USE IT OR LOSE IT. Sustainable and Creative Use of Industrial and Labour Heritage – Sites and Buildings

3-5 June 2026, Technical Museum of Slovenia, Ljubljana

In collaboration with Slovenian Museum Association, ICOMOS Slovenia and TICCIH Slovenia.

We invite proposals for the upcoming international conference “Use It or Lose It: Sustainable and Creative Use of Industrial and Labour Heritage – Sites and Buildings.”

The conference explores the urgent need to use, activate, and reimagine the built heritage of labour and industrial history in order to ensure its preservation for the future.

This conference will examine how use, documentation, awareness-raising, sustainable and creative engagement can become tools for safeguarding these physical and intangible traces of labour history.

Conference Themes

We welcome contributions from researchers, museum professionals, heritage specialists, architects, urban planners, and practitioners working with labour and industrial heritage. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

1. Built Heritage of Labour and Industrial History

Preservation, reuse, and interpretation of industrial sites, worker housing, factories, workshops, and labour-related public spaces.
The heritage of workers’ everyday lives — including working-class neighbourhoods in urban settings.
The impact of gentrification on working-class built environments and strategies to address it.

2. Museum and Heritage Practices Beyond Museum Walls

Creative museum activities in public space: city walks, labour history tours, industrial site tours, and community-based initiatives.
Outreach projects that highlight overlooked or endangered labour heritage.

3. “Heritagization” of Labour History

Processes of transforming labour-related sites, buildings, and landscapes into recognized heritage.
Intangible heritage linked to labour and urban space, such as May Day demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and other collective traditions.

4. Digital Documentation and Sustainability

Innovative uses of 3D scanning, 3D surveying, and digital data for documenting and preserving industrial and labour heritage.
Methodologies, technical challenges, and case studies demonstrating how digital tools support conservation and research.

5. Museums and Industrial Heritage Sites in Historic Buildings

Creative, sustainable, and visitor-oriented uses of historic industrial buildings as museum spaces.
Interpretive approaches that integrate the building itself into the visitor experience.

Submission Guidelines

• Deadline for abstract submission: 25 February 2026

• Notification of acceptance: 10 March 2026

• Abstracts must be written in English and should not exceed 300 words.

• Include a brief biography (up to 100 words).

• Submit your proposal to: worklabslovenia@gmail.com

If you encounter any problems or have further questions or concerns, please feel free to email the Programme Committee at: irena.marusic@tms.si

WORKLAB General Conference in collaboration with

Technical Museum of Slovenia, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenian Museum Association, ICOMOS Slovenia TICCIH Slovenia and Institute for Sustainable Heritage UL, and HEI-Transform project.