DLGS Summer School
Shaping Spaces for Sustainability Transformation: Challenges for Policy and Planning
Grand societal challenges like geopolitical shifts, climate change or biodiversity loss imply major issues for policy and planning. On the one hand, there are multiple urgent and rather complex tasks emerging that cut across territories, sectors and competencies - e.g. to achieve climate resilience, circular economies or inclusive communities. On the other hand, structures, processes and instruments in policy (from governance to design) have been conceived in times of relative stability and without concerns for transforming existing systems. Both is further accentuated by the disruptive potential of digitalisation processes and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular. Authorities and planners often lack the skills and resources to address such new tasks and at the same time “reinvent themselves”. In turn, sustainability-oriented research has increasingly engaged in (co-)producing knowledge required to deal with these issues, but obviously remains limited regarding transfer and impact. What are ways forward for policy and planning to resolve this situation?
The DLGS is now accepting Abstracts
PhD candidates from all relevant disciplines and at any stage of their research are invited to submit an abstract on a related topic. The event will be conducted in English. All participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs. A registration fee of €50 applies to external PhD candidates.
The DLGS Summer School offers a dynamic platform to explore theories, methods, and findings, while exchanging ideas with peers and renowned scholars in the field of spatial sustainability sciences.
Deadline for abstracts EXTENDED: 4 August 2025
Notification of acceptance: 15 August 2025
19 September:
- Current PhD candidates from all relevant disciplines and stages of research will present their work on related topics.
- Prof. Lauren Andres (Director of Research at the Bartlett School of Planning and Chair in Planning and Urban Transformation at University College London) will lead a training workshop on “Planning for change and uncertainties: adaptability, AI and their critical underpinnings for the future of cities.”
- Prof. Martina Artmann (HSWT/ IOER), Prof. Serena Coetzee (UNU-FLORES), Dr. Gerd Lintz (IOER), Dr. Stefanie Rößler (IOER), and Prof. Marc Wolfram (IOER/ TUD) will provide expert feedback on PhD presentations.
- IOER Researchers Dr. Alejandro de Castro Mazarro, Dr. Xiaoxue Gao, Dr. Riyan Habeeb, Dr. Jessica Hemingway, Dr. Martin Schinagl, Dr. Constanze Zöllter will moderate the individual panels.
- Organized by the DLGS Scientific Coordinator Dr. Nora Gortcheva and current DLGS fellows Rana Abdelkader, Lamiaa Ghoz, and Varsami (Ersi) Zafeiriou.
20 September
- All participants will also have the opportunity to join a local excursion exploring a current policy and planning challenge. The destination will be determined based on participants’ interests.
