AdaptInfra Research Group’s public lecture series in the 2026/27 winter term

Rural regions are facing far-reaching changes. Demographic ageing and selective migration, digitalisation, climate change, shifting mobility patterns and increasing demands on the public sector are altering the framework within which essential public services are organised and delivered. Particularly in peripheral rural areas, this raises the question of how a reliable supply of essential goods and services can be guaranteed even under conditions of low population density, great geographical distances and limited resources.

Infrastructures for essential public services are more than just technical facilities or public services. They are central components of regional quality of life and social participation. Schools, medical facilities, transport services, digital networks, social services and local supply structures shape the opportunities available to people in different areas. At the same time, these infrastructures are themselves part of a dynamic system: they respond to social and economic changes, but also influence them, and can thereby either reinforce or mitigate regional development processes.

The lecture series ‘Infrastructures for liveable rural regions: understanding, preserving, shaping’ explores this area of tension from various academic perspectives. It is being held as part of the DFG Research Group ‘Adaptation processes of public service infrastructures in peripheral rural areas (AdaptInfra)’. The focus is on the question of how infrastructure adapts to changing conditions – and what opportunities exist to actively shape these adaptation processes.

The lecture series is funded by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, Essen, and the German Research Foundation (DFG), Bonn.

Please note, this lecture series will only be held in german.