u-pasts.com

Past-proofing Infrastructure Futures is a Berlin-based research project examining how historical knowledge can inform more sustainable and just transformations of urban infrastructure. Focusing on energy and water systems, it challenges the tendency to treat history either as an obstacle to change or as a selective tool for supporting particular agendas. Instead, the project presents the past as a practical resource for understanding present challenges and shaping future decisions through context, comparison, critique and inspiration.

The project emphasizes that histories should be inclusively co-produced, responsibly curated and creatively discussed. Its work includes research resources, multimedia, publications, workshops and public events that share findings and encourage engagement with the meanings and methods of using history in infrastructure planning. An upcoming event, “Usable pasts for infrastructure futures: meanings, methods, manifestations,” presents findings and experiences from the DFG-funded research project “Past-proofing Infrastructure Futures: Usable Histories of Urban Technology Today.” Based in Berlin, the initiative connects historical research with contemporary debates about urban technology and the future of essential energy and water services.