Ongoing
Photo: Julia Koblitz
About the project
Funded by
Research Council of Norway (Project number: ES748694)
Led by
Nordlandsforskning
Project period
01.10.2025-01.12.2029
Researchers
Aase Kristine Lundberg
Senior Researcher and Project Leader
Nordland Research Institute
Helena Gonzales Lindberg
Senior researcher
Nordland Research Institute
Jørgen Alnæs
Associate Professor
OsloMet
Anne Hege Simonsen
Associate Professor and Head of Departement
OsloMet
Synnøve Marie Vik
Senior Curator
Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes
Project partners
VISUALS explores how visual representations such as maps, photographs, artworks, satellite imagery, and other forms of visualization influence understandings of nature, land use, and land-use conflicts in Norway. The project examines how these visualizations shape public debate, political priorities, and decision-making processes. At the same time, it investigates how art and visual storytelling can contribute new perspectives on land management and environmental governance.
How do images, maps, photographs and artworks shape the way we understand nature and make decisions about its future?
Land-use conflicts are intensifying across Norway as the need for infrastructure, housing, energy production and industrial development puts increasing pressure on natural environments. Yet, despite growing knowledge about biodiversity loss and nature degradation, the loss of nature continues.
The VISUALS project explores how visual representations influence public perceptions, political priorities and decision-making in land-use conflicts. Images are not merely illustrations of reality. They can legitimise development, make certain interests appear more important than others, and render some aspects of nature visible while leaving others out of sight.
By examining how visual representations shape our understanding of nature and land use, VISUALS seeks to uncover the cultural and political barriers that make it difficult to prioritise nature conservation over development. The project also investigates how visual expression and art can challenge established perspectives and open up alternative ways of thinking about the future of our landscapes.
Research approach
VISUALS brings together perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, combining visual culture studies with media analysis and policy research.
The project will investigate four ongoing land-use conflicts in Norway to understand how visual representations influence public debate, local communities and municipal planning processes.
Researchers will examine how different ways of depicting landscapes and land-use change influence what people know, what they value and which solutions they consider possible. Maps, photographs, media coverage and other visual materials will be analysed to explore what they reveal, what they conceal and how they shape perceptions of nature and development.
Art is an integral part of the research. Through collaboration between researchers and artists, the project will explore how artistic practices can challenge dominant narratives, stimulate critical reflection and encourage new perspectives on land-use conflicts.
From research to public engagement
VISUALS aims to raise awareness of the power of visual representations among planners, politicians, journalists and the wider public.
Through local art events and other public engagement activities, the project will create opportunities to explore land-use conflicts in new and creative ways. These activities will encourage discussion about whose perspectives are represented, which values guide decisions about land use, and how alternative approaches to managing land might be developed.
In collaboration with KODE Art Museum in Bergen, the project will also organise an art exhibition in 2029. The exhibition will showcase visual expressions that challenge established assumptions and invite audiences to reconsider current approaches to land development and nature conservation.
Project partners
VISUALS is led by Nordland Research Institute and brings together researchers from:
Nordland Research Institute
Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet)
Nord University
KODE Art Museum
The project combines academic research with artistic practice to develop new insights into the cultural and political dimensions of land-use conflicts.
Project funding
VISUALS has received more than NOK 10 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway under the research initiative Land Under Pressure.
The overall ambition is to understand how visual representations shape decisions about nature, and how they can help us imagine more sustainable futures for the landscapes we share.
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