Workshop Theme

Multi-layered socio-ecological crises and increasing geopolitical instability are not only putting established societal values and development paths into question. They require profound societal and spatial transformations and thus call for innovative, potentially unconventional approaches to spatial planning. In times of crisis, however, unconventional practices, perspectives or lifestyles are often sidelined or even marginalized – they are pushed to the fringe.
Entitled “Spatial planning at the fringes”, the AESOP PhD Workshop 2026 aims to place these fringes at the centre of spatial planning debate. This encompasses the very spatial as well as metaphorical fringes – from marginalized areas to socio-ecological limits, from innovative niches to uncharted methodologies and practices in planning research and praxis.