Paper short abstract:

The key aspects are the definition of an industrial landscape as a heritage object, environmental issues within the frame of a decolonisation and practices of work with this heritage in the condition of the ongoing war.

Paper long abstract:

The territories of Donbass played an important role in the forming of Ukrainian identity, beginning from the times of Wild Fields and ending to the war of 2014 and full-scale invasion of Russian Federation. In my report, I would like to use the definition of landscape as an umbrella term for using the interdisciplinary connection of environmental history, heritage studies, memory studies and postcolonial discourse. First, I will study the image of Donbass landscapes in the Soviet propaganda and the spread of power through the management of natural resources. Another issue is the perception of environmental problems caused by Soviet politics in contemporary context, which could be considered within the decolonization framework. The next step is studying the transition from the industrial landscape to the war-torn one in social media and artistic works. The third section will be devoted to discussions among experts regarding practical work with such landscapes in the future. The main focus of these discussions revolves around their representation within the context of dark tourism and how the events of the ongoing war should be represented in memory landscape. How are the themes of war and the environment intertwined? Which narratives are predominant?