Paper short abstract:

Cultural heritage in the Arctic is being impacted by environmental change as well as increased human activity in a rapidly growing tourism industry. In this paper, we discuss dilemmas and best practices for a sustainable use and management of vulnerable cultural heritage sites in the Arctic.

Paper long abstract:

Cultural heritage in the Arctic is being impacted by climate and environmental change as well as increased human activity. Cultural heritage management is therefore an increasingly challenging endeavour as management authorities must take under consideration multiple impacts and threats to cultural heritage sites in a changing environment. This paper is based on research conducted in Svalbard from 2014-2016 on cultural heritage management and methods for long term systematic cultural heritage monitoring. Human history in Svalbard goes back just over 400 years and Svalbard's cultural heritage sites are considered highly valuable remnants of an international history in the High North. In addition, cultural heritage sites are amongst the main attractions in a growing polar tourism industry, resulting in increased human activity on the sites. From the perspectives of both national and local authorities, tourism is also increasingly important in generating income and securing a viable settlement in Svalbard, and is considered the expected main source of income in the face of reduced mining activities. This paper presents threats to cultural heritage in the Arctic with a main focus on human impact. We explore the societal opportunities of tourism and the related challenges of increased human activity on coastal cultural heritage. Taking assets and threats as well as opportunities into consideration, we discuss dilemmas and best practices for a sustainable use and management of vulnerable cultural heritage sites in the Arctic.