Building trust to environmental policy as catalyst for a green transition

Informations

Funding country

Norway

Acronym

-

URL

-

Start date

1/1/2018

End date

12/31/2022

Budget

844,764 EUR

Fundings

Abstract

PARKAS (Building trust to environmental policy as catalyst for a green transition, 2018-2021, Norwegian Research Council, Environmental Research Program MILJØFORSK), investigated the nature conservation management system in Norwegian National Parks Hardangervidda and Saltfjellet-Svartisen. National and international comparative studies supplement the research with experiences from Svalbard, France, Finland, and South Africa. Research group: Norwegian Institute for cultural heritage research (NIKU, project manager), Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Nordland Research Institute (NRI), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), and Museums in Akershus (MiA). Norwegian reference group: managers, regional and national organizations, directorates, and municipalities. European reference group: VetAgro Sup (F), University of Newcastle (UK), Cornwall Council (UK), University of Wageningen (NL), University College London (UK), and University of Ghent (B). In PARKAS we explored how biodiversity, cultural and natural values and other environmental benefits can best be preserved in the complex management system of national parks. The starting point for the project was that the public's trust in management and political decisions is fundamental to find long-term solutions and achieve sustainable goals. We have sought to provide a better knowledge of cultural heritage as an important resource for protecting natural values and raise awareness of nature and culture connections. Our main goal was to take everyone's interests into account to facilitate a more comprehensive management practice in national parks. Trust and exchange were a prerequisite in the project. Since 2018, we have collected a representative amount of data in both national parks through in-depth interviews, with managers and local groups, and fieldwork including observations, botanical surveys and landscape analyses, frequently with informants. We held several meetings and workshops with local and regional actors on the topics of management practices, knowledge exchange, collaboration, and technological solutions. We organized 3 seminars with scientific lectures and discussions on complementary topics between the research group, the reference group, and partners from Europe: "The integration of cultural heritage in national park management" (Geilo, 6-8 November 2018), "Future parks: why should we listen to people?", digital meeting, 3-4. June 2021), and "Building trust in environmental policy as a catalyst for a green transition" (Oslo/digital meeting, 1-2 June 2022). We also delivered several presentations on natural and cultural heritage and national park management in local, regional and national seminars and international conferences (most recently, Norske Parker Living Landscapes Conference, 10-12 May 2022, and LAC2020+, 8-11 June 2021). We also organized a study trip to France to learn about national and regional parks in the Alps and Auvergne ("International comparative studies: management practices and economic, political and cultural differences" 14-18 oct 2019). During the pandemic 2020-2021, we attached great importance to maintaining continuous dialogue and collaboration with local stakeholders in Hardangervidda and Nordland. Participatory processes, active knowledge-exchange and digital solutions were used, as well as popular dissemination and communication of research and results. In 2021, we organized two local digital workshops in Hardangervidda (topic: «Local knowledge about nature and culture is important in cultural environment policy: how to safeguard local values for the future?», 28.1.2021 and 25.2.2021). The events anchored PARKAS results in the local culture/nature-based knowledge and provided a better understanding of cultural and natural heritage connections. Several follow-up interviews were conducted by teleconference and by phone in 2021 and 2022. Technological solutions for cultural heritage registration were tested in Hardangervidda in collaboration with Viken County Municipality and the Norwegian Nature Inspectorate. This has provided valuable information about user-friendly field technology for cultural heritage recording that can be adapted to multiple purposes and secure natural and cultural historical values for the future. PARKAS scientific publications deal with national park management, cultural heritage and trust, with intertwined topics about cultural heritage protection, environmental policy, participation, identity, knowledge building, sustainable development, tourism and wear, technological innovation. Newspaper articles, scientific paper, book chapter, and an ArcGIS StoryMap about technological solutions, have already been published. Several other are expected to be published in 2022 and 2023. We are working with knowledge dissemination and EU/national spin-off projects. Read more on PARKA's website https://parkas.niku.no/ and at niku.no