Re-Industrialise Study Visit: The Ruhr area transformation story

How can we use a region’s legacy to create a new cultural identity? What can we learn from other regions when it comes to tackling structural change and regional transformation?

As part of our Re-Industrialise Study tour 13 participants from Slowenia, Serbia, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and eastern Germany visited the german Ruhr area from October 28th to 30th to learn more about successful transformation experiences, how to bring stakeholders together to develop joint solutions for structural change and enhance regions as business locations.

The study tour kicked off with a visit to Zeche Zollverein in Essen, giving first insights on how to use a region’s former industrial sites to create a new cultural identity. Experts talks on Ruhr area transformation and initiatives such as In4climate.NRW were followed by site visits to InnovationCity Ruhr Model City Bottrop and Berne Park to learn about the revitalization of industrially-used river systems.

On day three input from Zukunftsagentur Rheinisches Revier and Start-Up representatives gave insights into how to push forward innovative business models and financing tools to support innovation. Over the course of the study tour, the participants identified their own challenges, potential actors and collaborations as well as solutions to their own regional transition processes, closing with a professional visualisation of their ideas on how to tackel their individual transformation challenges.