Waste/Land/Futures: Intergenerational Relations in Places of Abandonment and Renewal Across Europe

The Waste/Land/Futures project engages with communities in sites often associated with abandonment, loss, and renewal across Europe. The aim is to co-create intergenerational, utopian narratives about the future. By focusing on individuals who are often excluded from discussions about what lies ahead, the project aims to give them an active role in shaping these futures.
The research centers on two thematic case studies – 'below the ground' and 'above the ground' communities – examining four diverse sites: former coal mining communities in the UK and Germany ('below the ground') alongside the Danube Delta in Romania and the Austrian iron ore mining town Eisenerz ('above the ground').
Although often framed through narratives of decline and loss, the researched communities also harbor opportunities for regeneration, adaptation, and creative re-storying. Therefore, the project investigates how intergenerational relationships in these communities have evolved and continue to change, while exploring how different generations imagine the future.
Working with creative practitioners, project partners, and local participants, narratives that challenge linear ideas of progress or decline will be developed. This approach draws on Critical Future Studies (Godhe and Goode, 2018), emphasizing the democratization of future imaginaries, and generational time (Woodward, 2020), which situates changes within the lifespan of human and environmental interactions.
Using ethnographic and participatory methods, the Waste/Land/Futures project combines field observations, photo elicitation interviews, and family interviews conducted in intergenerational settings. Through Participatory Action Research (PAR), the project seeks to craft inclusive visions of the future, fostering new possibilities for renewal and growth in Europe’s places of abandonment and renewal.