UL ILFA researchers will carry out fieldwork in Skrunda

From 8 to 12 July 2026 researchers from the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia (UL ILFA) will conduct fieldwork in Skrunda and its surrounding area.

The fieldwork will focus on Skrunda as a multilayered landscape whose development has been shaped by changing political, military, and economic priorities over different historical periods. The researchers will examine how the local community has interpreted, contested, and adapted to these transformations, continually renegotiating the meaning and identity of the place. In this study, Skrunda is approached as a site where Soviet military infrastructure, rural and environmental transformation, practices of remembrance and heritage-making, and contemporary plans for renewable energy development intersect.

Particular attention will be devoted to four interconnected phases in Skrunda's development: the pre-military landscape and local ways of life; the establishment of the Soviet military town and radar complex; the transformation of the area following the closure of the military installation; and contemporary development processes, including plans for wind energy development, which are assigning new meanings to the area and raising questions about the future of the landscape.

During the fieldwork, researchers will work at the Skrunda Town Library, the Skrunda Primary School Library, and the Skrunda Manor Museum, examining local historical sources, photographs, cartographic materials, and other documentary evidence. They will also conduct oral history interviews with Skrunda residents and other informants to document their personal experiences, memories, and perceptions of the area's transformations. In addition, the research will include field observations, visual documentation, and a visit to the site of the former Skrunda radar station and the Soviet military town at Mežaine.

The fieldwork is carried out within the framework of the Latvian Council of Science fundamental and applied research project "Post-War Environmental History of Latvia: Landscapes, Power, and Society" (No. lzp-2025/1-0599). The project examines environmental change in post-war Latvia by bringing together perspectives from history, the social sciences, and environmental studies. It explores practices of place-based remembrance and storytelling, environmental activism, and ideas of eco-nationalism, while also addressing methodological questions related to the study of environmental heritage. By analysing how the Second World War and the Soviet occupation reshaped Latvia's landscapes and environment, the project expands knowledge of the country's environmental history and offers new insights into the relationships between people, the environment, and power.