What Hinders and What Facilitates Good Living in the Oil Shale Mining Region?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of the public perception of oil shale mining and industrial heritage in regional revival. Oil shale mining and chemical operations have left an imprint on both the people and the landscape of Ida-Viru County, NE Estonia. Along with increasing or decreasing production volumes of oil shale mining, heritage has been overlooked, left to naturally deteriorate or to be destroyed or recultivated. Heritage-awareness revival projects for similar natural resource postindustrial situations have proved to be successful in culture, sports and recreational tourism. The current view on oil shale mining heritage is investigated through focus group interviews and a questionnaire. Unemployment, language barriers and social problems are considered to be the most important issues, and the responsibility for solving these problems is primarily deemed to be the role of the national government. At the same time, in general, people are willing to participate in processes and regard coordinated planning as crucial to holistic development. Post-industrial areas should be utilized to support the development.