APPLY NOW: RESEARCH STUDIO
June 02-06 2025
TU Dresden, Germany
Chair of Digital Cultures
Sensing Pasts, Casting Futures
Located in eastern Germany, the regions of Ore Mountains and Lusatia were heavily exploited for uranium mining and lignite (brown coal) extraction, respectively. Decades of industrial activity left behind significant environmental contamination, degraded landscapes, and disrupted ecosystems. In response, large-scale rehabilitation projects were launched to transform these post-industrial landscapes into sustainable and recreational spaces. In the case of the Ore Mountains efforts focused on cleaning up radioactive contamination and restoring the area for mixed natural and recreational uses. In Lusatia, the conversion involved flooding massive open-pit mines to create the Lusatian Lake District, an extensive network of artificial lakes. Water management played a critical role in both contexts—whether by stabilizing and decontaminating radioactive sites in the Ore Mountains or by engineering hydrological systems to manage Lusatia’s new lakes. These projects exemplify how environmental and social scars are being reimagined as opportunities for ecological regeneration, economic diversification, and sustainable futures.
Ghost Mines—Sensing Pasts, Casting Futures invites participants to explore the haunting legacy of abandoned mines and extractive landscapes, questioning how these sites can inform our understanding of resource-driven histories and speculative futures. The research studio delves into the concept of “ghost mines”—both as literal sites of abandonment and metaphorical markers of environmental trauma and contested futures. Through an interdisciplinary lens that draws from environmental sciences, media theory, and science and technology studies, participants will investigate how the remnants of mining reflect cultural memory, embody political struggles, and reveal global economic transformations. Topics will include the spectral presence of labor and exploitation, the transformation of materials into commodities, and the capacity of scarred environments to inspire new narratives of resilience, reclamation, and sustainability.