The metropolitan Ruhr region is characterised by the structural changes following the decline of mining and heavy industry that have long been emblematic for the area. This transition has thrown up new challenges for the infrastructure (logistics, transportation, water & energy management) and demands new strategies for a sustainable development of this region.

The joint project KuLaRuhr aims at planning, analysing and evaluating the potential land use of the model Ruhr area and its periphery to insure a sustainable resource management of land, water and energy and thus help to improve the quality of life in this urban region.

The Emscher Landschaftspark (ELP), subject to ongoing restoration projects, will serve as a model area to analyse and evaluate the transition processes from industrial to cultural landscape. One of the project's main goals is the development of decentralised water and power management systems that build on and thus synergise existing local structures.

The interdisciplinary character of this joint project will ensure that all technical, ecological, economic, legal and sociological questions that arise in this context can be adequately dealt with.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Sures is coordinating the project together with the ZWU - Zentrum für Wasser- und Umweltforschung at the University Duisburg-Essen.

Website of the project (in German)