Dr. John Björkman (University of Turku, Finland): „The Black Man of Villavuori sits in that forest, guarding the village border.“ Sacred forest sites of folk belief in Southwest Finnish village landscapes | 22. Januar 2025

Bild: pixabay / 尘 J

22. Januar 2025

6 Uhr (MST/Nordamerika) / 14 Uhr (CET/Deutschland) / 15 Uhr (EET/Finnland)

Titel: „The Black Man of Villavuori sits in that forest, guarding the village border.“ Sacred forest sites of folk belief in Southwest Finnish village landscapes.

Vortragender: Dr. John Björkman (University of Turku, Finland)

Der Vortrag und die Diskussion laufen online und auf Englisch.

Inhalt:

In his doctoral thesis in Nordic Folkloristics, John Björkman studied natural places which were considered sacred, meaning magical, supernaturally dangerous or inhabited by supernatural beings in 19th century folk belief in Southwest Finland. Based on recorded historic folklore, Björkman was able to identify and localize 120 such places in the region of Southwest Finland and studied them as part of their contemporary village landscapes. Currently, he works in a research project exploring the transformation of the Finnish ritual forest relationship from prehistoric to modern times by combining the methods of archaeology, folklore, geoinformatics and art. The aim of the project is to increase understanding of the forest relationship and the importance of the experience of sacredness for the forest relationship.

To join the event, please use the Zoom Link: https://uni-jena-de.zoom-x.de/j/65854920539

Meeting-ID: 658 5492 0539; Kenncode: 008070

Der Vortrag ist Teil der Coffee Talks Human-Forest-Relationships

Coffee Talks Human-Forest-Relationships

Let’s sit, have a coffee and talk in the scientific café! The “Coffee Talks HFR” give room for open and relaxed discussions on current research subjects related to human and society relations to forests. It warmly welcomes all interested in forest-related research to join the online sessions.

Each session lasts 1,5 hours. It starts with a 20-30 minute presentation of a guest speaker. After the presentation, with coffee or tea at hand, participants have plenty of room for an open discussion and exchange.

The “Coffee Talks HFR” take place three to four times per term on Wednesdays at 6 am MST / 2pm CET / 3pm EET.

Guest speakers wanted!

If you are interested in contributing to the “Coffee Talks HFR”, please contact either jana.holz(at)uni-jena.de, jodie.asselin(at)uleth.ca or tuulikki.halla(at)uef.fi with info on your subject (title and short abstract) and a preferred date.

The interdisciplinary and international scientific “Coffee Talks HFR” have a long tradition. In 2021, a cooperation between the Finnish research project Human-Forest Relationships in Societal Change and the German research group Mentalities im Flux (flumen) launched and hosted the “Scientific Coffee Sessions HFR”. Since then, they hosted more than twelve sessions with speakers form interdisciplinary social science background and international participants. In 2024, the network broadened and the event got a new name: “Coffee Talks HFR”.

The “Coffee Talks HFR” are hosted by:

Neue Publikation von Linda von Faber, Martin Fritz und Dennis Eversberg: „Mentalitäten in der Energie- und Wärmewende: Eine vergleichende Untersuchung deutscher Bioenergiedörfer.“

Linda von Faber hat gemeinsam mit Dr. Martin Fritz und Dennis Eversberg den Artikel „Mentalitäten in der Energie- und Wärmewende: Eine vergleichende Untersuchung deutscher Bioenergiedörfer“ veröffentlicht.

Abstract

Bioenergiedörfer (BED) decken einen Großteil ihres Strom- und Wärmebedarfs durch lokal anfallende Biomasse. Vor allem in der Anfangsphase ihrer Förderung vor ca. 20 Jahren waren damit Hoffnungen verbunden, dass sich daraus eine lokal autarke, dezentrale und basisdemokratische Energieund Wärmewende entwickeln könnte. Der Artikel analysiert Daten einer deutschlandweiten Repräsentativbefragung sowie einer ebenfalls deutschlandweiten postalischen Befragung zufällig ausgewählter BED-Bewohner*innen, um erstmals systematisch 1) die Sozialstruktur von BED mit dem Querschnitt deutscher Dörfer und der gesamtdeutschen Bevölkerung zu vergleichen, 2) das Vorkommen von Typen sozial-ökologischer Mentalitäten in diesen drei Gruppen zu erheben und 3) die Einstellungen der BED-Einwohnerschaft zum Umstellungsprozess in ihrem Dorf sowie zur Energie- und Wärmewende zu untersuchen. Die Resultate zeigen eine Verbindung von ökosozialen und konservativen Mentalitäten in BED, die Potenzial für lokal breit getragene Energiewendeprojekte bietet. Für eine Ausweitung auf weitere Dörfer braucht es aber mehr politische Förderung, da im ländlichen Raum in den dort dominierenden konservativen Mentalitäten ökonomisch-kalkulierende Elemente vorherrschen und die ökosoziale Motivation geringer ausfällt.

Bioenergy villages (BEV) meet large parts of their electricity and heating needs with locally produced biomass. Particularly in the initial phase of their promotion around 20 years ago, there were hopes that a locally self-sufficient, decentralised and grassroots-democratic energy and heating transition could develop from them. The article analyses data from a Germany-wide representative survey as well as a nationwide postal survey of randomly selected BEV residents in order to 1) systematically compare the social structure of BEV with that of German rural population and Germany as a whole, 2) find out types of socio-ecological mentalities in these three groups and 3) study the attitudes of BEV residents towards the transition process in their village and the energy and heating transition. The results show a combina tion of eco-social and conservative mentalities in BEV, which offers potential for broadly supported local energy transition projects. For an expansion to additional villages, however, greater political support is needed, as economically calculative elements dominate in the conservative mentalities prevalent in rural areas, and eco-social motivation is lower.

(peer reviewed)

Zum Artikel: hier