Participation of young people for a sustainable future in Lusatia

Prof. Dr Silke Weidner, Chair of Urban Management at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, is investigating this question as part of the EU-funded Horizon Europe project "Democratising Just Sustainability Transitions" (DUST) - and inviting young citizens to contribute their knowledge, concerns and wishes to sustainability policy.

From February 2023 to January 2026, Prof. Weidner and her team, Tihomir Viderman and Maximiliano Flores, together with civil society partners such as the Humanist Youth Organisation Cottbus e.V. (HUMAJU) and the Brandenburg Welfare Foundation (KiJuBB), will be researching how young people experience the consequences of structural change in Lusatia and which forms of participation make sense for them. The focus is on young people who are particularly affected by the coal phase-out and regional transformation processes, but whose voices are often underrepresented in political decisions.

Prof. Weidner's research shows: Institutional participation programmes often fall short. They are orientated towards fixed spatial and temporal logics, while young people navigate in the midst of everyday uncertainties, material restrictions and unstable phases of life. New methods such as regional future literacy labs, photo concept maps, comics and experimental visualisations make it possible to make the experiences, hopes and concerns of young people visible - and to actively incorporate their perspectives into political processes.

The researcher emphasises: "Participation must not just be a tool for implementing political guidelines. It must give young people the space to develop their own strategies, ability to act and ideas for the future. The future is not a static plan, but a terrain that can be shaped, scrutinised and rethought together."

Further results of the DUST project will be presented in the "Regional Futures" exhibition on the BTU campus. The exhibition shows illustrations depicting possible future scenarios as developed by the participants of the Regional Future Literacy Labs (RFLLs) in the four case study regions of the DUST project. In addition to Lusatia, these include Norrbotten (Sweden), Katowice in Silesia (Poland) and Stara Zagora (Bulgaria). The visual representations illustrate the diverse levels of the individual regions as well as the stories and perspectives contributed by the participants of the RFLLs. The exhibition will be on display in the foyer of the Central Lecture Hall Building from 3 February 2026 to 12 March 2026.