Lusatia 2050 - Visionary ideas for a region
As part of the IZS's accompanying research and policy advice on structural change in Lusatia, spatial visions for a decarbonized future for the region after coal have been developed. Four international and interdisciplinary teams of experts worked closely with local decision-makers to develop four alternative scenarios.
What should Lusatia look like in 2050 - after coal, taking planetary boundaries into account and with a high quality of life for local residents? The coal phase-out overlaps with other dynamics such as demographic change, environmental changes and social tensions. What are the region's strengths? What is the right path? These were the questions posed by the planning laboratory "Raumbilder Lausitz 2050". At the same time, the accompanying IZS research revealed that the structural policy process in Lusatia is under enormous pressure. The federal government is pushing for the funds made available to be spent quickly, while local expectations and political pressure are enormous.
As part of a commission to external, interdisciplinary teams of experts and in close cooperation with decision-makers in the region, four alternative images have been created to enrich and facilitate the consideration and decision-making processes for structural change in Lusatia. The "Spatial Images of Lusatia 2050" planning laboratory focuses on the spatial development of Lusatia. Existing spatial strategies were analyzed and visionary concepts developed that develop space holistically and identify approaches for sustainable transformation.
The spatial images offer decision-makers involved in structural change and the many committed people in Lusatia four different scenarios for sustainable, spatially integrative development: while some rely on the strength of creative stakeholders and spatial pioneers or on the potential of the landscape, others build on the power of impulses from a knowledge campus or conversion potential in agriculture and forestry. The spatial images and concepts also offer tools and strategies to help deal with uncertainties and prepare for the day after tomorrow.
The four works consist of four panels each, which have been presented in an exhibition. Excerpts from the exhibition will be on display from April 18, 2024 as part of the exhibition "Thinking Futures Together: Visionary Realities" at the COSMO Science Forum in Dresden's Kulturpalast.
A complete documentation of the works and the context in which they were created can be found here.
In addition, an orientation framework was created, which contains principles and guidelines derived from the spatial images and is aimed at all decision-makers on the spatial development of Lusatia. It serves as an orientation and provides impulses for setting priorities in terms of content and sub-regional priorities for structural funding, for updating the existing strategy documents and for the further development of suitable inter-municipal and cross-state governance approaches.
Download: https://transformation-lausitz.ioer.eu/planungslabor/raumbilder-lausitz-2050/