Temporal landscapes for the public good

Negotiating Solar Collectors Among Ancient Remains

Bibliographic Data

ID3978372
AuthorsAnnette Henning (0000-0003-3276-0533, Dalarna University, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume9
Issue1
Pages27-40
Publication date2008-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649360701789568
OpenAlexW2012363149
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited14

This article concerns the contested siting of a solar collector field in Torsång, Sweden, a designated area of national heritage. The contest is described as a ‘planning drama’ and a locally articulated controversy between two national policies and priorities: national heritage versus sustainable development. Two professional groups are at the centre of this drama: antiquarians at the County Administrative Board, and a group of employees at the municipally owned utility company. The article focuses in particular on the clash of two knowledge systems; how these are expressed, clarified and elaborated on when being confronted with one another in this specific situation. Temporal, horizontal and vertical scales are used to analyse the material. Contrary to what has previously been assumed to be the case for modern Western societies, the contested landscapes are shown to depend for their realization or destruction, not only on temporal and horizontal dimensions, but also on a vertical dimension including artefacts above and below the surface. The struggle to find a solution that everyone could agree on was not merely a matter of making two conflicting ways of perceiving this land come to terms. It was, in fact, an attempt to force two incommensurable landscapes into the same piece of land. Cet article s'intéresse au choix controversé de l'emplacement d'un champ de capteurs solaires à Torsång, Suède qui est une zone classée patrimoine national. Cette dispute est qualifiée de «drame de planification» et de controverse de niveau local qui révèle deux politiques et priorités d'ordre national opposées: le patrimoine national et le développement durable. Deux regroupements professionnels se retrouvent au devant de la scène de ce drame: des antiquaires du conseil d'administration du comté et un groupe d'employés de la société municipale de service public. L'article porte principalement sur la confrontation de deux systèmes de connaissance: comment ceux-ci sont communiqués, élucidés et développés lorsqu'ils se confrontent dans cette situation particulière. Des échelles temporelles, horizontales et verticales sont utilisées pour ventiler les données. Contrairement à ce qui était préconisé pour les sociétés modernes occidentales, la création ou la destruction des paysages controversés dépendent non seulement des dimensions temporelles et horizontales, mais également d'une dimension verticale, dont notamment les artefacts situés au-dessus et au-dessous de la surface. La recherche d'une solution acceptable par tous n'était pas simplement une question d'accepter deux modes de percevoir ce lieu. La lutte était en effet une tentative d'obliger deux paysages incommensurables à partager le même territoire. Este artículo habla de la protesta contra el emplazamiento de un campo de colectores solares en Torsång, Suecia, designado como zona de patrimonio nacional. La protesta se describe como un ‘drama de planificación’ y una controversia expresada a nivel local entre dos políticas y prioridades nacionales: el patrimonio nacional contra el desarrollo sostenible. Dos grupos profesionales se encuentran al centro de este drama: los anticuarios del consejo de administración municipal y un grupo de empleados de la compañía de energía del municipio. El artículo tiene como enfoque el conflicto entre dos sistemas de conocimiento y cómo éstos son expresados, clarificados y elaborados a la hora de enfrentarse el uno con el otro en esta situación específica. Se emplea escalas temporales, horizontales y verticales para analizar la materia. Al contrario de lo que antes se suponía que fuera el caso en las sociedades contemporáneas del occidente, se ve que los paisajes al centro de la protesta dependen no sólo de las dimensiones temporales y horizontales para su realización y destrucción sino también de la dimensión vertical, que incluye los artefactos por encima y por debajo de la superficie. La lucha por encontrar una solución que todos acepten no era simplemente una cuestión de reconciliar dos modos contradictorios de perceber el terreno. De hecho, era un intento de hacer cuadrar dos paisajes inconmensurables en un solo terreno. Keywords: contested landscapesknowledge systemsnational heritagesustainable developmentfacility sitingKeywords: paysages contestéssystèmes de connaissancepatrimoine nationaldéveloppement durablechoix d'emplacement des installationsKeywords: paisajes protestadossistemas de conocimientopatrimonio nacionaldesarrollo sostenibleemplazamiento de equipos Acknowledgements The article has benefited from comments by Professor Åsa Boholm, Social Anthropology, and Dr Annelie Sjölander-Lindqvist, Human Ecology, both at CEFOS, Göteborg University. It has also benefited from comments by Ann-Kristin Ekman, Associate Professor in Social Anthropology at Dalarna University, Hedvig Ekerwald, Associate Professor in Sociology at Uppsala University, and from referees within the Geography disciplines. Notes 1 In an order of magnitude, that is equivalent to more than 500,000 m3 oil per year (according to Professor L. Broman, SERC, 15 February 2005). 2 In Sweden, large-scale solar heating systems were introduced in the late 1970s by the interest to develop solar heating systems with seasonal hot water storage. Sweden had a leading role in the early demonstrations of large-scale plants together with the Netherlands and Denmark, and is still the leading country with twenty-three plants in operation (Dalenbäck Citation2004). 3 According to Associate Professor J.-O. Dalenbäck, Chalmers Technical University, committee member of the Solar Energy Association of Sweden (SEAS). Interview conducted on 30 September 2004. It has also been quite common to have the plants sited close to the boiler room despite the fact that a solar heating plant connected to district heating does not have to be closer than 70 to 1,000 m from the district heating pipe-lines. The reason for choosing such a site was because necessary planning work and investigations had already been carried out for the boiler room. 4 According to Lennart Blomgren, the Swedish Wind Power Association, interview by telephone, 2 February 2005. 5 I see ‘structure’ as a cultural expression that has stabilized in some material, social or conceptual form and thus changes more slowly than other cultural expressions. When people reproduce, modify or break down structure (which also constitutes the actual condition for a modification), then we can talk about processes of change and modification (Henning Citation2000). 6 See Note 5. 7 It has not been the aim of this article to detect a defect in the policy implementation process, nor to offer any advice on how co-operative solutions could have been reached. Neither have I taken into account the perception among the dwellers concerning benefits and disadvantages of the solar energy facility or its planned location. All these focuses would have been a common choice within facility-siting theories (Boholm and Löfstedt Citation2004). 8 A heat pump uses electricity to take low temperature heat from air, water or ground (thus lowering the temperature even further) and adding it to warm air or water (used for heating a house or a district). In 1982 heat pumps were installed in Torsång, using water from the nearby lake to heat a day-care centre and two housing areas. This plant was one of the first of its kind in Sweden. Eight years later the heat pumps were taken out of operation due to parts being worn out and because the CFC (freon) refrigerant was no longer permitted due to its effect on the atmosphere's ozone layer. 9 They intended to use the existing tank for storage of solar heated water from sunny to rainy days during summer and, during the rest of the year, use it for storage of water heated by off-peak electricity. This would also mean that oil would only have to be used during the cold winter days. 10 In the late 1960s and 1970s the municipality was heavily polluted, primarily due to two large industries, a paper mill and a steel factory (Malbert et al. Citation1993). This called for early attention to environmental problems. 11 Examples of this trend are the ‘ecomuseums’, outdoor museums particularly popular in Scandinavia, France and England. Generally these exhibit buildings with historic working environments spread over an entire district (Borgström Citation1995; Hoyau Citation1992; Hudson Citation1996; de Varine Citation1996). 12 To share knowledge system is to share culture. Culture, of course, is merely a designation of habits, experience and modes of thought that certain individuals share with certain others to a greater or lesser extent. Culture is also something highly changeable and, to a large extent, subjectively understood (Henning Citation2000

Archaeology · Architectural engineering · Geography · Negotiation · Social science · Sociology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Engineering · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · History · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy

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