industriminnesvärde

Industriminnesvärde is a concept in heritage studies describing the memory value that industrial pasts hold for communities. It encompasses the ways in which former factories, mines, transport hubs, and manufacturing landscapes participate in collective memory, identity, and social learning. The concept distinguishes memory value from economic, functional, or aesthetic value, focusing on meanings, memories, and shared experiences connected to industrial life.

Dimensions and manifestations include place attachment, storytelling through oral histories, archival research, and interpretive programs at museums and on site. The memory value may be expressed through commemorations, preserved industrial landscapes, preserved machinery, and digital storytelling that connects past labor with present communities. It interacts with education, tourism, and regional development, helping communities reflect on labor history, technological change, and environmental legacies.

In heritage practice, recognizing industriminnesvärde can guide decisions about preservation, repurposing, or memorialization of sites. It supports inclusive approaches that document diverse voices, including workers, unions, engineers, and communities affected by industrial change. Critics warn that memory value can be selective or nostalgic, potentially marginalizing certain groups if not deliberately inclusive.

Examples include intact or repurposed factories turned into cultural centers, rail yards converted into public spaces, and the preservation of mining landscapes paired with oral histories to illuminate working-class life. See also industrial heritage, memory studies, and intangible cultural heritage.