As siting processes for large-scale infrastructures move further along the timeline, the relevance of potential siting regions increases as it becomes clearer where they could be located. As potential locations for large-scale infrastructures, regions consequently take on a central role in the process. This session thus explores the nexus of regions and the siting of large-scale infrastructures such as final repositories for nuclear waste, power plants, dams, and other examples.

We invite contributions from the social sciences, humanities and related fields on this topic. Contributions that do not only address the siting of nuclear waste but that take a broader view and/or address comparable siting processes are explicitly welcomed. They can tackle the following four broad themes but are not limited to them:

• Regional Development: Large-scale infrastructures often bring economic benefits to regions, but at the same time also impose burdens like pollution, noise, and environmental changes. National governments and private corporations alike often attempt to address such issues through compensations with the goal of regional development. How can sustainable and successful regional development be achieved? What is the long-term impact of such interventions? How can ‘development’ be conceptualized and how could this differ between regions?

• Regional Discourses and Attitudes: Siting processes may prove controversial on the regional level. Diverging local interests can culminate around the topic. Understanding regional discourses and attitudes is thus essential for the overall siting process. This raises questions on how different regional actors perceive and evaluate issues, what might influence them but also how the regional, national, and even international level interact.

• Regional Participation: Siting decisions in democracies are nowadays almost always accompanied by formal and informal regional participation. The prospect of large-scale infrastructures close to one’s home presents a particularly pressing issue for many citizens and other local stakeholders. Here, participation can take on many forms, where major and minor design decisions sometimes greatly influence the results of deliberative and consultative procedures. This can for instance include the choice of instrument (mini-publics, “Planzellen”, conferences…), decision making power, eligibility, or agenda-setting. At the same time, involving marginalized groups remains a challenge.

• Relevance of Time: Large-scale siting processes such as the search for a final repository for nuclear waste often cover large timeframes. This comes with several challenges: How can participation be fostered and sustained over several decades? What is the role of changing regional identities, socio-economic factors, and perception of time scales?