More than 120 participants from the region, Saxony and beyond gathered at the university in Görlitz on 25 November 2016 for the 10th November conference of the TRAWOS Institute for Transformation, Housing and Social Spatial Development, which was founded in 2004 in cooperation with the district of Görlitz and funded by the Saxon Demography Directive.

Together with speakers from Vienna, Berlin, Potsdam, Weißwasser, Erlau in Saxony and the Upper Lusatia region, development prospects for rural regions in the face of demographic, social and economic change processes were discussed.

This was based on the findings of two research projects led by Institute Director Prof. Dr. Raj Kollmorgen on the ambivalent qualities of rural areas in Upper Lusatia, their actors and their social practices. While the SMWK-funded project team used case studies to examine the development conditions and regional governance relationships of socially innovative projects and initiatives in the region, the research team funded by the Demography Directive specifically investigated the motives and opportunities for young, qualified women to stay in the district of Görlitz. The presentation of results in the morning was supplemented by the "view from the outside" of the initiator of the research focus for transformation processes in the economy and society at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and current President of the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Eckehard Binas.

In the intended intensive interweaving of science and practice, the participants discussed issues relating to (1) innovation conditions in rural regions and gender-specific approaches to dealing with demographic change; (2) necessary infrastructures to attract those who come and keep those who stay; (3) innovation potential of an ageing society in rural areas and (4) specific communication methods and network formation in rural areas with the guest speakers providing the impetus in the proven format of four parallel workshop discussions following the lunch break.

The reports on the results of the research projects and a summary documentation of the November conference are expected to be published on the Institute's website in mid-January.