Period
since 1999

Background
Saving 1,4 billion tons of material flows. The brown coal mining area around Cologne provides approximately 15% of the German electricity. Following the resource intense coal mining, 35,000 hectares of open pit mining area must be recultivated. A mining named "Inden II"? will be closed first. The question is whether this hole should be filled up with soil or  become a lake. Anyway, the idea of sustainability and resource productivity shall at least be included into the long-term planning process.

Target Group
Community of Inden, municipalities, district government of Cologne, RWE Power AG, farming representatives, church representatives, regional industrial development board.

Description
Inden to be filled would mean the transport of 1,4 billion tons of colliery wastes. The lake would be as large as 1,100 hectares, larger than e.g. the Tegernsee. The foundation points out the enormous social potential emerging from a sustainable landscape architecture. A moderated process, pursued by the foundation since 1999 and by the regional authorities since 2003, looks for concrete design elements of  a  "Water Landscape - Inden"?. Within the "Euregionale 2008"? the area is presented as "indeland"?.

Partners
Aachen Foundation (idea, initiative, moderation platform)
BKR (professional support and moderation)

Status
Foundation of a development company by the participating corporations. Implementation of individual project steps for the Euregionale 2008. The German version of the current project status can be downloaded.

Events
February 2007: "Zukunftslabor indeland" – Outlook on the Rhenish brown coal mining area beyond coal (cooperation with the Euregionale 2008 Agentur)
July 2007: Dialogue between external experts and regional actors