Report on the event "Lignite mining in transition - opportunities for the region or risks for people and biodiversity?"

On 11 January, the event "Lignite mining in transition - opportunities for the region or risks for people and biodiversity?" took place in Zittau. The event is part of the event series "Mining and Biodiversity in Saxony", which was awarded the eku Future Prize by the Saxon State Ministry of Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture. We had the pleasure of welcoming four committed speakers and enjoyed exciting presentations and discussions.

The first contribution came from Joachim Neumann from the Oberlausitzer Bergleute association. Mr. Neumann gave us a great insight into the history of lignite mining in the region. Mr. Neumann himself worked in lignite mining from 1972 to 2006, including 14 years as an operating engineer and opencast mine shift manager. What an impressive and truly moving first-hand account of history. Prof. Dr. Arne Cierjacks (HTW Dresden/BIOZENTRA) then spoke about the challenges and opportunities of opencast mining for biodiversity. Prof. Cierjacks deals intensively with questions of regenerative ecology and shows us what ecological and technical possibilities there are for the renaturation of old open-cast mining sites, what unresolved challenges exist and what questions still need to be clarified by research. The third presentation by Franziska Stölzel (UNU-FLORES) showed us the international perspective on transformation processes in coal phase-out regions. Her research focuses not only on Lusatia, but also on Poland and Romania, among others. The holistic view of the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of the transition regions was very valuable for us. The program was rounded off with a presentation by Joanna Tokarczuk from the ZKlaster Zgorzelec organization entitled "Clustering - can 3 nations act as one region?". Geographically, climate change does not stop at any border and so it is obvious that we must also act together and across borders. Joanna Tokarczuk explained that a key factor in the region's economic strength is mining and the energy industry and that the Polish government is not putting the issues of renewable energies, phasing out coal and jointly shaping the transformation process at the top of its agenda. Together with her colleagues from ZKlaster, Joanna Tokarczuk is fighting to ensure that this important topic is given visibility and is also proactively addressed in Poland across national borders. We are very impressed by this great and tireless commitment! We would like to take this opportunity to thank all speakers, participants and of course the organizers for this excellent event!