Gertjan Plets has published the article “Heritage statecraft: creating the state and instilling state ideas in the age of late capitalism” in the International Journal of Heritage Studies. This essay challenges conventional approaches to heritage politics by asserting that heritage is not merely a product of the state but a vital tool in shaping it.…
The PITCH project has published a groundbreaking special themed collection of articles in the International Journal of Heritage Studies on Carbon heritages. All articles are published in OpenAccess format so they are free to access. Individual papers in the themed section consider museological collections connected to extractive industries and petrocultures in Germany, South Korea and…
Colin Sterling, Jeff Diamanti, Harry Reddick, and Selçuk Balamir have published the article “Inheriting energy infrastructures: from deindustrialisation to decarbonisation” in International Journal of Heritage Studies. Around the world, sites associated with coal, oil and gas are being transformed into ‘renewable’ energy hubs or cultural ‘incubators’ for the so-called green transition. This article argues that…
Nélia Dias and Mounir Sabeh Affaki have published the article “From exhibiting minerals to narrating extraction: reflections from Lisbon’s National Museum of Science and Natural History” in the International Journal of Heritage Studies. This paper focuses on two mineral exhibitions currently held at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC) and aims to…
In summer 2025, UvA and E-WERK collaborated to turn Luckenwalde into a research laboratory and festival ground where students, artists, and citizens co-created new ways of seeing, narrating, and practising energy transition. There were two main interventions: This report documents the process of making these interventions and their impact.
Janna oud Ammerveld, Gertjan Plets, and Nikkie Wiegink have published a new article titled “Curating gasscapes after extraction: materiality, petromodernity and politics in the case of the Groningen natural gas field” in the International Journal of Heritage Studies. This article is part of their work on the heritage landscape of Groningen. This paper theorises an…
COP summits resemble the global equivalent of converging on the village square while the village is on fire: ineffective, procedural and frequently deadlocked, yet still one of the few places where movements, governments, corporations and institutions confront one another over how planetary futures are narrated and negotiated. Cultural institutions seize these moments eagerly. Some develop…
This is the working bicycle route for our research on the Groningen Energy Landscape. On this route, visitors engage with the Netherlands’ gas history, learn about petroculture, the impact of fossil fuels on societies, and the importance of an inclusive heritage practice. Artist impressions from the open call are also included to show that gasfields…
This policy brief responds to how petrocultures—cultural practices shaped by fossil fuel dependency—have historically influenced and continue to inform cultural heritage narratives. It highlights how heritage institutions have long normalized foregrounding industrial progress narratives while sidelining environmental justice and colonial legacies. Drawing on interdisciplinary evidence from energy humanities, heritage studies, and critical historical analyses, the brief…
Mounir Sabeh Affaki (ISCTE) has published the article “From extraction to engagement: Post-mining transition and science communication in Lousal, Portugal” in the journal The Extractive Industries and Society based on his PITCH work. The article is available to read Open Access. Former mining sites are increasingly tasked with mediating extractive pasts while engaging publics with contemporary…
