Luke Launches Virtual Nature Tour Community of Practice
Finland – On November 19, six stakeholders gathered at the Natural Resources Institute of Finland, focusing their activities on co-creating innovative virtual nature tourism concepts for Nuuksio National Park and the Uusimaa region.
The meeting launched the Community of Practice for Luke‘s Virtual Nature Pilot. Research Professor Liisa Tyrväinen, and Researchers Kelsey M. Johansen and Tuomas Kari, guided participants through Luke’s VirtuLab, including its digital library of nature footage and multi-sensory elements, soliciting feedback on expanding the catalogue with additional filming locations and technologies.
The session was also used to pilot the collaborative storyboarding workshops that will be used to co-design the virtual nature tour experiences. In the workshop, CoP participants worked through a series of co-design phases that used storytelling principles to developed virtual tour concepts for Nuuksio National Park and the Uusimaa region to enhance emotional connection, learning, and sustainability messaging. Important feedback was received on how to further develop the workshop before to rolling it out with local nature tourism entrepreneurs in the Uusimaa region in early 2026.
An Innovative Approach
Participants identified virtual nature experiences as an innovative and promising approach for developing nature-based tourism both in Uusimaa and in Finland. Strong enthusiasm emerged for the marketing potential, particularly the ability to inspire future visitation. However, the Community of Practice emphasized that sustainability, circularity, and inclusivity must be integrated into development and implementation from the start and that collaboration should extend beyond the traditional sectors typically engaged in tourism development.
They also noted that the pilot product’s quality should sufficiently demonstrate virtual nature tourism’s true potential while offering scalable and affordable solutions at diverse price points and for diverse use cases. Clear joint goals for the pilot, not just the Community of Practice, will be defined through upcoming meetings with local nature entrepreneurs to guide development and evaluation.
Equally important: identifying primary target market groups and assessing market potential to inform strategic decision-making and make a business case to potential early adopters of virtual nature tours will be prioritised in the next phase of pilot development.
Stories and Collaboration
Stakeholders emphasized the importance of local stories being integrated into Virtual Nature Tour experiences, through collaboration with local nature tourism entrepreneurs and by incorporating insights from future storytelling workshops with Nuuksio Lakeland Nature Entrepreneurs and Visit Espoo stakeholders.
The narrative dimension and storytelling elements will receive dedicated planning resources in the next development phase to ensure meaningful enhancement of the virtual experience, alongside technological considerations and multi-sensory integration.
Technical Realities and Expectations
Technical opportunities, possibilities, and challenges dominated discussion. Participants expressed concern that creating a fully commercial-grade digital assets in both static and moving video footage presents particular challenges.
In this regard, Luke researchers clarified expectations. The intention is not to deliver a market-ready product at this stage, but rather to develop a pilotable solution that can test market viability and demonstrate virtual nature tourism’s potential. This pilot can then serve as a foundation for commercial, non-profit, or governmental organizations to scale development further, aligning with their own resources, target audiences, and strategic objectives.
Next steps include storytelling workshops with nature tourism entrepreneurs in partnership with Visit Espoo and Nuuksio Lakeland, market testing in Joensuu, and participation in the Matka Travel Fair Business Forum in early 2026. The second Community of Practice meeting will follow and is tentatively scheduled for March or April 2026.