UN Director Dr Thummarukudy visits THGA: 1st International Symposium on the “Restoration of Mining Regions” planned
On 27 September, Dr Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative | UNCCD and Dennis Pulimittathu, Senior Associate, visited the THGA. At the invitation of Julia Haske from the Research Centre for Post-Mining (FZN), both spent a whole day on campus and at the German Mining Museum. The focus of the visit was on planning the first international symposium on the ‘Renaturation of Mining Regions’, which the Research Centre for Post-Mining (FZN) is organising in September 2025 and which is funded by the G20 Global Land Initiative|UNCCD.
How can former mining regions be sustainably revitalised? What innovative solutions exist to make degraded land usable again? These and many other questions were at the heart of last Friday's visit by Dr Muralee Thummarukudy, Director of the G20 Global Land Initiative | United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to the Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola (THGA).
“The findings of the Research Centre on the restoration of former mining regions are an excellent knowledge base with worldwide relevance. The THGA can enrich the global discussion on ecosystem restoration with numerous scientific insights,” emphasised Dr Thummarukudy.
The UN Director and his Senior Associate, Dennis Pulimittathu, visited on the invitation of Julia Haske from the Research Centre for Post-Mining (FZN) for a day-long exchange with scientists from the university and the German Mining Museum. Prof. Susanne Lengyel, President of the THGA, warmly welcomed the UN Director. Julia Haske’s team discussed the organisation of the international exchange and explored further potential points of collaboration for the future.
Symposium at the THGA in 2025
On 8 and 9 September 2025, the university, through its unique Research Centre for Post-Mining, will host an international symposium, funded by the G20 Global Land Initiative. The event will focus on topics such as land use, post-mining, and landscape restoration, with a particular emphasis on the “EU Nature Restoration Law.” This EU regulation, which came into effect on 18 August 2024, aims to continuously and sustainably regenerate land and marine ecosystems within the EU. It also promotes more sustainable economic development, agricultural production, and the expansion of renewable energies.
Expertise utilised
The THGA sees itself, along with the FZN, as a key partner of the G20 and the United Nations in tackling global land and environmental protection challenges. With its expertise in post-mining rehabilitation and geotechnical safety techniques, the THGA in Bochum is making a significant contribution to achieving the goals of the G20 Land Initiative, which aims to reduce the world's degraded land by 50 per cent by 2040. The university’s research drives innovative solutions to make degraded land usable again, protect habitats, and establish eco-system-based approaches in a sustainable manner.
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Julia Haske, M.A.,
Leitung Reaktivierung & Transition (Head of Land use & Transition)
Forschungszentrum Nachbergbau (Research Center of Post-Mining)
Telefon: +49 (234) 968 4147, Julia.Haske@thga.de
Kathrin Stenzel, Leitung Hochschulmarketing und Kommunikation der THGA,
Telefon +49 234 968 3360, +49 1511 200 63 87, kathrin.stenzel@thga.de
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