The exhibition “The Image of the Basin: A Changing Landscape” will showcase the specific aspects of the area’s transformation following mining
From March 25 to April 13, 2026, a traveling exhibition titled “Image of the Basin: A Landscape in Transition” will be on display in the lobby of the Center for Natural Sciences and Technical Studies (CPTO) building at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem. The exhibition, organized by the Regional Development Agency, a.s., presents the Most Basin—a strip of land beneath the Ore Mountains stretching between Ústí nad Labem and Kadaň—whose landscape has been fundamentally shaped by brown coal mining over many decades.
“The aim of the exhibition is to view this region as an interconnected space of significant cities and an intensively altered landscape, where natural, technical, and administrative contexts intertwine. Instead of an isolated view of individual topics, the exhibition presents the Most Basin as a whole, whose character is shaped by various layers of the territory—from mining areas and the remnants of mining, through energy and transportation networks, and a specific housing and settlement structure, to areas of high ecological value and significance for biodiversity,” explain the exhibition organizers from the Regional Development Agency (RRA).
The exhibition presents the results of the Initial Analysis prepared by the RRA team as part of the Transformation Center project. It focuses on the Podkrušnohorská Basin—the landscape stretching from Ústí nad Labem to Kadaň, which has been shaped primarily by mining activities for decades. It offers visitors a view of this landscape as an interconnected and dynamic whole, rather than merely as a collection of individual problems.
Through maps, data visualizations, and thematic layers, the exhibition illustrates how physical, administrative, and ecological factors together shape the character of the region. It focuses, among other things, on mineral deposit areas, former mines, energy infrastructure, as well as protected areas and biodiversity issues.
“We are pleased that the exhibition has found its home at UJEP. It helps open an important debate about the shape of our region and its future, both in the academic sphere and among the general public. We consider the sharing of these perspectives to be key,” explains PhDr. Jaroslav Zukerstein, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Science and Research at the Faculty of Science, UJEP.
The exhibition also opens a discussion about the region’s future and the possibilities for its further development following the decline of mining. It reflects current challenges associated with landscape transformation and the search for new land uses.
“The exhibition shows that what many perceive merely as scars left by mining is, in fact, a fascinating space with enormous potential for a new, sustainable future. It is here that we are learning how to bring the landscape back to life while meaningfully coexisting within it,” says Assoc. Prof. Pavel Krystyník, Vice Dean for External Relations at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, UJEP.
The exhibition will symbolically conclude with a lecture by its creators titled “Workshop on the Exhibition: Image of the Basin: A Landscape in Transition,” which will take place on April 13, 2026, at 2:00 PM at the CPTO premises on the UJEP Campus.
The exhibition is open to the public free of charge in the lobby of the CPTO building every weekday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Exhibition organizer: Regional Development Agency, a. s., 4th pillar of the Ústí Region Transformation Center project, as part of the Just Transition Plan supported by the European Union.