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Thinking like a slag heap: Environmental mobilization and planning around the (post)extractivist territory of the Martinet in Charleroi

par Grulois, Geoffrey ;Moritz, Benoît ;Declève, Marine
Référence Journal of delta urbanism, 6
Publication A Paraître, 2026-03-15

Article révisé par les pairs

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Résumé :

This study investigates the socio-environmental transformation of the Martinet (Le Martinet) site in Charleroi, Belgium, located at the center of the “fossil crescent.” Once part of a dense network of collieries in the Caroloregian agglomeration, the site became a locus of environmental mobilization against extractivism from the 1970s. Drawing on archival research and collective fieldwork with local actors, as well as multiscalar mapping using GIS, the research examines how post-mining landscapes embody tensions between extractivist logics, social struggles against industrial pollution, and emerging practices of ecological reparation. The results show how local actors—residents and environmentalists—collectively redefined the meaning of ecological restoration and fostered a relational form of care toward more-than-human and territories.From an epistemological and ontological perspective, the Martinet case highlights an emerging conception of ecological reparation and relational ontology grounded in post-mining territories. It also demonstrates how grassroots environmental mobilization can influence institutional planning and policy over time. Unlike many Walloon slag heaps redeveloped as industrial heritage and museums or leveled to make space for economic activities, the Martinet illustrates how environmental activism, ecological reparation, and planning can shape an alternative future of post-mining territories.