Extraction legacies in post-extraction transitions: re-mediation, re-economization and heritagization. (RT 6/7)

This research task brings together a highly interdisciplinary group of scholars within heritage studies, environmental history, human geography and tourism research, physical geography, hydrology and cultural anthropology, in the study of how communities and regions built around resource extraction in the Arctic, deal with legacies of mining in transitions to post-extraction futures.

Pyramiden water management Infrastructure.

Extraction legacies in post-extraction transitions: re-mediation, re-economization and heritagization. (RT 6/7)

This research task brings together a highly interdisciplinary group of scholars within heritage studies, environmental history, human geography and tourism research, physical geography, hydrology and cultural anthropology, in the study of how communities and regions built around resource extraction in the Arctic, deal with legacies of mining in transitions to post-extraction futures. Based on case studies of former mining towns and regions in northernmost Scandinavia, Greenland, Svalbard and northern Canada, the objective of the research is to identify trends and processes that have taken place after the end of extraction, in order to develop best practices for planning for post-extraction sustainability. How have post-extraction communities in the Arctic dealt with toxic legacies, built environments and memories from past extraction and why? How can success and failure in post-extraction remediation be assessed? How can post-mining transitions and remediation be tailored to meet the expectations and desires of local communities? Under which circumstances can legacies from former mining systems become a resource for building post-extraction futures through re-mediation, re-economization and heritagization , leaving environmental as well as social and cultural footprints behind.

 

Images: Pyramiden and Qullissat- post-industrial mining towns at Svalbard and Greenland, yet part of the future visions of former owners, residents, entrepreneurs and heritage authorities. Photos: Dag Avango.

Share