Ostlänken – Communication Efforts

The government emphasizes the importance of Trafikverket […]//[…] working to communicate archaeological results to promote understanding of historical traces and fulfill national cultural heritage goals (Regeringsbeslut 2018).This notice accounts for the communication efforts within the archaeological project "Ostlänken".The new railway, Ostlänken, directly or indirectly affects approximately 700 archaeological sites.Against this background, Trafikverket early on identified a range of challenges, including practical, logistical, and formal decision-making processes.As noted by the Swedish National Heritage Board, Ostlänken challenges the contract archaeology system.To ease the workload and facilitate the work of county administrative boards' case officers and archaeological companies, Trafikverket established an internal Archaeology Project in 2020.The project acts as a link between construction contractors' schedules and the administrative processes of the county boards, while improving accessibility and logistics for archaeologists working in the field.In the government's permit decision for Ostlänken, public communication efforts from Trafikverket regarding archaeological findings are requested.Based on this, the Ostlänken Archaeology Project focuses on two main communication efforts: measures to strengthen cultural heritage and traditional public communication.