David Bole is a geographer who earned his PhD in 2008 at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. As a Principal Research Associate at the Anton Melik Geographical Institute (ZRC SAZU), he explores the interplay between urban development and economic change, with a particular focus on the transformation of smaller industrial towns, industrial heritage, and the role of culture and creativity in development. His work emphasizes human and collective agency, participatory approaches, and linking research with practice. In recent years, he has led and co-developed international projects on the futures of industrial places and regional transformations. He is a member of the Institute’s and ZRC SAZU’s Scientific Councils and a lecturer at the ZRC Postgraduate School.
David Bole is a geographer and Principal Research Associate at the Anton Melik Geographical Institute, ZRC SAZU. He works at the intersection of urban and economic geography, examining how cities and rural areas undergo economic restructuring, the role of creativity and culture in development, and how small industrial towns deal with heritage and pursue a just transition after industrial closures. His research foregrounds questions of human and collective agency, the (re)interpretation of industrial identity, and linking research with participatory planning.
Among his key achievements are publications in leading journals on industrial culture, agency and development pathways in (post-)industrial towns, as well as the editing of monographs on participatory research and planning and on Velenje as a city in transformation. He led a project on the origins, characteristics and futures of industrial small towns in Slovenia and Hungary, and has coordinated major international research collaborations, including the JPI Urban Europe project “Bright Future for Black Towns” and a WEAVE project on the socio-economic transformation of industrial towns in Switzerland and Slovenia.
His ongoing goal is to develop comparative approaches for understanding new development pathways in industrial regions, especially through the lens of culture, mobility and social innovation.
Selected presentations and lectures
- INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AS AN IDEATIONAL RESOURCE: Contesting and Legitimizing Post-Industrial Futures. Lecture at a Global Conference on Economic Geography, Worchester, ZDA, June 2025.
- Navigating Smallness: Agency & Multiscalarity in the Transformation of Industrial Towns in Slovenia and Switzerland. Lecture at a Regional Studies Association CEE conference, Dubrovnik, September 2024.
- Leveraging the past for the future: industrial culture and its impact on development. Lecture at the Regional Studies Association Annual Conference, Ljubljana, June 2023.
- The Role of Sociocultural Assets in the Revival of Industrial Towns. Lecture at the 6th Global Conference on Economic Geography, Dublin, Ireland, June 2022.
- The resilient small industrial town in Europe. Lecture at the EUGEO conference 2021, online event from Prague, Czechia, july 2021.
- Industrial culture as an agent of social innovations in industrial towns. Case study of Velenje, Slovenia. Lecture at the 5th Geography of Innovation (GEOINNO) conference in Stavanger, Norway, january 2020.
- The European Industrial Town: Understanding (post)industrial transitions through local narratives. Lecture at the EURA-UAA »City Futures IV« conference in Dublin, Ireland (June 2019).
- Assessing and planning the human settlement system in Slovenia: a preliminary report. Lecture at the Annual Conference of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) in Graz, Austria, April 2016
- Geography of daily mobility in post-socialist European countries: evidence from Slovenia. Association of American Geographers in Chicago, USA, April 2015
- Emerging transport land use changes in post-socialist urban environment: example of Slovenia. Lecture at IV. EUGEO congress 2013, Rome, Italy.
- SY_CULTour: synergy of culture and tourism. Invited lecture at the international conference Cultural values and tourism development in rural areas 2013, Heraklion, Greece.
- Studying daily commuting network in Slovenia : one country, one metropolis? Lecture at the Cities without limits 2011 Conference, Kobenhavn, Denmark.
- Goluža, M., Bole, D. (2025). From nostalgia to disdain: the contested role of industrial heritage narratives in legitimising post-industrial urban transformation. Urban Research & Practice.
- Mayer, H., Bole, D., Morisson, A., Cima, O., Goluža, M., & Kozina, J. (2025). Going beyond city size: agency and multiscalarity in the transformation of industrial towns in Slovenia and Switzerland. Regional Studies.
- Bole, D., Goluža, M. & Kozina, J, (2024). Linking industrial culture and human agency in three (post)industrial towns: Collective and individual agency shaping development paths, Geoforum, 150, 103993.
- Bole, D., Senčar Mrdaković, M., & Tiran, J. (2023). From a mining town to a town of industrial multinationals: Explaining transformation through human agency and mining assets. The Extractive Industries and Society, 14, 101243.
- Bole, D., Kumer, P., Gašperič, P., Kozina, J., Pipan, P., & Tiran, J. (2022). Clash of Two Identities: What Happens to Industrial Identity in a Post-Industrial Society? Societies, 12(2), 49.
- Tiran, J., Bole, D. & Kozina, J. (2022) Industrial culture as an agent of social innovation: reflections from Velenje, Slovenia. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.
- Bole, D. (2021). 'What is industrial culture anyway?' Theoretical framing of the concept in economic geography. Geography compass, 15 (11), 16.
- Kozina, J., Bole, D., Tiran, J. (2021). Forgotten values of industrial city still alive: what can the creative city learn from its industrial counterpart? City, culture and society, 25.
- Bole, D. (2022). (Re)discovering the small and medium-sized industrial town and its development potential. In H. Mayer & M. Lazzeroni (Eds.), A Research Agenda for Small and Medium-Sized Towns (pp. 89–106). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Nared, J., Bole, D. (Eds) (2020). Participatory research and planning in practice. Cham (Switzerland): Springer Open, pp. 227.
- (Hidden) Industrial Champions: Origins, Features and Futures of Industrial Small Towns (international research project • February 1, 2025 - January 31, 2028)
- MultiPart: A Novel Approach for Improving Health and Well-being in Anthropogenically Perturbed Environments Based on Multi-Participatory Research (fundamental research project • January 1, 2025 - December 31, 2027)
- Places that don’t matter? Socio-economic transformation of industrial towns in Switzerland and Slovenia (fundamental research project • November 1, 2020 - October 31, 2024)
- Bright Future (research project • March 1, 2017 - March 1, 2020)
- Transport land use in Slovenia (postdoctoral research project • July 1, 2011 - April 1, 2014)
- ZRC Postgraduate School: Doctoral programmes Comparative Study of Ideas and Cultures (Human Geography) and Environmental and Regional Studies (Regional Studies).
- Award for excellent scientific achievement in humanities in 2022 awarded by the Slovenian Research Agency for the article: Kozina, J., Bole, D., Tiran, J. (2021). Forgotten values of industrial city still alive: What can the creative city learn from its industrial counterpart? City, Culture and Society 25
- Special mention of the Europa Nostra jury in the category ‘Education, Training and Awareness-Raising’ for the project ‘Cultural heritage and the development of rural community Črni Vrh’ (awarded by the European Commission, 2015).
- Melik award for best young scientist (awarded by the Association of Slovenian Geographers, 2011)
- Member of the Editorial Board, Acta Geographica Slovenica
- Member of the International Advisory Board, Journal for Urban and Regional Analysis
- Member of the Editorial Boards of the book series Georitem, Geografija Slovenije, Regionalni razvoj
- Vice-President of the Institute Scientific Council
- Member of the ZRC SAZU Scientific Council