Desert or garden? Energy sacrifice zones, territorial affordances and competing visions for post-coal landscapes: The case of the Czechoslovak Army Mine

Abstract

The transition away from coal has often been discussed in abstract and disembodied terms. This paper aims to show how the post coal-mining transition is a territorially embedded process that is contested by local actors. We use the case of the Czechoslovak Army Mine in the northwestern part of the Czech Republic to problematize the role of local history (as an energy sacrifice zone) and of the features of territory (landscape, water and energy) in the post-coal transition. The argument is that this transition is shaped by specific territorial affordances, by the expectations that local actors invest in these affordances and by the changes induced from outside. All of these interact and create problematic outcomes at the local level. We flesh out these arguments using fifteen interviews and documentary material related to the CSA mine, all collected and analysed in 2023 and 2024. The findings are structured by the main development phases of the CSA mine, first as an energy sacrifice zone and second in relation to the current conflicting post-mining plans. These include post-mining lake(s), the liveability and usability of the post-mining space and the question of energy production futures. Across all these disputed plans we highlight the positions of local stakeholders and their calls for socio-economic and environmental justice.