Svalbard Archaeological Symposium 2023 aims to establish new national and international collaboration and cooperation in cultural heritage research in the Arctic.

The symposium is the first of its kind to be initiated on Svalbard for 30 years and will accommodate critical knowledge gaps related to Svalbard’s cultural heritage.

Given the current projections for climate change and increased tourism, it will become increasingly important to fill critical knowledge gaps to meet the current and future challenges facing Arctic cultural heritage. The main objective of the workshop is to establish networks and consortiums for developing collaborative research projects that will produce new knowledge regarding Arctic cultural history in general and Svalbard archaeology in particular.

The Svalbard Archaeological Symposium is organized by Svalbard Museum, NIKU and NTNU.

The meeting is funded by the Norwegian Research Council through the Svalbard Strategic Grant, to enhance international and interdisciplinary cooperation that will contribute to increased quality in Svalbard research.

Project managers are Lise Loktu (NIKU), Mikael A. Bjerkestrand (Svalbard museum) og Øyvind Ødegård (NTNU).