About the Symposium

Ein Poster zur Ankündigung des Symposiums Grounding Territorial Regeneration

In an era defined by intertwined biosphere crises, technological disruptions, territorial injustices, and epistemic crises, urbanism can no longer be framed as a question of density, typology, optimization, mitigation, or resilience alone. Grounding Territorial Regeneration positions territory not as a passive substrate for intervention, but as a living system, as multi-scalar assemblage of human and more-than-human relations, and metabolic processes.

The symposium departs from the premise that the Anthropocene paradigm – grounded in extraction, separation, and human exceptionalism – has reached its conceptual and operational limits. Where the Anthropocene is structured by control, and externalisation, we introduce the concept of the Symbiocene, that is grounded in mutual dependence, care, and shared metabolisms. For architecture and urbanism, this entails a fundamental reorientation: away from solution-driven, object-centred interventions toward situated, long-term, and accountable forms of spatial practice that actively participate in the regeneration of territorial living systems. It shifts the emphasis from dominance to co-evolution, from extraction to reciprocity, and from isolated objects to relational assemblages. Territories are understood not as reservoirs of resources or sites of intervention, but as living, more-than-human systems, constituted through entangled ecological, social, and technical relations.

Territorial regeneration is framed a transition process of re-synchronisation between human activities and planetary boundaries. Within the Symbiocene framework, architecture and urbanism are understood as critical and design-driven operative interfaces between metabolic systems, cultural practices, and political ecologies.

The symposium is organised by the Chair of Regenerative Urbanism, directed by Prof. Dr. Radostina Radulova-Stahmer and Ass.-Prof. Stefano Tornieri PhD. For more information contact regenerative-urbanism@jade-hs.de.

Keynotes

  • Milica Topalovic, ETH Zurich
  • Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin, Royal Danish Academy Kopenhagen
  • Rosalea Monacella, Harvard GSD Cambridge
  • Carlos Zarco, Openact Istanbul

Details

  • Symposium dates: 1. and 2. October 2026
  • Symposium location: Jade UAS in Oldenburg (Ofener Str. 15, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany)
  • Free admission
  • No registration required
  • Attendance possible in person in Oldenburg or online
  • The event will be held in English
  • A publication of the contributions by Birkhäuser is planned for late 2027.
  • Organiser: Chair of Regenerative Urbanism at Jade University of Applied Sciences
  • Academic leads: Prof. Dr. Radostina Radulova-Stahmer and Ass.-Prof. Dr. Stefano Tornieri

Programme

1. October 2026

8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Coffee and Check-in

9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Opening Impulse: Radostina Radulova Stahmer, Chair of Regenerative Urbanism; Jens-Peter Thiessen, Dean Faculty of Architecture. Introduction: Stefano Tornieri, Chair of Regenerative Urbanism.

Session 01 – Knowledge: Making Territories Legible

What Makes a Territory Legible as a Living System?
Chair: Agnes Müller, Jade UAS

9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Keynote: Rosalea Monacella, Harvard GSD

10:15 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 10:15 to 10:35 – D. K. Ruiz Alvarez, Technical University Ostwestfalen Lippe: Paisaje Sentido: Reframing Territorial Regeneration through Multisensory Care
  • 10:35 to 10:55 – C. Furlan, J. Fauster, E. Stecher, J. Furchtlehner, R. Tusch, BOKU University: The Territory as Renewable Resource? Systemic Brownfield Mapping and Regenerative Care in the Danube River Basin
  • 10:55 to 11:15 – J. Fauster, E. Schwab, E. Stecher, C. Furlan, BOKU University: Engaging Landscape Agency in the Critical Zone: Research by Design in Peri-Urban Territories

11:15 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.
Coffee Break

11:40 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 11:40 to 12:00 – A. Vialle, A. Goldinger, M. Zisman Zalis, Technische Universität Berlin: A Pedagogy for Soils: Mapping and Sections to Regenerate the Urban from the Ground Up

12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Paper Presenters in discussion with Rosalea Monacella, Julia Köpper, Hiltrud Peron, Janina Ebner, Lutz Robbers
Chair: Agnes Müller, Jade UAS

1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Lunch Break

Session 02 – Transition: Reconfiguring Territorial Transition

How Can Territorial Routines Shift from Extraction to Regeneration?
Chair: Ina Marie Kapitola, Jade UAS

2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Keynote: Carlos Zarco, Openact

3:15 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 3:15 to 3:35 – A. Judt, U. Schneider, TU Wien: Towards an Expanded Streetscape Concept: A Case Study of Thessaloniki, Greece
  • 3:35 to 3:55 – E. J. Vergara, University of Buenos Aires: Territorial Blindness and Extractivism by Omission: Material Metabolism and Institutional Responsibility in Latin American Urban Regeneration

3:55 p.m. to 4:10 p.m.
Coffee Break

4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 4:10 to 4:30 – R. Privitera, J. Ma, University of Catania, LTU Luleå University of Technology: A Social-Economic Investment Framework to Transform Cities into Assets for Carbon Storage and Sequestration
  • 4:30 to 4:50 – M. Modica, G. Fini, University of Udine: Territorial Regeneration as a Post-Growth Strategy in Intermediate Regions. The New Territorial Plan of Friuli Venezia Giulia as a Critical Case
  • 4:50 to 5:10 – Ye Ha Kim, Tina Cai, Oscar Leung: AI-Embedded Monitoring for Regenerative Territorial Care in Data Center Ecosystems

5:10 p.m. to 6:10 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Paper Presenters in discussion with Carlos Zarco, Andreas Kurths, Maximilian Theye, Volker Katthagen
Chair: Ina Marie Kapitola, Jade UAS

6:30 p.m.
Symposium Dinner at CORE

2. October 2026

Session 03 – Care: Sustaining Regeneration

How Can Care and Responsibility Sustain Regeneration Over Time?
Chair: Ines Lüder, HAWK Hildesheim

8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Coffee and Check-in

9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
Keynote: Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin, Royal Danish Academy, Kalundborg

9:45 a.m. to 10:25 a.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 9:45 to 10:05 – J. Möller, HafenCity University Hamburg: Enacting Regeneration Metabolically: Ecological Maintenance and its Material Afterlives
  • 10:05 to 10:25 – P. Treichl, Westminster Law & Theory Lab: Designing for Deep Time – Regenerative Longevity Through Multispecies Maintenance

10:25 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.
Coffee Break

10:40 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Paper Presentations

  • 10:40 to 11 – M. Jeschaunig, TU Graz University of Technology: Breathing Cities: Climate Culture as a Tool for Regenerative Urban Action

11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Paper Presenters in discussion with Taneha Kuzniecow Bacchin, Markus Krieger, Lena Flamm, Natacha Quintero González, Berit Jagels, Almut Wolff
Chair: Ines Lüder, HAWK Hildesheim

12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Lunch Break

1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
Keynote: Milica Topalović, ETH Zurich

2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Video Positions: Juliana Canedo, Benedetto D’Antoni, Ying-Lan Dann, Janina Ebner, Dario Felice, Berit Jagels, Luise Kempf, Andreas Kurths, Francesca Malleo, Benedetta Medas, Anna Minissale, Sofia Privitera, Natacha Quintero González, Geoff Robsinson, Amelie Rost, Sergio Sanna, Saskia Schut, Joseph Smithard, Maximilian Theye, Justine Walsh, Kathrin Wieck, Ben Wood

3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Closing Panel Discussion
Panelists: Milica Topalović, Taneha Bacchin, Rosalea Monacella, Radostina Radulova-Stahmer
Chair: Stefano Tornieri

3:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Conclusions and Outlook

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Urban Walk, City Centre of Oldenburg