UNESCO World Heritage and geo-environmental education: Science Communication at the Samson Mining Museum (St. Andreasberg) - “Energy Landscape Harz”

Communicating research results for socially relevant action is one of the great challenges of our time. Landscape degradation, climate change and energy supply are pressing problems. In the project "UNESCO World Heritage Upper Harz Water Management: Landscape Change and Energy Use in the Anthropocene in the Harz - A Journey of Water from the Past to the Future" in cooperation between the Samson Mining Museum (St. Andreasberg) and the University of Goettingen, the historical exhibition objects were explored in the context of the current research discourse on the Anthropocene, the postulated geological era of man, and presented in a digital media station. The earth system science hypothesis of the Anthropocene concept assumes that humanity has become a dominant earth system factor and that the relationship between nature and culture must be re-conceptualized. The focus of the transdisciplinary research project is on the anthropogenic hydro-geomorphological changes in the Harz.

The Harz was one of the most important mining regions in Europe in the early modern period. The Upper Harz Water Management System, a sophisticated and interconnected system of ponds, ditches and underground water galleries, was used to supply the mines with energy. It was declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 as an addition to the existing World Heritage site “Mines of Rammelsberg & Historic Town of Goslar”. The Samson mine, once one of the deepest mines of the 19th century, is also part of the UNESCO Global Geopark Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen. The media station uses geovisualizations to present the Upper Harz Water Management System in its spatio-temporal changes on the earth surface as well as underground in regard to current and future social challenges of environmental changes in a local-global context. Changes in environmental conditions, resource availability and deposit yield, as well as changing socio-political conditions, required permanent adjustments and a sustainable management of resources to maintain the ore production. Based on the findings of the historical insights and the educational guideline of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), museum visitors are encouraged to reflect on the perception, evaluation and management of landscapes, to establish the connection between their own actions and environmental changes and to think about future visions for a sustainable development. The focus of the communication is the authentic experience in a historic mine, the Samson mine, which is now used to generate renewable energy in St. Andreasberg based on the concept of social-emotional learning.