This research focuses on the territory of the Fossil Crescent, a bioregion extending from northern England to Silesia, characterized by vast coal deposits that fueled the Industrial Revolution, a historical starting point of the Anthropocene. By analogy with the Fertile Crescent, the cradle of agriculture and early urban civilizations, the Fossil Crescent refers to a region where massive coal extraction reshaped landscapes, social structures, and economic dynamics, establishing the foundation of a globalized intensive and extractive production model.

The study focuses specifically on the French-speaking cross-border region, which includes Wallonia and Nord-Pas-de-Calais—territories shaped by a significant industrial legacy and facing pressing transition imperatives. It also examines the role of aesthetics in these transformations, drawing on the reflections of philosopher Bernard Stiegler, who argued that the Industrial Revolution redefined the relationship between art and technique. Mechanization and mass production profoundly altered not only ways of life but also aesthetic practices, shifting them from singular craftsmanship to a logic of standardization and specialization. According to Stiegler, this process results in the dispossession of creative capacities for a large portion of individuals—capacities that, in his view, are a fundamental dimension of human existence, essential to psychological balance and adaptability.

From this perspective, the research aims to inform regional education while fostering associative dynamics rooted in local specificities. It operates on the hypothesis that such initiatives must break away from the traditional institutional frameworks of contemporary creation, such as the dominant exhibition model, to propose forms better suited to the socio-environmental realities of the territories in transition.