Spatial planning at the fringes
AESOP PhD Workshop 2026, 22-25 September @ Drosendorf, Austria
Call for applications: 07 January – 13 February 2026
Notification of acceptance: 01 April 2026
Registration (early-bird): 01 – 30 April 2026
Registration (regular): 01 – 31 May 2026
Multi-layered socio-ecological crises and increasing geopolitical instability are not only putting established societal values and development paths into question. They require profound societal and spatial transformations and thus call for innovative, potentially unconventional approaches to spatial planning. In times of crisis, however, unconventional practices, perspectives or lifestyles are often sidelined or even marginalized – they are pushed to the fringe. Entitled “Spatial planning at the fringes”, the AESOP PhD Workshop 2026 aims to place these fringes at the centre of spatial planning debate. This encompasses the very spatial as well as metaphorical fringes – from marginalized areas to socio-ecological limits, from innovative niches to uncharted methodologies and practices in planning research and praxis.
Workshop location: Drosendorf castle
The municipality of Drosendorf will be the PhD workshop’s homebase. It is located in the picturesque rural region of Waldviertel, northwest of Vienna. Drosendorf is a historically significant place: Once a vacation destination for the summer retreat of the imperial court and aristocratic elites, its role turned into a negligible border town at the Iron Curtain. With European integration and the foundation of the Thayatal national park, the whole border region has recently turned into a tourism destination again, reviving the area’s built and cultural heritage. Yet, the rural border region is only located at the edge of the catchment areas of the two agglomerations Wien and Brno. Its role and development perspective thus constitute somewhat uncharted terrain – a perfect location for reflecting “Spatial planning at the fringes”.
We will be located in Drosendorf Castle. The baroque castle was built in its current form in the 17th century and was gently renovated in 2021, making it accessible to guests as a hotel and seminar location. Today, Schloss Drosendorf is a hotel and location of the “landuni” project, a cooperation between TU Wien and the province of Lower Austria to foster exchange between the university and the municipality to revive the region with constant teaching, research and scholarly events at the intersection of planning research and regional development “on site”.
The program foresees a day trip to neighboring Znojmo, where Loucký klášter, a former Premonstratensian monastery south of Znojmo, will serve as workshop location for one day. The day-trip is completely organized by the PhD Workshop organizers in advance and is included in the overall costs of the AESOP PhD Workshop.
Preliminary travel information
The location offers ideal conditions for working in a peaceful atmosphere. With a total of 21 rooms and 60 beds, multiple seminar rooms, various indoor and outdoor work areas and a kitchenette, Drosendorf Castle has all necessary facilities to host the Workshop. There are also several catering facilities, a café and a restaurant in walking distance.
Drosendorf can be reached by public transport in 2,5h from Vienna Central Station and 3h from Vienna Airport. During the week there are 9 connections per day from Vienna Central Station and 6 connections per day from Vienna Airport. However, the LoC will organize bus transfers between Vienna Main Train Station and Drosendorf Castle on Monday, 21 September, in the afternoon and on Tuesday, 22 September, in the morning (depending on the actual composition and needs of the workshop participants).
