Just to the south-east of Berlin, at the end of S-Bahn line 3 is Erkner, a 12.000 soul town in the state of Brandenburg known for its industrial heritage, its beautiful lakes – and an internationally renowned social science research institution it houses: The Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS). Formerly dedicated to spatial planning and reginal development, IRS now researches dynamics of social change past and present, from climate and energy policies to innovation and digitalization, from migration and urban regeneration to the history of planning. In our podcast Society@Space, both IRS researchers and guests of IRS talk about their passion for questions that matter, their inspirations and experiences, their engagement with practical societal problems and their thoughts on what it means to be a social scientist today. Everyone who is curious about the avenues modern societies are taking and how researchers grapple with the changes and challenges we face – intellectually, emotionally, personally – will find this fascinating to listen to. Episode languages shift between German and English. https://leibniz-irs.de/
https://leibniz-irs.de/
episode 5: Living Border
Vivien Sommer of IRS (now TU Berlin) and Łukasz Rogowski of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań from Poznan work together on a joint research project which traces the changes in everyday life along the border between Poland and the German state of Brandenburg since the border was first opened in 2007. They lived temporarily in towns and villages along the river, took walks with the locals and collected observations, pictures, and video diaries of residents. In this episode they talk about their insights and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the border region.
Kapitelmarken
00:02:00 Let’s talk about borders (and why social scientists are interested in them) 00:08:19 What is special about the German-Polish border? 00:12:07 The De-Re-Bord project: Understanding life “in between” 00:20:36 Villages and towns along the Oder river: Not quite as connected as you’d think 00:28:47 Smartphones and videos 00:35:43 Cross-border integration: surprisingly fragile 00:39:34 Coronavirus and the border: How much influence do locals have in times of crisis? 00:50:14 Environmental border relations will be a key matter in the future
Shownotes
The De-Re-Bord research project
Dr. Vivien Sommer, TU Berlin
Dr. Łukasz Rogowski, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań