[POSTPONED to 2021] Second symposium about the history of coal, this year focused on the energetic transition paradigms and climate change. Call for papers until 30 April.

 

Memories of Coal — 2nd Symposium

 

 

Six years after the first “Memories of Coal” Symposium, held in Batalha and Porto de Mós, where the issue of preservation and valorization of the mining and industrial heritage of coal was discussed, it is time for a new look at the subject, now in a framework where the paradigms of energy transition and climate change emerge sharply.

The place:

Rio Maior was, during part of the twentieth century, home to an important underground coal exploration (lignite) that supplied, among other industrial customers, the Cachofarra (Setúbal) and Central Tejo (Lisbon) power plants operated by the former UEP and CRGE private companies. Although the technological properties of this coal imposed some limitations on its use, the known reserves have even pointed to the possibility of building a mine mouth power plant, a project that was abandoned in favour of other options. Still imposing, although stripped of all their equipment, the most important buildings of the mining complex, where coal was processed, constitute aremarkable piece of industrial architecture of the Modern Movement.

An anniversary

Based on a wealth of knowledge about the importance of the Rio Maior lignite deposit acquired over the course of some years of reconnaissance and exploration work, and gathering the necessary capital, the Empresa Industrial Carbonífera e Electrotécnica, Lda. (EICEL) was constituted on September 15, 1920, in a notary office at Oporto. The main objectives of the company were the industrial and commercial exploitation of local coal mines, the commercial and industrial use of lignite and its derivatives and the production of electricity in thermal power plants. With an initial share capital of 450,000 $ 00, EICEL aimed to make Rio Maior, in a not too distant future, “a large and prosperous city”. It closed in 1969, abandoning mining activities.

New challenges

As the main source of primary energy that it was, and still is in various regions of the world, coal is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, the mobilization of the Society in international conventions, such as Paris Agreement (2015), to encourage the elimination of its use, establishes a simultaneously ambitious and difficult goal.
Just as new terms and concepts move from lexicon to practice and implementation – read carbon sequestration and decarbonization – new elements and material testimonies are being added, a whole heritage linked to the extraction, transformation and uses of coal among which the mineral-industrial complexes and the power plants stand out as pertinent subjects of the economic, industrial and environmental agendas.

The symposium

It is intended to create an informal environment that facilitates an intense exchange of knowledge and experiences between guests and participants, in an international involvement compatible with the universal nature of the two (apparently antagonistic) anchors of the symposium: environment and decarbonization, and coal and industrial memories.

 

Call for papers

 

The Scientific and Organising Committees encourage the participants of the Conference to present papers in the following thematic areas:

– The decarbonization paradigm
– Coal Uses and the Paris Agreement
– Coal Industry Environmental Impacts: Passive and Remediation
– New uses of coal mines; carbon sequestration
– Sustainable mining
– Coal as a primary energy source
– Coal Heritage (state of the art and problems)
– Recovery and enhancement of coal mining and industrial heritage
– Mining and geological heritage of bituminous rocks
– Museum Experiences and geomining tourism
– Coal in transportation, electricity, the chemical industry
– Work organization and workers movements
– Health, culture and leisure in the coal mining communities
– Coal in popular literature and / or traditions

 

Calendar

Proposals and registrations until 30 April (after 30 April, 20% will be added to the registration fee)
Communication of results until 31 May
Delivery of texts for peer-review until 31 October
Reviewers’ assessment until 31 December
Edition of approved texts: 2021

Regulations (abstracts and posters)

A. Papers (15min max.). To be gathered in sessions followed by Q&A
B. Poster presentation (90 cm x 120 cm – portrait/vertical orientation)

Languages admitted: Portuguese, Spanish, English and French

🔗 Proposal form

 

Registration

Registration guarantees the documentation of the Meeting, participation in all scientific and social acts of the event, as well as lunch on the day of the presentations.

Fees

Unitil 31 May: General 50,00€ / Students and unemployed 5,00€
After 31 May: General 65,00€ / Students and unemployed 10,00€

A social dinner is scheduled for Friday, the 18th, with optional registration. Price, menu and place will be announced in due course.

🔗 Registration form

Payment

Payments should be made​​ by bank transfer to the account of the EICEL 1920- ASSOC. DEF. PATRIMONIO MINEIRO, IND. ARQ.
Bank: Crédito Agrícola
IBAN: PT50004554424026727575918
BIC/SWIFT: CCCMPTPL

Proof of transfer, as well as the necessary proof in the case of reduced fees should be sent by e-mail: memoriasdocarvao@gmail.com.

 

 

Organising committee

Maria Fernanda Rollo (Instituto de História Contemporânea, NOVA FCSH)
José M. Brandão (Instituto de História Contemporânea, NOVA FCSH)
Filipe Silva (Instituto de História Contemporânea, NOVA FCSH)
Nuno Rocha (EICEL 1920)
António Moreira (EICEL 1920)
Francisco Colaço (Câmara Municipal de Rio Maior)
Antonio Pizarro Losilla (SEDPGYM)
Mariano Ayarzagüena Sanz (SEDPGYM)

 

Scientific committee

Ana Carina Azevedo (Instituto de História Contemporânea, NOVA FCSH)
Emilio Lopez Jimeno (UIXAM CONSULTORES S.L. / SEDPGYM)
Fernando Pedrazuela Gonzalez (Diputación Provincial de Segovia / SEDPGYM)
Jorge Fernandes Alves (Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto)
Helena Freitas (Centro de Ecologia Funcional, Universidade de Coimbra)
José Manuel Cordeiro (ICS, Universidade do Minho / APPI / TICCIH)
Josep Maria Mata-Perelló (Geoparc de la Catalunya Central)
Leonor Medeiros (NOVA FCSH / APAI)
Luis Mansilla Plaza (Universidad de Castilla la Mancha / SEDPGYM)
Manuel João Lemos de Sousa (Universidade Fernando Pessoa)
Margarida Genera i Monells (Dep. de Cultura i Mitjans de Comunicació de la Generalitat de Catalunya)
Maria de Fátima Nunes (Instituto de História Contemporânea, Universidade de Évora)
Maria Fernanda Rollo (Instituto de História Contemporânea, NOVA FCSH)
Maria Margaret Lopes (Universidade Estadual de Campinas)
Robert Vernon (Northern Mine Research Society)

 

Partners

APAI – Associação Portuguesa de Arqueologia Industrial
APOM – Associação Portuguesa de Museologia
APPI – Associação Portuguesa para o Património Industrial
Associação Portuguesa de Geólogos
Colégio Nacional de Engenharia geológica e de Minas da Ordem dos Engenheiros
Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Técnicos y Grados en Minas y Energía de Córdoba
Fundación Cuenca del Guadiato
Liga de Amigos do Museu Mineiro de S. Pedro da Cova
Museu Mineiro de S. Pedro da Cova

 

Preliminary programme

Thursday, 17 September

Reception
Opening ceremony
Conference: Carbon sequestration – experiences and perspectives
Poster Presentation
Round table: on the path of decarbonization
Communications by thematic section
Inauguration of the 1st exhibition center of the Rio Maior Mining Museum

Friday, 18 September

Poster Presentation
Conference: coal mining heritage and museums
Communication by thematic section
Closing ceremony
Farewell dinner (not included in the registration fee)

Saturday, 19 September

Field visits: Rio Maior salt marches and Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park