The Centre for Structural Change and Regional Development (ZeStuR) began its work in November 2025. It is based at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) and is funded by the federal government with 16 million euros under the Structural Strengthening Act.

ZeStuR investigates how economic and social structural change can be successfully achieved in Lusatia and other regions undergoing structural change – and how politics, business and civil society can shape this process effectively. To this end, ZeStuR brings together social sciences, economics and planning sciences, which work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary manner and transdisciplinarily with local stakeholders.

The centre comprises five thematic areas and a cross-cutting project that links the participating academic disciplines. The themes are geared towards the challenges that regions undergoing structural change must overcome:

• Revitalising regional innovation systems: How can an economic structure more open to innovation be funded?
• The labour market as an arena of transformation: What are the socio-structural impacts of changes in the labour market, and how can issues such as the development of skilled labour be resolved constructively?
• Social cohesion and participation: How can social cohesion, participation in social life and the vitality of places be strengthened, with the aim of maintaining and improving regional quality of life?
• Shaped living environments: What contributions can spatial planning and Urban Planning, with its tools, make to the constructive management of collective identities in regions undergoing transformation, including in the context of scepticism towards transformation?
• Conflicts over democracy and migration: What are the prerequisites and opportunities for shaping a democratic everyday culture, for designing inclusive education, and for the participation of immigrants in Lusatia?

At the heart of the collaboration with partners in the field is the transfer platform. It brings together data and knowledge in an open repository, publishes policy briefs and organises various regular events in which public administration, politics, associations, businesses, civil society and research work together on solutions. The ‘Zukunftsschmiede Lausitz’ also provides an open forum for all interested parties.