Echoes of Frost: Intangible Heritage, Loss, and Intergenerational Climate (In)justice in the Netherlands

The Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities Tour) is one of the most renowned long-distance tour skating events in the world and epitomizes the Dutch intangible heritage of ice-skating on natural ice. The 200-kilometer tour across Friesland's frozen canals has not occurred since 1997 – marking the longest gap in its history. Despite its prolonged absence due to climate change, the event remains deeply embedded in cultural memory, with anticipation and organizational efforts persisting annually. Registered as Dutch intangible cultural heritage in 2017, the Elfstedentocht raises critical questions about the challenges of safeguarding climate-dependent heritage.

Through extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Friesland, this chapter examines how different generations experience and respond to the absence, transformation, and potential loss of this heritage. Applying ecological nostalgia, affective timespaces, and intergenerational climate (in)justice as analytical lenses, the study reveals distinct generational perspectives: while older individuals interpret change within a framework of ecological fluctuation, younger generations articulate their loss within discourses of climate change and intergenerational injustice. However, rather than resigning to loss, younger generations actively engage in heritage transformation, reclaiming agency through creative reinterpretations and alternative ways of sustaining their connection to ice-skating culture. This chapter highlights how endangered heritage can serve as a platform for articulating climate concerns, fostering resilience, and shaping future imaginaries.