Conservation or Development? Challenging the Heritagization of Shielings in Transitional Times, for Climate Mitigation and (Post-)Pandemic Development

Abstract

The classic Scandinavian shieling consisted of a fenced site on outlying lands with meadows and structures for dwelling, stabling livestock, and processing milk. Through dismantling of rural, forested areas, competition for forest use and heritagization, shielings have been marginalized in today’s agrarian life and framed as relics of an outdated system. Shieling owners, like small-scale farmers all over Europe, face challenges including economic viability, loneliness in their work, and difficulty recruiting new shieling workers. Surviving shielings (c. 200 in Sweden) are valued as local development assets and are often considered valuable for their rich biodiversity and heritage. As such, they are subject to conservation schemes that may conflict with development ambitions. Heritagization has also recently been challenged by archaeological and palaeobotanical research showing that shielings, in contrast to current relic framing, were highly adaptable to changing local economic and community conditions over almost 2,000 years. Herein, research work, community development, nature conservation, and heritage management perspectives are synthesized in a discussion of shielings’ past, present, and future, with a particular focus on the shieling Kårebolssätern. Based on historical findings, suggestions include promoting silvopasture and retro-innovative food production contributions to sustainable (post-)pandemic development and climate mitigation. The importance of a political ecology shift and fairer conditions for shielings, and the marginalized communities harboring them, are also highlighted.