Swensen, G. (ed). 2002. Cultural Heritage on the Urban Fringe. Nannestad workshop report March 2002. - NIKU Publikasjoner 126. - 50 p.

Today, many municipalities find that greater investment in cultural heritage work pays dividends. Preservation of elements of a place’s past enhances its character, and it is something that engages people in the community. The research project "Threatened Landscapes. A study of the decision-making, legitimacy and practice of cultural heritage management in local planning" was started to throw light upon the position currently held by cultural heritage management in Norway. The prime focus is on municipalities that are strongly affected by development pressure as a result of their being situated close to or on the outskirts of major cities.

Nannestad, where the workshop took place whose proceedings are presented herein, has been chosen as the location for a case-study aimed at examining and documenting situations where landscapes are under pressure.

Nannestad, a peaceful, rural area at first sight. Photo by NIKU.

Five researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) and the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) participate in the project. The workshop comprised the project researchers along with a number of invited specialists, and the themes presented centred on various problems facing changing landscapes:

• Mobility in the historical landscape of Nannestad (Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen and Gro Jerpåsen)
• Cultural heritage and land-use planning on the urban fringe, based on various interview accounts (Ragnhild Skogheim)
• A presentation of various illustrative stories relating to heritage work, showing that the degree of success depends largely on the participants involved in the different spheres of activity (Grete Swensen)
• The cultural heritage sector and the planning systems viewed as separate segments, representing different value judgements and kinds of discourse (Inger-Lise Saglie)
• Presentation of the four important concepts "form", "function", "process" and "context", and their usefulness as a starting-point for formalised and structured reading of landscapes (Mats Widgren)
• Presentation of historic landscape characterisation in England, supplemented by an insight into the philosophy behind the approach (Graham Fairclough)
• A presentation of the process of "editing" the cultural landscape, based on experiences from archaeological fieldwork at Kabelvåg in the Lofoten archipelago (Reidar Bertelsen)
• The final paper argues for the further integration of landscape values into regional planning, with a focus on the potential and limitations this entails for planning (Gary Fry).

Grete Swensen
Project leader