The aim of the «Subsurface Resources in Tension» conference is to bring together the various communities that often work in isolation on the issues of heritage preservation, tourism and the development of mountain areas, without considering the possible intersections between these issues: does the promotion of tourism or the identification of cultural and/or environmental heritage make it possible to avoid the development of extractive activities? Does the development of extractive activities exclude tourism? Do areas without a tourism or heritage dimension welcome the arrival of extractive activities? Can extractive activities and heritage be mutually legitimate (compensation, traditional activities)?

The aim is to combine thematic and disciplinary approaches to the study of mountain areas faced with the implementation of extractive processes (past, present and future) from the geological, geographical, historical, sociological, legal, anthropological, economic and environmental points of view, putting into perspective the role assigned to and imagined in mountain areas in both the North and South in terms of territorial development, transformation and conversion of these areas.

The «Underground resources in tension» conference is therefore intended above all as a forum for discussion on the added value of interdisciplinarity for understanding the dynamics of territorial development, territorialities, imaginations and attachments to mountain territories, as well as conflicts and controversies in defence of these territories.

Abstracts are expected before 15 May 2024.

Cover image by: Mercvrie