The Forest: Past and Future

Conversation with Heather Swanson, Mathias Nielsen, Erland Mårald and Klara Härgestam. Moderated by Frederik Appel Olsen.

The scent of pine trees, the soft blanket of moss, a blackbird’s song. In common cultural imaginaries, the forest is an enchanting dwelling place at the edge of industrial society, used by humans for contemplation and leisure. But the forest is not a timeless place removed from civilizational developments. Our ways of exploring and exploiting forests have changed throughout history, complicating intuitions about the separation of humanity and nature.

In Sweden and Denmark, the landscapes, management, policies, and histories of forests differ. Yet, both nations face questions of how to relate to these landscapes in an ecologically unstable present and future. Venturing into a grove of history, anthropology, and rhetoric, this event asks: What is the role of the past in transforming our relation to and use of forests in the Nordic region? And how might we improve our way of talking about and moving through or with the forest?

Join us when Heather Swanson (University of Aarhus), Mathias Nielsen (University of Copenhagen), Erland Mårald (Umeå University), and Klara Härgestam (Örebro University) discuss the past and future of the forest at CApE – moderated by Frederik Appel Olsen.

The event will conclude with a reception with some light refreshments.

Sign up for the event.

Bios

	Heather Swanson is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Centre for Environmental Humanities at Aarhus University, Denmark. As part of her appointment as Distinguished Senior Innovator, she is leading a project on food forests.
	Mathias Nielsen is PhD fellow in History at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and affiliated with the Center for Sustainable Futures. His work revolves around the connection between forests and climate in Denmark in the 19th and early 20th century.
	Erland Mårald is Professor of History of Science and Ideas at Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies at Umeå University. He is currently heading the project “Forests of Emotion” which merges historical and philosophical perspectives to understand the role of emotions in forest debates.
	Klara Härgestam is PhD fellow in Rhetoric at Örebro University, Sweden, and a visiting researcher at the Center for Applied Ecological Thinking. She studies how a change in rhetorical practices can move the polarized Swedish forest debate in a more nuanced and including direction.
	Frederik Appel Olsen is postdoc at Center for Applied Ecological Thinking, University of Copenhagen.