Traces in Resilient Ralsko (2023 - 2025)

"Traces in Resilient Ralsko" is one of the activities under the umbrella of Resilient Ralsko, part of the program "Resilient Society for the 21st Century: Crisis Potential and Effective Transformation," Strategy AV21 at the Czech Academy of Sciences; 2023-2025.

The project focuses on the traces of human and other actors in a landscape heavily impacted by the expulsion of the original population, uranium mining, and military use. The broader context of our activity is the issue of a resilient society.

In our interdisciplinary research on traces, we focus on the interaction and interconnectedness of humans and non-human actors.

In 2023, the field research in Ralsko focused on four main topics:

1. Nature conservation, its history, and current state;

2. Preservation of old fruit varieties and the issue of abandoned villages;

3. The former military training area and its remediation, including extinct villages and the flora associated with them;

4. Uranium mining.

In 2024, we continue our interdisciplinary research on traces, with an emphasis on methodological and epistemological exploration of more-than-human connections. Thematically, we focus on the memory of the living, specifically on the study of old trees and vegetation relics, on more-than-human connections in landscape stewardship, and on the traces of how different temporal layers intertwine in the Ralsko landscape.

2025

In the fall of 2024, we will submit a project for the continuation of the activity in the final year of the "Resilient Society for the 21st Century" program, Strategy AV21.

Funding:
"Traces in Resilient Ralsko" is one of the activities under the umbrella of Resilient Ralsko, part of the program Resilient Society for the 21st Century: Crisis Potential and Effective Transformation, Strategy AV21 at the Czech Academy of Sciences.

PI: Mgr. Jan Frei, Ph.D. et Ph.D.
Project Coordinator: Mgr. et Mgr. Karolína Pauknerová, Ph.D.
Project Team Members: Petr Gibas, MSc., Ph.D., Mgr. Karel Šima, Ph.D., and Mgr. Jindřich Prach, Ph.D.