Program
14:15 Karen V. Lykke: Welcome and introduction
14:25 Susanne Normann: Saami reindeer herding or wind energy development? The multiple meanings of wind as part of the airscape in the Fosen Peninsula
14:45 William Wessel Nore: Aerial managerialism and the dream of the sustainable family farm in the industrial welfare state (1955-65)
15:05 Coffee break
15:20 Helga Iselin Wåseth: Designing for darkness
15:40 Panel led by Annabel Mempel
Presentation Abstracts (in order of program)
Saami reindeer herding or wind energy development? The multiple meanings of wind as part of the airscape in the Fosen Peninsula, by Susanne Normann
For the reindeer, to move with the winds help to avoid predators, and the wind helps them smell danger over long distances. In cold and harsh winters, the wind can blow the snow off the mountain tops so they can find much needed food. For Saami herders, the complex knowledge of the winds allows them to perfectionate their 
herding abilities, and for some, the winds also have a deeper spiritual meaning. But in our time of climate crisis, the winds are changing. They can become storms or change direction, threatening the survival of many livelihoods around the planet. In the Nordic context, they have also gained importance among policymakers to mitigate climate change. Wind energy development is conceived as an important means of decarbonizing the economy and enabling investment in mountain landscapes that challenge the historic use of land and air spaces by reindeer herders. Europe's largest onshore wind energy project is being built on the Fosen Peninsula in Norway but has been declared invalid by Norway's Supreme Court. In March 2023, Saami youth and environmentalists blocked the entrances of several ministries in Oslo for a week to demand justice and the demolition of the contested wind turbines as the only available means for restauration, and to draw public attention to the ongoing colonial situation in Norway. Focusing on the Fosen case, this presentation discusses winds and other aspects of the airscape from the perspective of multiple actors, arguing that the air, in addition to the land, has become a space of contestation and resistance in the context of Nordic colonialism.
Aerial managerialism and the dream of the sustainable family farm in the industrial welfare state (1955-1965), by William Wessel Nore
William Wessel Nore is an art and photo historian working on the use of aerial photography in post-war Norwegian agricultural rationalization and the role of photography in shaping rural modernity in the industrial welfare state. In this presentation, Wessel Nore will show how the airborne camera was vital in the post-war 
reconfiguration of the Norwegian agricultural landscape and the emergence of a new form of managerial vision and interpretation. The airborne camera allowed old patterns of inhabitation and production to be rendered synoptically visible and interpretable, turning the airscape above the landscape into an infrastructural space of agricultural rationality and management. The presentation draws on material from Wessel Nore’s ongoing work with his dissertation on the aerial image and the construction of Norwegian rural modernity. The dissertation also explores the relationship between governmental ways of seeing and the emergence of rural vernacular photographic cultures in the Norwegian industrial welfare state.
Designing for darkness, by Helga Iselin Wåseth
Why darkness is so important to preserve for the sake of biodiversity, and how to manage the balance between the human’s need for light and nature’s need for darkness.
In recent years, more attention has been paid to the negative effects of ALAN (Artificial light at night) on nature, and several researchers are now calling for action. In this lecture, the effects of artificial light at night on nature are emphasised, and further focus is on how darkness can be restored while preserving visibility where that is needed.
Organizers
This seminar is organised by Centre for Development and the Environment, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, and Centre for Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene through the Restorations collaboratory which is funded by OSEH.