Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Large-scale industrial exploitation of Polar Areas  (LASIPA)

Outline
The exploitation of natural resources in Arctic and Antarctic regions is a good example of the world history of resource exploitation. As in other regions of the world it began soon after they were discovered. Geographic expeditions in the end of the sixteenth century and in the so-called Heroic Age of Polar Exploration (ca. 1870-1920), including the first International Polar Year (1882-1883), have made western colonial intrusion into the polar regions possible. Polar research as part of these expeditions included most of the non-laboratory natural sciences as well as human and cultural studies. After Friedmann’s core/periphery concept (1966), the polar areas can be considered as Resource Frontier Regions as they provide raw materials for the world’s industrial cores (Sugden 1982). Since more than 400 years now, whaling, fur trapping and mining have produced raw materials for the international market. They are, as a rule, carried out by people from outside the polar areas. These undertakings can be analysed as actor-networks (Latour 1986, Law 1987), based on global networks in the core regions and local networks in the polar areas (Law & Callon 1992). The exploitation of natural resources can be divided into two phases: In the Arctic, phase 1 began in the 16th century and lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. Hunters and whalers from many countries came to the Arctic to catch right whales, seals and walrusses until the species was exterminated there. The whalers built land stations to process the whale and to render blubber into oil. Their activities had an impact on national economies and traces of the whaling stations can still be seen. Phase 2 began in the second half of the 19th century, when European and American entrepreneurs took up mining in the Arctic region. This activity has been carried out ever since. It has generated mining communities and settlements and has been an important factor in the industrialisation process. The industrial activity was preceded by a period of exploration and polar research. It has had enormous consequences for the political status of areas such as Spitsbergen, Greenland and Northern Canada and affected life in the local communities radically. The industrial heritage is an important asset in the cultural history of the region. In the Antarctic area exploitation began in the 19th century. Here, phase 1 started some years after the discovery of seals and whales in the waters of Antarctica. Whalers from many countries appeared in the waters of Antarctica to hunt these marine mammals. This, again, was an international activity. Several stations were built to butcher seals and whales and to render blubber into oil. After a few decades many seal and whale species were threatened by extermination. In 1982, the International Whaling Committee established a moratorium on all whaling beginning in 1986. By that time, sealing had already stopped. Phase 2 in Antarctica, the exploration of minerals began in the 1970s but stopped when the Antarctic Treaty nations agreed on a moratorium on mining for fifty years in 1991. So far, the history of polar exploitation has been studied only from regional and national perspectives. It is the ambition of this project to study both bi-polar and from an international and comparative perspective. By this methodology we will pursue a critical approach and avoid the trap of reproducing boundary’s of national interests in the polar regions in the writing of history. The project will also study the history of polar field sciences, in their more or less efficient role as stalkers for industrial resource extraction. Written sources and the remains of technical installations will be studied in both polar areas and the results will be compared in order to extend our knowledge of polar exploitation, its impact on the natural environment and indigenous communities and its political consequences. The field activities of the IPY will give the participants in this project the unique possibility to visit and study remote polar installations.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
Theme 1, Through the study of the history of resource exploitation, we will strengthen our knowledge about the present environmental status of the polar regions. Theme 2, One can not understand the reaction of polar communities on environmental change without knowing the history. Theme 3, This research will explore the possibilities and consequences of future exoploitation of the natural resources in polar regions. Theme 4, This will be the first time that data will be collected in several countries involved in the exploitation of the polar regions. Theme 6, This study will give more insight in the conflict between the economis goals of the intrusive system and the indigenous system.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Joint project of the Royal Institute of Technology and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, Michigan Technological University USA, Directorate for Cultural History Norway, Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow Russia, Södertörn University College, Södertörn, Sweden, Arctic Centre, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. This project also is a part of the EUROCORES suggestion to the ESF Histories from the North.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Svalbard: Regions of Isfjorden, Grønfjorden, Bellsund, Kongsfjorden, Sassenfjord (including Longyearbyen, Pyramiden, Barentsburg, Ny Ålesund) and Sorgfjorden. Greenland: Illulisat, Ivittuut, Canada (Cumberland and Frobisher Sound) and Alaska. Antarctica: South Georgia, Kerguelen, Deception Island, Heard Island and Macquarie Island.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/06-08/06      07/07-08/07      
Antarctic: 12/07-02/08      12/08-02/09      

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Transport to and from the sites in Arctic and Antarctic. Campind and local transport equipment and supplies.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
NO

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?

Logistics depend on (inter)national policies and will be different for individual sites. Support can partly be provided by existing field stations.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The project has been endorsed by (a) the National IPY Committee of the Yes. Netherlands and is supported by the National IPY Committees of Sweden and Norway. IASC is asked to give its endorsement to the project as well

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
YES

The project was launched in the form of a field course in Longyearbyen in Svalbard in the summer of 2004. A similar course will be organized in Barentsburg, Svalbard in 2005 and 2006. The project is related to previous field research within the Swedish Programme for Social Sciences Research in the Polar Regions and the Dutch-Norwegian Smeerenburgproject

How will the project be organised and managed?
It is proposed that the project is coordinated on an international level whereas individual sub-projects will be operated on a national base with international participation. PhD students will be hired and appointed by the different universities. A project office will be established in one of the participating universities to maintain international communication and to steer the project. Communication will include a web site and an electronic newsletter. The organizing committee of the field course will act as an international steering committee that will coordinate the research activities.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The data collection and the results of the project will also be published in popular journals and a broadcasting organisation will be interested to make a tv-documentation of the history of international exploitation of the polar areas. A course will be developed about the international exploitation of polar areas in which extra attention will be given to the impact of exploitation on the natural and cultural environment. The local communities will be involved in all education and outreach activities. q3_4_Data : Data will be collected, generalized, synthesized and archived electronically. Data will be published on the web site of the project so that it will be available for other researchers.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Data will be collected, generalized, synthesized and archived electronically. Data will be published on the web site of the project so that it will be available for other researchers.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Funding will be mainly provided by the participating universities, (inter)national funding agencies as ESF, NSF and national research councils and additional supported by IASC.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
This letter of intent has been developed by the members of the international organizing committee of the field course industrial archaeology in Longyearbyen (Svalbard) in 2004. It was discussed for the first time in Barentsburg (Svalbard) with the Russian participants. The Russian participation is secured through the long time cooperation between the organizing committee and the Archaeological Institute of the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Prof  Louwrens Hacquebord
University of Groningen
Arctic Centre
P.O. Box 716, Groningrn
9700 AS
Netherlands

Tel: 31-50-363 68 34
Mobile: 06 200 499 57
Fax: 31 50 363 49 00
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation