Railway, Gaze and, Landscape – The cultural environment as a resource for landscaped infrastructure
Short description
From a cultural conservation perspective, the project aims to examine how the cultural environments of the railway landscape can better be maintained and integrated as a sustainable resource in management and maintenance. The project's goals are to provide deeper knowledge about the historical and contemporary view of the railway landscape as a cultural resource, increase knowledge about the interaction between the railway, cultural environment and landscape, and form the basis for the development of a conceptual model for the cultural values of the railway landscape that is applicable in the future operations of the Swedish Transport Administration and other actors.
Research aims
From a cultural conservation perspective, the project aims to examine how the cultural environments of the railway landscape, developed since the 19th century, can better be maintained and integrated as a sustainable resource in management and maintenance in the future.
The goal is that the results should 1) provide deeper knowledge about the historical and contemporary view of the railway landscape as a visual and cultural resource for the traveller, the region and the local community 2) increase knowledge about the interaction between the railway, cultural environment and landscape and how the connection between history, present and future forms the basis for understanding the cultural environment as a sustainable resource 3) form the basis for the development of a conceptual model for the cultural values of the railway landscape that is applicable in the future operations of the Swedish Transport Administration and other actors.
The project will also identify new research questions for a larger research project that supports the Swedish Transport Administration's goals for the cultural environment as presented in their environmental report, “Miljöplan VO Underhåll”.
The project's aim and goal are based on the research needs identified by the Swedish Transport Administration and research gaps identified in national and international arts and scientific literature. Using the “Västra Stambanan” (the main line Stockholm-Gothenburg) as a case study, the cultural environment values of the railway landscape and the conditions for protecting these in the future are analysed using cultural environment analyses, discourse analysis, and interviews.
Results will be communicated in a report to the Swedish Transport Administration, in scientific articles and popular science forms.
Members
A reference group including individuals from the Swedish Transport Administration as well as from the university, public agencies and NGOs will be part of the project.