a low carbon community. Narratives of Svalbard’s future range from playground to wilderness, from sustainable tourism and zero emission society to policy ambitions for strict nature conservation of the Arctic wilderness. Precisely what Svalbard’s wilderness is, and how to best maintain and protect it, remains a contested issue that is tightly connected to the narratives of the peninsula's present and future. Based on interviews with local tourism actors and authorities, and analysis of key policy documents, this paper investigates the emerging narratives of what Svalbard is and should be, we seek to identify the dominant narratives shaping responses to policy and environmental changes. Herein lies potential conflicts and different levels of feasibility of national policy for tourism development in the context of changing environmental, political and economic conditions. We explore how an adaptive co-management approach to tourism has the potential to reconcile stated national policy with local tourism opportunities and community development
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