DMT Gesellschaft für Lehre und Bildung

Coal regions in Poland, Czechia and Germany are at different stages of leaving coal behind, but the people who live there want much the same things: good jobs, local benefits they can actually see, transparent spending of public money and a real say in decisions. They also do not want the transition to wipe out the mining identity of their regions.

A report by VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (VSB-TUO) Ostrava/Czechia, presents the results of an international survey of residents and stakeholders in small mining and post-mining communities in Poland, Czechia and Germany. The online questionnaire ran from 2 July to 11 August 2026 and collected 301 complete responses: 124 from Poland, 96 from Germany and 81 from Czechia. Participation was voluntary, so the results describe the people who took part rather than whole regional populations. The survey was carried out within the RAISING project (Raising Awareness of Small Local Communities in the Coal Mining Transition Process).

Jobs first: 68% point to new, high-quality jobs
New, high-quality jobs were the most frequently chosen priority for the transition, selected by 68.1% of respondents. Jobs are not the whole picture, though. Respondents also want a cleaner environment, support for local businesses, new investment, affordable housing, retraining and better infrastructure. Most believe their region can have a good future after mining, but many doubt that the money spent on the transition will reach local people. The concerns mentioned most often were corruption and wasteful use of public funds (55.8%), job losses and unemployment (55.1%), and the risk that large companies will benefit while residents are left behind (32.6%).

Poles worry most about jobs, Czechs about corruption
Some views are shared across all three countries. Respondents support new jobs, reuse of brownfield sites and projects with visible local benefits. 79.4% would combine large strategic investments with smaller local projects, and 88.3% see mining and industrial history as an important part of their region’s identity. The differences show up in what people fear and where they see the future:

• In Poland, employment and economic security come first. 68.5% of Polish respondents fear job losses, compared with 44.4% in Czechia and 46.9% in Germany. Most of them (83.1%) have a current or former family connection to mining, and 81.3% want projects to go first to the municipalities most affected by mining.
• Czech respondents are most concerned about corruption and ineffective use of public funds (66.7%) and place strong emphasis on modernisation, brownfield regeneration and a new image for their regions.
• German respondents, mostly from the Ruhr region, look towards a knowledge-based economy: 62.5% see research, science and universities as a promising direction, compared with 25.0% in Poland.

“People in mining communities recognise that their regions are undergoing major changes. What matters to them is whether these changes bring tangible benefits to local communities and whether residents have a real opportunity to influence decisions. More than three-quarters of our respondents expressed a willingness to become personally involved in shaping their region’s future,” says Jindřich Šancer of VSB-TUO.

Residents want a real say in decisions
75.8% of respondents think residents have too little influence on decisions about their region, yet 77.7% say they are willing to get involved personally. In Poland both figures are higher still (81.5% and 83.9%). The authors recommend tying investments to measurable benefits for residents and adapting support to how far each region has moved away from coal. They also call for putting brownfield regeneration first, mixing strategic and local projects, and involving residents when priorities are set, not after projects are ready. Information about the transition should also reach people outside the circle of those who already follow the topic.

About the RAISING project

The report “Questionnaire survey report” (Deliverable 3.1) was developed as part of the RAISING project (“Raising awareness of small local communities in the process of coal mining transition”), funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel. It was prepared by a VSB-TUO team led by Jindřich Šancer.

The RAISING project aims to raise awareness among small local communities and support them through the mining transition process. The project is led by the Central Mining Institute – National Research Institute (GIG-PIB), with partners including the Instrat Foundation, Germany’s DMT-THGA (DMT-Gesellschaft für Lehre und Bildung mbH), and VSB – Technical University of Ostrava (Czechia). GA no: 101216335.

The full report is available for download on the RAISING project website.

(GiG/MRG)

Ulrich Wessel (Figure 1) will become Managing Director of DMT-Gesellschaft für Lehre und Bildung mbH (DMT-LB) in Bochum/Germany, as we make the transition from 2021 to 2022. The German Industrial Union for Mining, Chemicals and Energy (IG BCE), chaired by Michael Vassiliadis, named him Director of Labour Relations in the executive committee in agreement with the company’s Advisory Council. As Company Director for personnel-related and social issues, Wessel is currently responsible for the K-SG and K-IT divisions as well as for the previous central divisions of RAG Aktiengesellschaft, Essen, and is responsible also as a Member of the Board of Management and Director of Labour Relations at RAG Montan Immobilien GmbH, Essen.

“We are delighted that we were able to acquire Ulrich Wessel for the new job. He brings with him outstanding knowledge of his field. That’s why we are sure that the position could be ideally occupied by him,” says Bärbel Bergerhoff-Wodopia, Chair of the Board of Management of DMT e. V. as well as Chair of the Advisory Board of DMT-LB. “I will miss Ulrich Wessel as a colleague and the company will miss him as an important executive. And I wish him all the best in the field of mining in the future,” adds Chair of the RAG Board of Management Peter Schrimpf. (RAG/Si.)

More and more countries are worried about the effects of coal-based power generation and are increasing their efforts to address the consequences of mining operations in a sustainable way. The Georg Agricola Technical University (THGA) in Bochum/Germany is engaged in pioneering work in this field and is therefore a popular partner for research and training worldwide: In the future, the state-operated Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) will collaborate with training specialist DMT-LB, the THGA’s holding company, on post-mining activities. A corresponding cooperation agreement was signed on 17th November 2016 in Bangkok/Thailand by the Chairman of the Executive Board at DMT-LB, the President of the THGA, Prof. Jürgen Kretschmann, and the EGAT Director of Mining, Thaworn Ngamganokwan (Figure 1).

EGAT is by far the most important energy supplier in the emerging Southeast Asian country and produces around 37 % of all electricity in Thailand. Approximately one fifth of this is generated at coal-fired power stations. Among others, EGAT operates the Mae Moh facility in the north of the country, which is home to the largest open-cast lignite mine in Southeast Asia. This site covers an area of 135 km² and supplies around 16 mt of lignite per year. Mining operations have been underway since the 1950s and are scheduled to be terminated in 2051.

“Anyone looking at the German lignite mining area in the Lower Rhine and Lusatia regions will have some idea of the major challenges being faced at the huge site in Mae Moh,” explained Prof. Kretschmann on the occasion of signing the contract. “We are happy to support Thailand in finding secure and environmentally friendly solutions, as well as developing a sustainable post-utilisation strategy.” This included both risk management – incorporating ecological, economic and social aspects – and concrete measures, such as safeguarding and cleaning up contaminated areas or those at risk of landslides. The Research Institute of Post-Mining and the geotechnics experts from the THGA can support the Thai company with their expertise here. Alongside joint research and development projects, the collaboration is also to include basic and advanced training. In fact, EGAT is keen to send selected employees to the THGA to complete Masters degrees or dissertation projects.

Experience from the Ruhr region has shown that cultural factors also have an important part to play for the future-oriented handling of the post-mining age. “Maintaining an industrial culture and creatively filling it with life makes a big difference with regard to how people experience and accept processes of change,” explained Prof. Kretschmann. This is why the German Mining Museum (DBM) has also been included in the collaboration with EGAT. The THGA and the DBM are both financed by DMT-LB. (THGA, Si.)