Public Opinions on Oil Shale Mining Heritage and its Tourism Potential

This paper examines the valuation of mining heritage and tourism potential for regional development in Ida-Viru County, NE Estonia. The study is based on data from six focus groups and a survey (n = 255) involving local residents and people from outside the county, Estonians and those of other ethnicities. Estonia is the only country in the world that uses oil shale for more than 90% of its electricity, and its industrial district is among the largest in the Baltic countries. Oil shale mining in Ida-Viru County began in 1916 and, over time, resulted in tremendous ecological, economic, social and cultural changes. A majority of these changes took place during the Soviet era, causing ambivalent attitudes towards oil shale mining heritage. Landscapes altered by oil shale mining, chemical works and energy production passed largely unnoticed until the twenty-first century: appreciation of uniqueness and public awareness come slowly. The findings of this study note that people recognise industrial heritage fairly well and have many ideas on how to use it on behalf of holistic regional development, yet there are shortages in information availability and understanding.