The workshop participants, representing County Governor of Oslo og Viken, Flå Municipality, The Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Renewables Norway, Sabima, NVE, UiA, and HVL.
Inger Auestad
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences

Emerging peatland challenges and knowledge needs - The second Future Creating Workshop in Repeat

How should we proceed in solving the challenges related to peatland management in Norway, and how can Repeat contribute to this work? That was the framework for the second Repeat Future Creating Workshop, which took place in Bergen on 12-13 March 2024. Based on the broad mapping that was done in 2022, during the first workshop, researchers and partners in the project presented their points of view and results from work so far.

On the first day of the workshop, we heard about Sabima’s work on peatlands at the intersection between authorities and the general public. Further, the County Governor of Oslo og Viken presented the status of peatland restoration in Norway, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration talked about challenges associated with planning and developing roads in peatland-dense areas.

Ingrid K. Koren from HVL presented results from WP2.

The researchers in turn presented preliminary findings from various work packages. Julien Vollering, WP1, presented detailed surveys which indicate that estimating peatland area and depth is still demanding, even with novel tools. From WP2, Ingrid K. Koren described the changes in perceptions of peatland’s values over the past 100 years, and Marte L. Vik presented results from an upcoming master's thesis on cabin construction in Flå. Bente J. Rygg, WP3, conveyed the perceptions of the neighbours of the wind power plant in Okla. From WP4, Knut Rydgren, Katinka Vloon and Inger Auestad talked about work to estimate how long it will take to restore bogs, with cases from Scotland, Grue, and Smøla. Finally, Inger Auestad, WP5, talked about how we use results and perspectives from Repeat in curricula for schools and higher education.

Reneè Kerkvliet-Hermans, coordinator of the Peatland Code in IUCN UK Peatland Programme talked about alternative ways to finance peatland restoration.

The second day of the workshop centred on two invited representatives from the IUCN UK Peatland Programme, a British initiative that for ten years has lifted peatland management and restoration on the political agenda, with various initiatives and policy development. Director Emma Hinchliffe talked about the British UK Strategy for peatland conservation and restoration, while Reneè Kerkvliet-Hermans, coordinator of the Peatland Code, presented alternative ways to finance peatland restoration.

The two days were filled with interesting and useful information and good discussions. We look forward to further cooperation in Repeat!