Kolloquium: Peter Oakley – Interactions between Mining Heritage and Sustainable Futures: Cornwall as a Case Study

Am 13. Juni ist Peter Oakly (Royal College of Art) zu Gast. er wird über “Interactions between Mining Heritage and Sustainable Futures: Cornwall as a Case Study” sprechen.

Hinweise zur Veranstaltung:

Das Kolloquium findet einmal im Monat im Hörsaal im Haus der Archäologien statt. Im Anschluss ist ein gemeinsames Abendessen geplant. Für eine Online-Teilnahme wird um Anmeldung unter reform@ressourcencampus-bochum.de gebeten.

Abstract:

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (WHS), inscribed in 2006, promotes the Cornish peninsula’s long-term engagement with mining and the region’s role in the global growth of mining technology. But WHS inscription was undertaken as part of an effort to bolster the local cultural tourist industry and support the post-mining regional economy.  However, since the closure of the last Cornish mines in the 1990s there has been an inexorable rise in demand for the ‘technology metals’ and a new emphasis on ensuring secure supply chains for ‘critical minerals’. The Cornish peninsula still has diverse mineral deposits that include many of the technology metals, including tin and lithium. Recent exploratory work on the viability of extracting Cornish lithium has run alongside calls for existing Cornish tin mines to be reopened. An underlying aspect of the debate over the viability of potential mining activities has been the relationship between Cornwall’s mining past and its possible future as a mining region. This mining history is frequently invoked as part of the rationale for future mineral extraction, though its complexities and contradictions are rarely addressed. In addition, such claims around continuity run counter to local mining heritage presentation strategies observed by the presenter. This presentation will draw on the findings from the presenter’s recent research projects around mining heritage, sustainability, and material sourcing to reflect on how mining heritage impacts on imagined technological and mining futures in an era when environmental and social sustainability have become the critical issues of the day.

Geevor Pithead, Geevor Heritage Site, Cornwall, UK

The Dry, Geevor Heritage Site, Cornwall

Biography

Dr Peter Oakley is Reader in Material Culture in the School of Arts & Humanities and Co-Lead for the Material Engagements Research Cluster at the Royal College of Art. His research interests span the creative industries, industrial heritage, and science and technology studies. Peter has conducted and published research on: the gold jewellery industry and its supply chains; the management and presentation of industrial heritage sites; traditional craft techniques, practitioners and communities; and the implementation of circular economy principles across the creative industries. To inform this work he has undertaken fieldwork in Alaska, California, China, Kazakhstan, New Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and across the UK. Peter is currently the Principal Investigator for Carbon Measurement Tools in the Creative Industries, a rapid evidence assessment for the UK Government’s Department of Digital, culture, Media, and sport (DCMS).