The transformation of Germany’s lignite mining regions – civil society actors in local governance processes

Until the year 2038, Germany will gradually phase out the energetic use of lignite and hard coal. Whereas the countries domestic hard coal mining ended in 2018, it is still the world’s largest lignite producer. Hence, the phase-out particularly has implications for the lignite mining regions. Their transformation will go beyond the exchange of centralized energy generation to a decentralized system, but will affect social, ecological and economical subsystems. Politicians and scientists often call for civil society participation in the “Energiewende” and the resulting processes. For the most part however, it remains unclear what is meant by this participation: shaping the transformation or merely implementing decisions already made?
The aim of the thesis is to investigate to what extent social, economic and ecological processes of change are (co-)shaped and implemented by civil society actors. The thesis’ sub-goal refers to the negotiation of (dynamic) transformation processes. The work contributes to the societal discourse on how to incorporate civil society actors to local issues with global effects.

Research Interests Short CV Publications Network Contact