Energy Solutions and Critical Minerals i

Western Macedonia is Greece’s historic lignite-mining and coal-power heartland, and is now undergoing one of Europe’s most consequential regional energy transitions — from coal-fired electricity generation toward renewable energy, storage, and a diversified regional economy. This field-based travel course immerses students directly in that transition through introductory lectures, site visits and stakeholder engagement in the city of Kozani, in academic partnership with the University of Western Macedonia (UoWM). Students explore the diversification of energy resources, renewable energy deployment, critical mineral recovery, and advanced manufacturing and the associated labor and community impacts in the region. The course is deliberately interdisciplinary, pairing technical and engineering analysis with policy, governance, and regional-development perspectives.