What does social identification have to do with geo-resources? A series of public events organised by the Leibniz-ScienceCampus “Resources in Transformation (ReForm)” will address this question. Processes of identification play a major role in the self-image of the Ruhr region, from industrialisation and structural change to the current era of socio-ecological transformation, including the development of ‘green industries’. The history of the Ruhr Area makes it clear that the view and handling of raw materials is of central importance for the formation of cultural identifications as an industrial region. From this perspective, it is remarkable that in 2010, not only did the Ruhr Area and the city of Essen become the European Capital of Culture, but the first raw materials strategy of the German government was also created. Institutional supporters of the industrial heritage and many people whose work and lives were characterised by heavy industry agree: in the Ruhr Area, the development of energy production and processing (hard coal, solar and wind power, hydrogen and geothermal energy), securing the supply of mineral raw materials (especially building materials) and landscape recultivation remain important anchor points of the regional self-image.

However, there is also opposition and a reluctance to permanently bind the Ruhr region to memorial landscapes of coal and steel. This gives rise to tensions with regard to identification with the Ruhr Area. In a series of events, we would like to explore these tensions as well as the potential and limits of a practical culture of remembrance in the Ruhr Area, together with the possibilities of identifying and researching these scientifically.

The Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum – Leibniz-Forschungsmuseum für Georessourcen and its project partners, the FernUniversität in Hagen, the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Stiftung Geschichte des Ruhrgebiets (Foundation for the History of the Ruhr Area) are organising five discussion rounds to examine the historically shaped and transformative entanglement of people and their mining landscape. Each of the events will focus on a specific aspect of regional identification, alternating between theory and case studies. Our speakers represent a broad range of knowledge resources in the Ruhr area: universities, museums and galleries, regional planners, associations, independent experts, artists and documentarists. Each event has its own format and takes place at a location relevant to the topic. We are therefore addressing all interested neighbourhoods, municipalities, industrial companies and public institutions and look forward to your participation.