Lignite museum and cultural center

Faced with the universal impasse of the climate crisis, “I will either find a way or make one,” as the Carthaginian general Hannibal put it, trying to cross the Alps. There is no other way to survive the unpredictable behavior of the climate. The hardest but most effective part of the solution is eliminating carbon offsets. In Greece, the areas economically dependent on lignite and already facing economic downturns are directly affected by the consequences of the long-term reduction of its use for electricity generation.

Taking advantage of the favorable situation at EU level, the government, with a combination of radical energy transformation and development planning, secured strong funds, as well as all the necessary conditions to compensate for the consequences and regenerate these areas through their productive diversification. There is no other way to achieve a just transition, the core of which is the citizen who wants a new beginning for a better life.

At the heart of the goal must be culture, focusing on the coal industry landscape to which we owe our economic development. The monumental landmark of a steam power station – an important part of the lives of residents and employees of PPC – can be transformed into a multifaceted development magnet and model of economic revitalization: an international cultural center and a museum of industrial heritage, interconnected with the future of the region, through the ongoing present of the transition process.

The museum will operate with modern museum-teaching and interactive means without focusing only on the history of lignite mining and burning, ie the lignite past, but on the transition process itself, ie the gradual improvement of the landscape and socio-economic conditions. The cultural center, in addition to events such as conferences and exhibitions, e.g. industrial archeology, energy technologies, etc., will host art festivals, will house technology workshops, archives and libraries, and even a department store of useful industrial products, perhaps a luxury hotel such as Silo Cape Town. At the same time, it will organize activities related to landmarks and elements that constitute the other side of the area’s identity, such as archeological sites, religious monuments, traditional settlements, lakes, forests, wildlife, wineries, crocus, fur, etc. This exceptional mix of history, environment and culture will push the tourism multiplier above the current meager levels. An important element of this proposal is the participation of the citizen and the local entrepreneur in the production of the necessary products and services.

The dipole museum-center can be developed and can succeed only under a self-financed body, capable of collaborating in models of concession of the construction, exploitation and operation of the necessary infrastructure, such as those implemented in the thematic museums of the Cultural Foundation of the former ETVA.

By giving new functions to a lost chapter of industrial history, we preserve the signs of history and evolution, and create from them added value for citizens.

Kostis Mousouroulis is the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Just Transition Development Plan (NJTDP)