Hi Elena Pibernik!

Tell us about your background

I moved here from Switzerland, where I grew up in a village near Lucerne. I hold a BSc and MSc in Architecture from ETH Zurich with a focus on Spatial Transformations and Landscape Architecture. Since graduation in 2019, I have had a variety of roles in the field of spatial planning, as well as part-time academic teaching and researcher.

Now I am excited to join the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action "VIMAS" (Visitor Monitoring and Management in Protected and Recreational Areas: New challenges, novel solutions for the Anthropocene), whereas my PhD research will focus on "Collaborative Governance of recreational areas". I am thrilled to dive into the topic and to have Peter Fredman, Sandra Wall-Reinius and Stefan Linde, all from Miun, as supervisors!

Why did you choose to come to ETOUR?

I have always been fascinated by the Nordic countries and was happy to discover the PhD position on offer at ETOUR, which seemed to be a perfect fit. Reading more about ETOUR's research and now listening to ETOUR's discussions and presentations, I realise how well it covers topics that have fascinated me for a long time and that I have found nowhere else! Research covers questions of my interest, such as the perception, experience, management and planning of a landscape, as well as its value and effects. So I guess ETOUR is my serendipitous moment. 

What do you wish to gain from your time here?

I will try to stay open to the opportunities that arise and also follow new inspiration from colleagues. As a platform for research, I hope to learn more about current research streams, get to know like-minded researchers and receive critical feedback from fellow researchers, but also contribute my own views and efforts to ETOUR. As the group has a wide outreach, I hope to be able to make use of this for conducting my research as well as spreading my results for a bigger impact.

What experiences have you had so far?

I have received a very warm welcome to the University and have found the atmosphere of ETOUR to be very engaging! The diversity of the group is exciting and enriching, and I look forward to getting to know everyone better over the next few years! I have also been surprised by the commitment of the city of Östersund to building its community, and I am delighted with the way the landscape around the city is an active vision and also part of everyday life. Now I am looking forward to exploring more of Jämtland, which is larger than Switzerland! So I guess, I will not get bored here.