AdaptInfra starts from the hypothesis that the adaptation of infrastructures to changing social conditions is a necessary prerequisite for securing the access to public services in rural and peripheral areas. Infrastructures are understood as socio-technical systems consisting of material, institutional, and actor dimensions.

Aim of the project:

Taking into account the specific characteristics of rural and peripheral areas, AdaptInfra has set itself the following objectives:

• describe and explain adaptation processes in infrastructure systems

• evaluate the adaptability of different infrastructures

• identify generalizable principles for the design of adaptive infrastructures

The conceptual framework is based on a socio-technical understanding of infrastructures and a system dynamics perspective on their adaptation. The project focuses on the specific challenges faced by the development and design of infrastructure in rural and peripheral areas. The focus is on infrastructures of public services, which are intended to ensure the constitutionally fixed appropriate participation of all individuals in social life, in the sense of establishing equal living conditions throughout Germany (cf. Article 72, Paragraph 2 of the German Constitution). The infrastructures that create prerequisites and provide the inputs for public services are as numerous as the goods and services required to fulfil basic human needs. In order to arrive at generalizable conclusions despite this diversity of infrastructures, AdaptInfra is investigating adaptation processes of various key public services infrastructures in seven subprojects based on an innovative and coherent collaborative concept. A synthesis project and the investigation of cross-cutting aspects provide a comprehensive perspective.

As a regional example, case studies in the reference region of Western Pomerania are compared with selected areas in Germany and the Baltic Sea region. The collaboration within AdaptInfra is based on disciplinary expertise in individual infrastructure systems, combined with extensive experience in interdisciplinary collaboration, and embedded in a supportive, environment at Greifswald University. AdaptInfra creates excellent conditions for 10 doctoral students to conduct groundbreaking interdisciplinary research on a socially relevant topic.