Problems and Purpose

As Tromsø's urban black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) colony grew, nesting on public and commercial buildings generated conflict over noise, droppings, building maintenance, and the use of urban space. Property owners responded with deterrents including nets, spikes, sloping ledges, and nest removal. However, because kittiwakes show strong fidelity to breeding sites, excluding birds from one building often displaced them to neighbouring structures rather than removing them from the city [1][2].

The initiative developed as an alternative to building-by-building deterrence. It tested whether purpose-built nesting structures, commonly described as "kittiwake hotels," could provide alternative breeding sites in locations where colonies would be less disruptive. Its documented purposes included reducing conflict between birds and people, protecting building façades, learning which forms and locations of artificial nesting structures kittiwakes would accept, and developing longer-term approaches to urban coexistence [1][3].

Background History and Context

The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is listed as endangered on Norway's Red List, following substantial population declines along the Norwegian coast [4]. Researchers associate the decline with changes in marine food availability, climate-related ecological change, predation, and reduced breeding success at traditional coastal colonies [1][5]. Against this wider decline, kittiwakes have established urban colonies in several Norwegian coastal towns, including Ålesund, Rørvik, Vardø, Tromsø, and Hammerfest [5].

Tromsø's colony grew rapidly. NINA recorded approximately 13 breeding pairs in 2017 and more than 380 pairs by 2022. Later public sources reported approximately 800 breeding pairs by 2023 or 2024, although these figures vary and have not been reconciled against a single published scientific count [5][6][7]. Important nesting concentrations developed on buildings including Tromsø Kunstforening, the county administration building (Fylkeshuset), the Fram Centre, and the former Mack Øst building.

The growing colony generated contrasting public responses. Some residents and property owners emphasised the nuisance caused by the birds and sought to exclude them from buildings. Researchers, artists, and conservation advocates instead connected their arrival to wider ecological change and called for approaches based on coexistence rather than exclusion. Within the public programme that later accompanied the initiative, some participants described the kittiwakes as "climate refugees," framing their movement into the city as a consequence of human-driven environmental change rather than solely as a wildlife-management problem [6][7].

The issue also gained municipal attention. Tromsø Municipality's Climate, Environment and Energy Plan 2018–2025 included a commitment to collaborate with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) to establish a kittiwake hotel. This provided an institutional precedent for the subsequent design, research, and public-engagement activities documented in this case [8].

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

Tromsø Municipality initiated and coordinated important parts of the project. It incorporated a kittiwake-hotel proposal into its environmental planning, commissioned architectural work, supported experimental structures, provided public information, and participated in the development of later hotels [3][8].

The Norwegian Institute for Nature Research provided ornithological expertise and monitoring. Named researchers included Tone Kristin Reiertsen and Karl-Otto Jacobsen. NINA advised on the location and design of nesting structures and documented whether the birds occupied them [1][5].

AT Arkitektur contributed architectural design and project development. Architect Kjeld Nash worked with municipal officials, researchers, and artists on the design, placement, and modification of the nesting structures. Artists Lawrence Malstaf and Kåre Grundvåg also contributed to the early prototypes and to later proposals for larger and more permanent structures [3].

Tromsø Kunstforening participated as both a cultural institution and the host of an urban kittiwake colony. It provided a site for early experiments and organised the 2023 exhibition I Love Seagulls! An Exhibition About Living Together. The exhibition was curated by Kåre Aleksander Grundvåg and Camilla Fagerli [6].

The municipality identified the principal partners in Urbane krykkjer as Tromsø Municipality, AT Plan og Arkitektur, NINA, Tromsø Kunstforening, Lawrence Malstaf, and Kåre Grundvåg. NINA also referred to collaboration with BirdLife and researchers associated with the UiT project Fuglan Veit, although publicly available documentation does not clearly specify the responsibilities of each participant [3][5].

The I Love Seagulls! exhibition received support from Tromsø Municipality, Troms and Finnmark County, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality, Bildende Kunstneres Hjelpefond, Arts Council Norway, KORO, and NOFI. [6].

Later nesting structures had separate funding arrangements. Two compensatory hotels constructed at the former Mack Øst site in 2025 were financed by Mack and developed through collaboration involving NINA researcher Tone Reiertsen, municipal official Robert Lund Mentzoni, architect Kjeld Nash, and artist Lawrence Malstaf [2].

Participant Recruitment and Selection

Municipal officials, NINA researchers, architects and artists participated through their professional roles. Tromsø Municipality also formed an informal interdisciplinary resource group to combine different forms of knowledge and explore approaches to human–kittiwake coexistence, although documentation provides little information about its selection, operation or representation of affected residents and property owners [3]. Public participation occurred through the I Love Seagulls! exhibition, tours and seminar, and later through Rissa Citizen Science. Its Kittiwalkers monitored nests and deterrents, reported incidents and assisted injured birds [6][9]. Kittiwakes had no formally appointed representative; instead, interventions responded to the observed behaviour of particular colonies, including those affected by redevelopment at Tromsø Kunstforening and Mack Øst [1][2][3].

Methods and Tools Used

The project combined collaborative design, ecological monitoring, architectural experimentation, public engagement, and citizen science.

Its principal material tool was the artificial nesting structure or "kittiwake hotel." Researchers, architects, and artists used iterative prototyping to test how factors including location, height, form, materials, and proximity to existing colonies affected whether kittiwakes occupied the structures [1][3].

Ecological monitoring documented nest occupancy and breeding activity, while later citizen-science monitoring involved volunteers mapping nests, deterrents, colony movements, and other changes across the city [1][9][10].

Public engagement included the I Love Seagulls! exhibition, guided tours, public events, and an interdisciplinary seminar, which brought scientific, artistic, and activist perspectives on urban seabirds into public discussion [6].

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

The initiative developed over several breeding seasons through repeated experimentation and adaptation. The collaborators tested nesting structures, observed how kittiwakes responded, and used these observations to inform subsequent designs and management decisions.

The collaboration began after Tromsø Municipality included the establishment of a kittiwake hotel in its Climate, Environment and Energy Plan 2018–2025. Working with NINA, the municipality explored alternatives to building-by-building deterrence and commissioned AT Arkitektur to develop proposals that would protect the façade of Tromsø Kunstforening while providing alternative nesting opportunities. An interdisciplinary resource group brought together municipal staff, researchers, architects, artists, students, business representatives, and other organisations to exchange knowledge and develop responses to the growing urban colony [3][8].

The first experimental kittiwake hotels were installed in 2022 near existing urban colonies, including sites close to the Fram Centre and Tromsø Kunstforening. Researchers and designers monitored whether birds occupied the structures and how they responded to differences in location and design. These observations informed modifications to subsequent hotels [1][3][11].

Several early structures were mobile. Rather than immediately relocating birds away from Tromsø Kunstforening, hotels were positioned close to existing nests and could then be moved incrementally towards Muséparken after the birds accepted them. The collaborators also adapted planning and construction schedules to the kittiwakes' seasonal arrival and breeding cycle, allowing new structures to be installed before colonies returned in spring [3].

Public engagement developed alongside these experiments. Between June and October 2023, Tromsø Kunstforening presented I Love Seagulls! An Exhibition About Living Together, bringing together artistic, scientific, and activist perspectives on urban seabirds. Guided tours, public events, and the interdisciplinary seminar Can People and Birds Be Friends? created opportunities for researchers, architects, artists, philosophers, musicians, and members of the public to discuss the ecological, cultural, and practical dimensions of coexistence. These activities supported public discussion but did not constitute formal decision-making forums [6][12].

Knowledge from the early experiments subsequently informed larger and more permanent nesting structures in Muséparken and compensatory hotels associated with redevelopment, including at the former Mack Øst site. From 2024, participation also expanded through the Kittiwalkers citizen-science initiative. Volunteers monitored colonies, mapped nests, documented deterrence measures, and reported injured birds, contributing observations on changes in kittiwake nesting across the city [13].

The initiative remained ongoing at the time of reporting. Observations from successive breeding seasons continued to inform the placement, modification, and management of nesting structures, making the project an adaptive process rather than a single intervention.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

At the time of writing, the initiative has not been subject to a comprehensive independent evaluation. The outcomes reported here draw primarily on annual monitoring by Rissa Citizen Science between 2024 and 2026, alongside publications from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and Tromsø Municipality. Rissa's findings are based on structured volunteer observations.

Monitoring indicates increasing use of several artificial nesting structures between 2023 and 2026. By 2026, Tromsø had nine kittiwake hotels providing 1,112 nesting ledges. Hotel 3 in Muséparken remained the most occupied, while Hotels 5, 8 and 9 recorded increased occupancy following changes to their design or management. Monitoring across breeding seasons also informed changes to the location, height, orientation and management of structures. Rissa Citizen Science attributes increased occupancy to factors including iterative adaptation, continuity of nesting sites and proximity to established colonies, rather than the provision of artificial structures alone. NINA similarly concluded that appropriately designed and located hotels can provide alternative nesting sites for urban kittiwakes.

Citizen participation also expanded. By 2026, the Kittiwalkers programme involved around 50 volunteers who regularly monitored nest occupancy, breeding activity, deterrence measures and colony movements. The programme shared these observations with Tromsø Municipality and other stakeholders, contributing an ongoing source of information about the city's kittiwake population and management interventions.

Nonetheless, monitoring documents find continuing conflict across the city. Redevelopment, demolition of established nesting sites, and deterrents continued to displace kittiwakes to new locations. Rissa Citizen Science reported that 93 of 178 nests monitored during the 2025 breeding season had been destroyed or made inaccessible before the 2026 season, although the proportion of nest loss in the monitored area fell from 66% to 52%. At the same time, several new hotels attracted breeding birds, while others continued to require modification.

The available evidence therefore indicates that kittiwake hotels have provided alternative nesting sites and generated practical knowledge about their design and management, but does not establish that they have resolved human–kittiwake conflict across Tromsø. Their effectiveness varies between sites and remains affected by redevelopment and the continued use of deterrents elsewhere in the city.

Analysis and Lessons Learned

A distinctive feature of this initiative is how it approached more-than-human voice. Rather than appointing a human representative to speak on behalf of kittiwakes, the project treated attention to the birds' agency, interests and needs as a way of hearing their voice. Their continued occupation of buildings, return to preferred nesting sites, and acceptance or rejection of successive nesting structures provided information that researchers, architects and municipal officials could respond to. Drawing on the case, Førde et al. [16] argue that this expands conventional understandings of participation by recognising that more-than-human voice can be expressed through embodied presence and behaviour, and interpreted through observation and ongoing interaction.

The case also shows how the relationship between humans, governance institutions and kittiwakes changed over time. Early responses largely sought to deter or exclude the birds from urban buildings. The introduction of artificial nesting sites recognised their need for somewhere else to nest, while later interventions increasingly adapted human practices to their behaviour and ecological requirements. Hotels were placed close to established colonies, designs changed in response to nesting behaviour, and planning schedules were adjusted to the birds' seasonal arrival. Førde et al. [16] describe this as a movement from paternalistic management, through recognition, towards more convivial forms of multispecies participation.

The case also highlights how more-than-human voice can be understood through different ways of knowing and relating. Ecological research, direct observation, citizen science, and architectural and artistic experimentation offered different ways of interpreting the kittiwakes’ behaviour, needs and interests.

Finally, the case raises questions about how more-than-human democratic innovations should be evaluated. Drawing on Arnstein's conception of participation as a redistribution of power [17], Førde et al. [16] argue that participation extends beyond whether more-than-human interests are heard to whether they influence decisions. In Tromsø, planning timelines, designs and spatial decisions were adapted in response to kittiwake behaviour and needs [16]. Thus, this case illustrates that evaluating more-than-human democratic innovations requires considering not only whether other species are included in decision-making, but also whether planning practices meaningfully challenge anthropocentric hierarchies by enabling more-than-human agency to reshape decisions and urban governance.

See Also

Confluence of European Water Bodies — a recurring transnational initiative in which humans represent rivers, seas, lagoons, glaciers, and other water bodies, exploring alternative approaches to water governance and more-than-human representation.

Interspecies Council — a deliberative method in which participants embody non-human perspectives and speak on behalf of other species or ecological systems.

River Dôn Living Stewardship Agreement — a civil society-led initiative that brings human and more-than-human actors into relational mapping and stewardship processes around the River Dôn in South Yorkshire.

Zoöp (Zoöperation) — a governance and learning method that formally embeds more-than-human interests in organisational decision-making through a Speaker for the Living and a recurring ecological learning cycle.

References

Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35(4), 216–224. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944366908977225

Artsdatabanken. (2021). Rødlista for arter 2021: Vurdering av krykkje (Rissa tridactyla).https://lister.artsdatabanken.no/rodlisteforarter/2021/27570

Conference of the Birds. (2023). Kittiwakes in Tromsø. https://theconferenceofthebirds.net/kittiwakes-in-tromso/

Conference of the Birds. (2024). Norway Nest: Kittiwakes. https://theconferenceofthebirds.net/norway-nest-kittiwakes/

Førde, A., Escobar, O., Bua, A., Nash, K., Malstaf, L., Reiertsen, T. K., & Grundvåg, K. (2026). The Ladder of Multispecies Participation. (Complete journal details to be added upon publication.) [VERIFY final bibliographic details]

Forskning.no. (2023, 2 May). Krykkjehotell fungerer med hell. https://www.forskning.no/dyreverden-fugler-norsk-institutt-for-naturforskning/krykkjehotell-fungerer-med-hell/2175348

Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). (2023a, 2 May). Krykkjehotell fungerer med hell.https://www.nina.no/aktuelt/alle-artikler-og-nyheter/krykkjehotell-fungerer-med-hell

Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA). (2023b). Urban kittiwakes. (Use the specific NINA report or webpage cited in the text—this currently needs the exact title if you are citing a report rather than the news article.) [VERIFY]

Rissa Citizen Science. (2024). The Kittiwalkers Community Builds Momentum. https://www.rissa-cs.org/blog (locate exact post URL before submission).

Rissa Citizen Science. (2025a). Tromsø's Kittiwalkers: the Mid-Summer Report. https://www.rissa-cs.org/post/troms%C3%B8-s-kittiwalkers-the-mid-summer-report

Rissa Citizen Science. (2025b). What Made the Tromsø Kittiwake Hotels Attractive in 2025? https://www.rissa-cs.org/post/what-made-the-troms%C3%B8-kittiwake-hotels-attractive-in-2025

Rissa Citizen Science. (2026a). 52% of Last Year's Nests Destroyed: Buildings in Tromsø City Centre Are Becoming Kittiwake-proof. https://www.rissa-cs.org/post/52-of-last-year-s-nests-destroyed-buildings-in-troms%C3%B8-city-center-are-becoming-kittiwake-proof

Rissa Citizen Science. (2026b). Tromsø's Kittiwake Hotels Are Filling Up: Mid-season Update. https://www.rissa-cs.org/post/troms%C3%B8-s-kittiwake-hotels-are-filling-up-the-mid-season-update

Tromsø Kommune. (2018). Klima-, miljø- og energiplan 2018–2025. [Official municipal PDF or archive URL—recommended to replace with the direct PDF if available.]

Tromsø Kommune. (2023). «Urbane krykkjer» – mobile krykkjehotell i Muséparken.https://www.tromso.kommune.no/krykkje

Tromsø Kunstforening. (2023). I Love Seagulls! An Exhibition About Living Together.https://www.tromsokunstforening.no/en/exhibitions/i-love-seagulls

External Links

Conference of the Birds – Kittiwakes in Tromsø

Conference of the Birds – Norway Nest: Kittiwakes

Tromsø Kunstforening – I Love Seagulls!

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)

Rissa Citizen Science

Tromsø Municipality – Urban Kittiwakes

Notes

Several primary sources were originally published in Norwegian. English translations were generated with the assistance of AI and cross-checked against multiple sources where possible. Because automated translation may not fully capture contextual or technical nuances, readers are encouraged to consult the original Norwegian documents when precise interpretation is important.

Contributor Positionality Statements

The entry is part of the more-than-human democratic innovations collection. It was developed through the research project Mapping emerging practices of nonhuman representation and participation led by Lucy J. Parry and Hans Asenbaum at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy, Claudia de Cordoba Fernandez Farini of Living Imaginaries and Graham Smith at the University of Westminster. The project is funded by Participedia and the Centre for Animals and Social Justice.

This case draws exclusively on publicly available documentation. All descriptive claims are based on documented sources. Interpretive analysis is confined to the Analysis section and informed by the contributor’s broader research on emerging practices of nonhuman representation and participation.