University of Lapland-led research project develops ecological pilgrimage

The research project aims to broaden understanding of the role of tourism and hiking during ecological crises and to support the EU Biodiversity Strategy toward an ecological transition.

At the end of 2025, a research project led by the University of Lapland secured €1.1 million in funding from the EU’s Biodiversity and Transformative Change programme to study and develop ecological pilgrimage.

The new project continues the work of the University of Lapland’s ILA research group (Intra-living in the Anthropocene). The interdisciplinary ILA group has a long-standing research interest in exploring the possibilities of tourism amid ongoing ecological crises.

“The ongoing biodiversity loss challenges to rethink and repair human-nature relations,” says the project’s principal investigator, Postdoctoral Researcher Emily Höckert from the University of Lapland.

But what is an ecological pilgrimage? Höckert does not offer a ready-made answer. Instead, the project’s name is intended to prompt pause and invite reflection.

For many, the idea of pilgrimage may evoke images of historical colonial expeditions or religious ceremonies. An ecological pilgrimage, however, is not about conquering new places or belonging to a particular religious tradition, even though it may include spiritual dimensions.

For Höckert’s research team, an ecological pilgrimage involves both movement and pause. Slowing down, calming the mind, and staying open to surprise can create conditions for meaningful encounters between species and deepen human–nature relations.

“We hope that walking and wondering together can expand our understanding of how human well-being and the diversity of life are deeply intertwined,” Höckert adds.

Hiking trails reveal the state of biodiversity

During the project, Nordic researchers will walk along four existing hiking trails in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Anna-Emilia Haapakoski, a doctoral researcher on the project, notes that tourists often hike on trails in protected areas, which can create a misleading impression of the forests’ well-being.

“For example, infrastructure projects related to the green transition, such as wind, hydrogen and hydropower, are continuously taking up more space in remote communities and ecosystems. At the same time, they are weakening biodiversity and decision-making based on local knowledge,” Haapakoski says.

The routes of the research project have therefore been selected to pass through ecosystems shaped by forestry, infrastructure development, agriculture, hunting, tourism and nature conservation.

In Finland, the selected route follows a section of the national UKK hiking trail, named after former president Urho Kaleva Kekkonen, that runs through the municipalities of Salla and Savukoski.

A sign in the UKK-park.
Sections of the UKK hiking trail are overgrown and difficult to walk, while other parts are intersected by clear-cut logging areas and roads. Photo: Emily Höckert.

The project partners will implement experimental walking interventions on the selected hiking routes. This means that a multidisciplinary group of researchers, local actors, and experts in outdoor recreation, such as representatives of the Outdoor Association of Finland, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility, will walk together, envision, and develop ecological pilgrimage as a practice that repairs human relationships with nature.

Höckert gives an example that illustrates the rationale for the walking interventions.

“Researchers from the Natural Resources Institute of Finland highlight the importance of biodiversity by drawing attention to key species, such as the wild bilberry. This invites shared reflection on how humans and other species relate to bilberries, and how multispecies storytelling could help support the well-being of their habitats.”

Blueberries.
The blueberry is an important key species in a forest ecosystem, providing food and sustenance for many other species and helps to measure forest biodiversity. Photo: Anna-Emilia Haapakoski.

At the conclusion of the project, its ideas and practical guidance will be shared with the public in a freely available handbook on ecological pilgrimage.

Ecological Pilgrimage: Engaging with biodiversity through walking interventions

  • Total funding for the research consortium 1.1 million euros
  • The University of Lapland share 236 990 euros, of which the share of 130 316 euros comes from the Academy of Finland and the 35 575 euros from the European Commission.
  • The project is conducted together with the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Finland), the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Umeå University (Sweden), the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and National Pilgrimage Center (Norway), and the University of Iceland (Iceland).
  • Project duration 2.2.2026-30.1.2029.

Emily Höckert Yleinen
Playing with the present in Pyhä