About the project

The Circular, Balanced and Shared research initiative reaches across several institutes at AHO and is directed towards developing sustainable and circular strategies for community building in the Arctic. The project comprises researchers from the fields of landscape, architecture and cultural preservation, and is based on a combination of practical building strategies and theoretical reflections on contemporary cultural heritage.

The Circular, Balanced and Shared project will have a strong presence on site in Vardø and Longyearbyen, through studio courses focusing on 1:1 building and restoration of structures and functions seminal to the communities, all in collaboration with local stakeholders and expert citizens. Vardø and Longyearbyen are both Arctic island cities, and yet opposites in some ways. Longyearbyen as an international community based on temporary dwelling, is strongly supported by the Norwegian strategies for management of the Arctic. Vardø is a shrinking post-industrial fishing town of no acute strategic interest for national policy makers, save of heritage initiatives. Both are however rich in spatial resources and cultural heritage, and Vardø specifically is rich in used building materials. Both perform as unique urban landscapes in a peripheral Arctic context, with the potential to become model communities for circularity and incubators for new landscape enterprises. They showcase vibrant local initiativ and energy, and the Circular, Balanced project has strong connection in both places, as well as with other research initiatives directed towards social resilience in the Arctic