What is ‘just transition’? How do European Cohesion Policy and the strive for climate neutrality work across scales? And how does this relate to Brussels’ famous Art Nouveau architecture?
This field course, taught by Anke Schwarz and Paul Zschocke from MLU’s European Center of Just Transition Research adresses political geographies of climate adaptation and the multi-scalar logics and dynamics of energy transition that link the Belgian capital with extractive industries in southern Saxony-Anhalt. Conceptually, the course draws on current debates in both urban and political geography on planetary urbanisation, global supply chains, sacrifice zones, and green extractivism.
Combining an introductory seminar and a week-long field trip to Brussels in June 2026, students from Martin-Luther-University’s MA program ‘International Area Studies – Global Change Geography’ and the BA program in Human Geography will visit the European Parliament, NGOs, museums and other relevant sites in Brussels. In line with the principles of inquiry-based learning, students will co-design individual excursion modules. They will independently work on research questions from the fields of social, cultural, economic, and urban geography, applying them to an urban context (largely) unknown to them. Field trips are a central element of specialized geographical training — providing students with the opportunity to not only familiarize themselves with new content, but also to test and deepen their professional skills in a practical setting.
Image: S. Engel: Wereldtentoonstelling in Brussel, België, Expo 58. Netherlands Nationaal Archief