Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site

World Heritage Research

Discover scientific research and academic studies that deepen our understanding of Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site from its history and significance to its conservation, management, and contemporary challenges.

• Multivocality in World Heritage

  A groundbreaking exploration of multivocality in World Heritage management reveals that embracing diverse voices—both human and non-human—can enhance democratic governance, challenge reductionist approaches, and better accommodate societal change. The study focuses on the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site in Norway, demonstrating how a multidisciplinary approach to heritage conservation can reconcile global processes with local complexities. By centering multivocality, this research offers actionable insights for policymakers, managers, and international bodies to foster more inclusive and sustainable World Heritage practices.

  Birkeland, I., Johannessen, S. F., Nordby, G., & Richards, B. (2025). Multivocality in World Heritage (, Ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786

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• Awestruck

  UNESCO World Heritage status, while enhancing local school curriculums and fostering environmental connections, can inadvertently restrict the multivocality essential for effective place-based learning. The Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site serves as a case study revealing this paradox: global recognition enriches learning but may suppress diverse narratives, reducing its educational potential. The research frames 'place' as a dynamic, multifaceted construct shaped by social relations and narratives, identifying World Heritage Sites as 'heterotopias' and 'glocal' phenomena that offer unique learning opportunities while risking narrative dominance. To counteract this, the study advocates for 'contact zones'—spaces where diverse narratives converge—to promote critical thinking and reflexivity in place-based learning. This approach requires an open, contestatory mindset to fully harness the educational benefits of such sites.

  Kennedy, A. L., & Johannessen, S. F. (2025). Awestruck. Multivocality in World Heritage, 50–64. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786-4

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• Introduction. Multivocality in World Heritage

  Multivocality emerges as a pivotal concept for understanding and managing UNESCO World Heritage Sites, particularly in complex post-industrial landscapes like Rjukan-Notodden. This study demonstrates that embracing pluralism in heritage research can significantly enhance sustainability principles and conservation practices. By analyzing the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site—a 2015-listed site in rural southern Norway—it highlights how multivocality serves as a robust analytical tool for exploring the interplay between past, present, and future heritage management. The research underscores its relevance for policymakers, planners, and governments, offering actionable insights to improve World Heritage governance while addressing the dynamic nature of industrial heritage.

  Birkeland, I., Johannessen, S. F., Nordby, G., & Richards, B. (2025). Introduction. Multivocality in World Heritage, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786-1

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• Fertilising heritage

  This study reveals how the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site, recognized by UNESCO, simplifies and deprioritizes the dual legacy of its primary product—synthetic fertilizer for agriculture and explosives for the weapons industry. Through anthropological fieldwork, it demonstrates that heritage objects function as dynamic symbols within broader semiotic systems, yet conservation efforts often reduce their multivocality, reflecting power dynamics and memory politics in World Heritage contexts. The research employs a semiotic perspective to analyze these tensions, highlighting the absence of the original industrial product's dual application in current heritage narratives.

  Johannessen, S. F. (2025). Fertilising heritage. Multivocality in World Heritage, 23–36. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786-2

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• Multivocality of space in heavy water tourism

  Heritage sites are dynamic, evolving spaces shaped by competing perspectives, as demonstrated in the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site. This study reveals that the heritagisation process involves multiple stakeholders—antiquarians, architects, and tourism entrepreneurs—who redefine and stage these sites as tourist attractions. Using Lefebvre's 'multivocality of space' framework, the research analyzes spatial sequences in the Heavy Water Cellar Museum (opened 2022) to uncover divergent viewpoints on presenting Rjukan’s WWII history and industrial legacy. The findings highlight how heritage tourism, particularly 'heavy water tourism,' is constructed through layered narratives, offering a spatial lens to understand the complexities of World Heritage Site development.

  Strömberg, P. (2025). Multivocality of space in heavy water tourism. Multivocality in World Heritage, 92–107. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786-7

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• Concluding thoughts in a dialogic mode

  A nuanced approach to conservation and change in UNESCO World Heritage sites emerges from recent research on the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site, challenging the traditional assumption that change should be avoided. The study advocates for a more dynamic understanding of heritage preservation, emphasizing adaptability over rigid fixation of values. This edited book employs a dialogic mode to explore multivocality in 21st-century World Heritage-making, integrating diverse perspectives to redefine conservation practices. By centering on the interplay between conservation and change, the research offers a framework that counters conventional heritage discourse while providing practical insights for sustainable preservation.

  Birkeland, I., Johannessen, S. F., Nordby, G., & Richards, B. (2025). Concluding thoughts in a dialogic mode. Multivocality in World Heritage, 163–171. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003496786-12

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• Concrete touchdown: new technology influences industrial buildings in Norway, 1912–1920

  The introduction of concrete construction technology between 1912 and 1920 significantly influenced industrial architecture at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Rjukan-Notodden, Norway. This period marked the first use of concrete in large-scale industrial structures, such as hydropower stations and production facilities, driven by Hydro's need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer production. The development of heavy concrete bearing walls and mixed steel-concrete systems required substantial material resources, leading to the innovation of skeleton frames. Research in materials science and structural engineering, both in the USA and Europe, played a pivotal role in achieving viable construction systems. This study highlights how these advancements connected Rjukan-Notodden's industrial buildings to global architectural and engineering history, providing valuable insights for future conservation efforts.

  Haupt, T. (2024). Concrete touchdown: new technology influences industrial buildings in Norway, 1912–1920. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering History and Heritage, 177(2), 34–51. https://doi.org/10.1680/jenhh.23.00017

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