Post-extraction territories in transition #2

Unveiling palimpsests of exploitation: towards a new alliance between ecology and economy in marginal regions

2-5 September 2023

The aim of the International PhD Seminar Post-extraction territories in transition is to develop an European and transatlantic dialogue around the questions of the social and ecological transition (post-carbon) of marginal spaces, namely the territories of exploitation as the ancien coal territories on the two sides of the Atlantic. In its 2022 first edition, the seminar provided an initial cartography of current research on critical post-extraction and marginal spaces scenarios in a panorama of energetic instability, resource contraction, landscape erosion, and climate urgency. In this new appointment, the topic will be dealt with through fieldwork in the Charleroi and Land regions.

The post-extraction marginal areas are characterized by a condition of permanent land exploitation, due both to the past extractive phase and to present processes of strong ecological impact, shortage of resources, and negligible investments. As a result, they experience stagnation and lower pressure from an economic growth standpoint. Nevertheless, these territories inherit a high enviromental and cultural quality - also given by technical and industrial processes that have marked their development - and a rooted identity that underlies a dormant social and human capital.

Given these premises, post-extraction marginal territories could be seen as a laboratory to investigate a socio-ecological transition. In a panorama of energetic instability, resource contraction, landscape erosion, and climate urgency, we advocate for new proposals for the socio-environmental reconciliation of these territories, and for a new gaze that considers them as subjects of their transformation.

Through the fieldwork, we will establish a dialogue and a comparison between, on one side, the ongoing urban landscape projects and socio-economic policies in the Charleroi and Lens regions, and on the other side, a new territorial reading that will be set up during the seminar, both by unveiling the palimpsests of exploitations and reclamations, and by testing a set of hypotheses on the socio-ecological transition. The first hypothesis strikes on the need to recover the sites' urban qualities. Complementary, the second hypothesis examines the historical potentialities of these territories that can emerge as drivers and pioneers of the socio-ecological transition.

Partner organizations:

• ETHZ Ecole Polytechnique Fédéral de Zurich
• ENSAPL Chaire Bassin Minier of the Ecole supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Lille
• ULB Université libre de Bruxelles
• MLB Metrolab Brussels
• Charleroi Bouwmeester