Many of the social activities within the Food Heritage Dialogues in Lofoten take place in and outside community houses that have long served as gathering points for local residents. Known as grendehus and forsamlingshus, these spaces have for generations hosted public holidays and community meetings where shared meals, celebration and conversation bring people together. They now provide the setting for the Food Heritage Dialogues.

These gatherings are part of WP7: Activating Food Heritage—Past, Present and Future, where the Food Heritage Dialogues function as a unified series of activities. In these very community houses, we carry out outreach and community activation, collect oral histories on stockfish, dairy, and local food traditions, host hybrid forums to explore present-day challenges such as tourism and sustainability, and run creative workshops that invite residents to imagine future food landscapes. All these activities are interconnected, using the same meeting places and shared meals to spark reflection, dialogue, and collaborative thinking across past, present, and future.

Here are some first photos of the community houses we’ve visited so far—currently being mapped by Museum Nord. Who knows, perhaps they will one day become an exhibition or even a book project. Time will tell!