The “Between Contradictions, Possibilities, and Utopias” culture and arts project examines the process of phasing out coal and transitioning to renewable energy in Soma—which became the hub of academic efforts following the 2014 mining disaster—through the lens of “environmental justice,” while It also discusses the impact of renewable energy plants opened in Bergama and Ayvalık—located near Soma—on the local community, using a transdisciplinary approach centered on the concept of “dispossession.”

 

Neoliberal policies drove the initial transition of rural residents from agriculture to coal mining, facilitating the industry’s growth with little regard for social and environmental impacts. The second transformation, however, points to a looming possibility: the closure of local coal-fired power plants and the signal that mining will decline if Turkey adopts coal phase-out policies. However, for local communities dependent on coal, this situation raises an existential question: What will happen to them if the coal phase-out takes place? Mitigating such a transition requires effective and participatory strategies tailored to the region that emphasize environmental and social justice. However, it remains to be seen to what extent a just transition will take place in Soma—a microcosm of the global challenges faced in the shift from coal to renewable energy due to climate change concerns.

 

Izmir, located very close to the region and affected by the air pollution from the Soma Thermal Power Plant in Manisa, Bergama, and Ayvalık in Balıkesir, where the number of solar power plants (SPPs) and wind power plants (WPPs) is increasing unchecked, are seeing farmers’ fields and pastures—where they practice agriculture and livestock farming—being taken away from them. This situation points to the risk that efforts to combat climate change may deepen environmental injustices and makes it imperative to discuss the possibilities of an energy transition that centers environmental justice.

 

Set in the geographical region of Soma, Bergama, and Ayvalık—where the process of phasing out coal and transitioning to renewable energy are spatially intertwined, yet the contradictions created by this transition remain invisible—the project uses panels and discussions to bring academic knowledge about the region to the local level; the project’s exhibitions explore the possibility of an alternative path amidst these contradictions, examining academic and activist debates through the lens of art. Adopting a participatory approach that expands through art workshops, film screenings, public space and site-specific exhibitions, and workshops with children and youth in the region, the project operates in a field where artistic and cultural practices intersect with social activism.

 

Through panels and discussions involving academia and local communities, the project aims to create a platform for debate and dialogue and to bring together local stakeholders. Through cultural and artistic activities, it seeks to explore the topic from different perspectives.

 

The project, which begins in November 2025, will take place in Soma, Bergama, and Ayvalık through the end of July.