Outlooks in South Brandenburg
The affected regions face major challenges with the phased phase-out of lignite mining and power generation. However, the transformation also offers many opportunities to develop new structures.
The federal government’s Structural Strengthening Act lays the groundwork for this and provides support through two funding streams. Under Stream 1, the state has access to financial assistance totalling 3.6 billion euros. The structural development company ‘Wirtschaftsregion Lausitz GmbH’, with broad majority ownership, facilitates transformation projects, for example in the areas of digitalisation, innovation, economic development and securing a skilled workforce. This is leading to the creation of state-of-the-art centres for career guidance, training and further education – for example, for companies in the energy, chemical, metal and electrical engineering sectors, as well as the water management sector – in order to provide future prospects not only for young people but also for workers affected by the transformation. Under Strand 2, the federal government is developing its own projects. More than 6.7 billion euros have been earmarked for the Lusatia region in southern Brandenburg. Infrastructure projects such as improved rail links to the metropolitan regions of Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden, as well as Wrocław, Poznań and Prague, and the new ICE railway depot, the Lusatia Science Park and the Innovation Centre at Cottbus University Medical Centre will be established.
www.lausitz-brandenburg.de
Lausitz Structural Change Workshop Process – YouTube
Districts, local authorities, businesses and civil society are working on numerous flagship projects to facilitate the transformation in South Brandenburg.
You can find out about current projects on a regular basis via the ‘Map – Lusatia Economic Region’ section (wirtschaftsregion-lausitz.de).
The projects range from the science and technology park, which is to be built under the name ‘Lausitz Science Park’ (LSP) in the immediate vicinity of the BTU, to the Lausitz Health Education Centre. Numerous skilled workers are being sought for these projects in southern Brandenburg. Two of the first research institutes set to move into their test centres at the ‘Lausitz Science Park’ are already based in Cottbus: the DLR Institute of Electrified Aviation Propulsion and the DLR Institute for Low-Carbon Industrial Processes. The DLR institutes not only offer excellent working conditions for interested researchers; as attractive employers, they have also successfully undergone the federal ‘berufundfamilie’ audit.
Cottbus – DLR Portal
Institute of Electrified Aviation Propulsion – Home (dlr.de)
Institute of Low-CO₂ Industrial Processes – Home (dlr.de)
By 2026, an interdisciplinary Lausitz Health Training Centre is to be established as part of the ‘Model Region for Health’ currently under development. The centre will provide initial and further training for medical and nursing professions, as well as hygiene specialists.
Bildungszentrum-Gesundheit-Lausitz_akt.pdf (wirtschaftsregion-lausitz.de)
News – Lausitz Economic Region (wirtschaftsregion-lausitz.de)