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Posts tagged future scenarios

Paper: Notes on the transformation of a railway in Northern Manitoba, Canada

Paper: Notes on the transformation of a railway in Northern Manitoba, Canada published on No Comments on Paper: Notes on the transformation of a railway in Northern Manitoba, Canada

Budka, P. (2024). Notes on the transformation of a railway in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Paper at Vienna Anthropology Days 2024, Vienna, Austria: University of Vienna, 23-25 September.
Co-chairing of Panels “Building Tomorrow: Exploring Infrastructures and Futurities”, 25 September.

Introduction

On a chilly day in February 2022, I boarded the Via Rail Canada train in Winnipeg for my inaugural journey to Churchill, a community of 870 individuals situated at the Hudson Bay in Northern Manitoba, Canada, which is inaccessible by road. I was the only passenger in the sleeper car for this 48-hour journey. Four other passengers were siting up front in the economy car. A train attendant told me that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced the number of people using public transportation, particularly during the winter months when ice roads offer a cost-effective travel option in Manitoba. Leaving the province’s capital behind, we rode along the endless fields of grain of Canada’s prairie, now all covered in ice and snow. From time to time, the train stopped. One reason for that was to let freight trains pass. The railway companies always give priority to freight transportation. “That’s where the business is,” the train attendant explained during one of those stops.

Train station in Churchill, MB, Canada. (Photo by Philipp Budka)

Presentation: Transport infrastructure & community development in Churchill

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Budka, P. (2024). Transport infrastructure and community development in Churchill: Findings from future scenario workshops. Presentation at Churchill Barber Symposium 2024, Churchill, Canada: University of Manitoba et al., 28-29 August.

Abstract

The Town of Churchill, a community of 870 people on the Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba, is unique in terms of transport infrastructure. It is inaccessible by road but it is home to the only deep-water port on the Arctic Ocean that is directly linked to the North American rail system. The community’s relatively large airport, which was constructed due to the former military presence, has become a key component of the growing tourism industry in the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”. The town’s history is closely intertwined with these infrastructures, and they have played a significant role in its growth and development. But what does the future hold for Churchill? What are the implications of the transfer of ownership and operation of the Hudson Bay Railway and the Port of Churchill to a consortium of local communities for the town and the region? How might climate change and environmental crises impact the community, its economy and infrastructure? What could a sustainable Churchill look like? To address such questions and related future scenarios, the European Research Council (ERC) project InfraNorth, with the support of the Town of Churchill, organized two future scenario workshops in August 2023. These events brought together locals as well as transport professionals to discuss, evaluate, and outline a variety of infrastructure scenarios. In this presentation, we will discuss aspects of the planning and organization of the workshops, as well as selected results.

Poster visualizations for future scenario workshop in Churchill, MB, Canada (Illustrations by Nickia McIvor). (Photo by Philipp Budka)

Paper: Planes, trains, ships & rockets

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Budka, P. (2024). Planes, trains, ships and rockets: Infrastructural temporalities and entanglements in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Paper at 18th Biennial Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), Barcelona, Spain: University of Barcelona, 23-26 July.
Co-chairing of Panel “Infrastructural Residues: Reproduction and Destruction of Infrastructures Across Space and Time”, 26 July.

Abstract

This paper explores transport infrastructures, their temporalities and entanglements in the Subarctic town of Churchill, Canada. The community of 870 people in Northern Manitoba, which is not accessible via roads, is unique in terms of transport infrastructures. It is home to the only deep-water port on the Arctic Ocean that is directly linked to the North American railway system. Due to the former military presence the community has a big airport which is crucial for the growing tourism industry in the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”. The military also constructed a rocket range which was later used by research organizations and a commercial operator before it was finally closed in the 1990s. While the ruins of the Churchill Rocket Range have become a tourist attraction, the Hudson Bay Railway, the Port of Churchill and the town’s airport are still in use and need to be maintained under harsh Subarctic conditions. Since 2021, the railway and port are – for the first time in history – owned by a consortium of local communities. For renovating and reviving these transport infrastructures, the new owners started right away to look for much needed investments. Eventually, recent global crises prompted the governments of Manitoba and Canada to once again invest heavily in these infrastructures. By discussing results from ethnographic fieldwork, archival research and a future scenario workshop, conducted within the ERC project InfraNorth, this paper focuses on infrastructural temporalities (Velkova & Plantin, 2023) through concrete moments of change.

Abandoned rocket range south of Churchill, MB, Canada. (Photo by Philipp Budka)

Paper: Infrastructural futures in Northern Manitoba, Canada

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Budka, P. (2024). Infrastructural futures in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Paper at Arctic Congress, Bodø, Norway: Nordland Research Institute and Nord University, 29 May – 3 June.

Introduction

Infrastructures play a pivotal role in numerous social transformations, sociopolitical developments, and creative processes of innovation. Consequently, infrastructures have become a significant focus of research in anthropology and the humanities and social sciences more broadly (Buier, 2023; Harvey & Knox, 2015; Star, 1999). Questions that connect infrastructures to development, sustainability, and transformation point to the significance of temporality – not only the present and the past, but also the future – as a crucial analytical lens (Amatulli & Budka, forthcoming; Carse & Kneas, 2019). This paper examines the role of transport infrastructures in Northern Manitoba, Canada, by discussing questions related to infrastructural futures and futurities.

Traffic sign outside of Churchill, MB, Canada. (Photo by Philipp Budka)

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