Abstract JSSP

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

Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA*1
* Corresponding author
1Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Protection, Department of Landscape Ecology, Poznań, POLAND
iwmark@amu.edu.pl https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3615-1313
Pages: 5-13

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 placeoriented 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








			‘Old Trees Cannot Be Replanted’: When Energy Investment Meets Farmers’ Resistance Iwona MARKUSZEWSKA1 Corresponding author 1Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Protection, Department of Landscape Ecology, Poznań, POLAND iwmark@amu.edu.pl https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3615-1313 Pages: 5-13 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 placeoriented 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