‘Old Trees Cannot Be Replanted’: When Energy Investment Meets Farmers’ Resistance

Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA*¹
* Corresponding author
¹ Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Protection, Department of Landscape Ecology, Poznań, POLAND
E-mail: iwmark@amu.edu.pl; ORCID: 0000-0003-3615-1313
Pages: 5-13. DOI: 10.24193/JSSPSI.2021.8.02

Cite: Markuszewska I. (2021), ‘Old Trees Cannot Be Replanted’: When Energy Investment Meets Farmers’ Resistance. Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning, Special Issue 8, 5-13. DOI: 10.24193/JSSPSI.2021.8.02

Abstract. Open-cast lignite mining often arouses discontent due to its controversial use of land. This is particularly apparent when a mining operation interferes with well-managed agricultural areas. Mining investments usually face resistance from farmers who are attached to a rural setting and farmland. This paper summarises the results of a study on farmers’ attachment to place and patrimony. The place-oriented research was conducted among a traditionally farming-oriented community that expressed its disapproval of a lignite coal operation. Data were collected via questionnaire. The measurement of place attachment used a five-point Likert scale. The survey was distributed among the rural dwellers of two communes, Krobia and Miejska Górka (in the Wielkopolska Region, Poland), which will be affected by open-cast mining and a power station; both are dependent on the “Oczkowice” lignite deposit. The results show that the farmers have a deep attachment to their farmland; however, only a little attachment was detected to the local community.

K e y w o r d s:  mining operation, energy investment, land use change, place attachment, rural community, farmland, patrimony, displacement