Barents 2058: Future Scenarios for the Pomor Zone
How is the Pomor Zone going to look like in 50 years from now? What can the future bring? How could the relationship between Norway and Russia be like?
These and other important questions have been the focus of 20 students from the master program at BAS since 1. september 2008.
By acquiring training on scenario-making methods originally used in the field of business planning (and later implemented by urban planners as well), this master course at BAS aims to discuss different future possibilities for the development of the Pomor Zone, 50 years from today. The scenarios will be rooted in probability studies resulted by the interpretation of hard facts, prognosis, predictions and statistics. The differences of the possible scenarios produced is caused by the uncertainties of the diverse studied factors as well as by own values and attitudes. Scenarios as they are understood here, are thought to be possible, scientifically probable stories about the future. The stories will communicate a message, a statement of relevance to current questions of different nature (political, economical, social, environmental, etc).
Even though the work has so far focused mainly in the border cities of Kirkenes in Norway and Nickel in Russia, the scale of the scenarios produced will be in a regional long-term perspective. Visualizations will zoom into and compare elements and correlations between cities, the urban and natural landscape, architecture and people.
The team of 20 students will produce three possible scenarios which will be exhibited as a part of an artistic proyect in the Barents region. The exhibition project will be done in collaboration with the Kirkenes-based artist collective "Pikene på broen" and will be shown in the cities of Kirkenes and Nickel as well as other towns in their proximities.
Constant updated information about this project:
www.barents2058.com