International PhD Seminar Post-extraction territories in transition: Designing the socio-ecological transition in post carbon marginal spaces

The Seminar proposes a European and transatlantic dialogue around the questions of the social and ecological transition (post-carbon) of marginal spaces, and territories of exploitation as the ancient coal territories on the two sides of the Atlantic. The post-extraction marginal spaces 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, these areas experience stagnation and lower pressure from an economic growth standpoint. Yet, these territories inherit a high environmental 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, these territories could be seen as a laboratory in which to investigate a socio-ecological transition. In a panorama of energy precarity, resource contraction, landscape erosion and climate urgency, we advocate for new proposals of socio-environmental reconciliation of these marginal spaces and a new gaze that considers these territories as subjects of their transformation. Keynote Speakers Michel Desvigne - Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme 2011, Agence MDP Arthur Hardy - Architect, Landscape Designer, Charleroi Bouwmeester Hannah Le Roux - Visiting Professor of the Theory of Architecture, ETH Beatrice Mariolle - Chair Post Mining, Scientific International Network Post-Mining, Architecture, Landscape, Design, École d’Architecture de Lille Benoît Moritz - Head of Metrolab Brussels, Belgium, LoUIsE, Université Libre de Bruxelles Thaddeus Pawlowski - Managing Director, Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes, Columbia University GSAPP Discussants Chiara Cavalieri - UCL Louvain Martina Barcelloni Corte - ULiège Roberto Sega - Swiss Federal Office for Space Development Scientific Committee Tom Avermaete - Chair of the History and Theory of Urban Design, ETH Elena Cogato Lanza - Director, EDAR, EPFL Paola Viganò - Director, Habitat Research Center, EPFL Executive Board Anna Karla De Almeida Santos - Lab-U, EPFL