URB establishes a foundational understanding of urban systems, mapping dependencies across settlement types, land use, resources, energy consumption, mobility patterns, symbiosis potential, climate risks, and governance structures (Phase I). This informs Phase II's development of scenarios for sustainable urban development, optimizing material and immaterial flows to reduce demand and identify synergies.

MOB explores the nexus of mobility and urban systems, analyzing their impacts on land, resources, and energy (Phase I). It then designs sustainable mobility scenarios (Phase II), essential for societal and economic development while addressing climate change. Balancing individual needs with climate goals is crucial in transport planning for urban sustainability.

SYM evaluates the city-factory nexus across technical, economic, and environmental dimensions. Integrating factories into urban settings for sustainable development requires holistic planning. Our approach aims to model, evaluate, and design efficient interfaces for energy, materials, mobility, and space. We emphasize circular economy principles through urban-industrial symbiosis.

RES focuses on assessing stored resources and CO2 emissions in residential, non-residential, and infrastructure buildings. It analyzes energy consumption profiles for heating, cooling, and electricity to develop future scenarios. RES aims to identify exemplary urban structures and their emissions, resources, and operational needs, modeling transformation effects for scenarios.

OPEN researches and optimizes urban open spaces' climate resilience amid climate change. It evaluates both green spaces' positive impacts like stormwater management and cooling, and grey, sealed spaces' negative impacts. Phase I analyzes these impacts and interlinkages with settlements and immaterial aspects. Phase II develops climate-friendly scenarios for sustainable urban transformation based on new insights.

CLIM assesses climate change impacts on Lower Saxony to develop mitigation and adaptation scenarios. Using state-of-the-art regional climate simulations, Phase I examines past, present, and future climate effects on LS. Phase II involves new regional climate simulations tailored to Lower Saxony’s conditions for enhanced accuracy and applicability.

Urban areas face increasing climate change risks. Understanding citizens' perceptions and barriers to adaptation is crucial. Phase I examines how people perceive gradual versus disruptive risks and their information needs. Phase II integrates these insights into scenario evaluations and develops effective communications for citizen adaptation.

GOV strategically integrates approaches from all work packages into discussions on participation, justice, and integrated governance for spatial development. We develop governance concepts to enhance climate-adapted spatial development in Lower Saxony (LS), engaging relevant stakeholders. We focus on implementing mitigation and resilience strategies and address barriers to achieving greater resilience and sustainable development, promoting climate justice through inclusive planning and participation processes.

KNOW integrates data, models, scenario building, and results across all work packages (WP). Phase I enhances data handling, interpretation, and analysis capabilities through tools like the Urban Climate Knowledge Graph (UCKG) and URB's spatial model. Phase II uses these frameworks to explore sustainable future scenarios, integrating insights from academic and regional partners. KNOW conducts simulations, assessments, and visualizations to evaluate sustainability impacts on climate, energy, resources, and land consumption across various scenarios.

The Institute for Sustainable Urbanism, TU Braunschweig, is looking for a postdoctoral researcher (TV-L E14, full-time position, 3 years, fixed-term, with the potential option to extend to 6 years, subject to availability of funds) from any of the fields involved (e.g. urbanism, architecture, planning, participation research, or related); focus on overall project coordination and possibility for own scientific development.

The Institute of Sustainability Psychology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, is looking for a doctoral researcher (TV-L E13, full-time position, 3 years, fixed-term) in the realm of sustainability sciences and psychology; focus on cognitive and behavioural responses to climate change in urban contexts.

More doctoral positions will be available e.g., at the Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon GmbH, Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) and others, which will advertise their openings shortly.

Furthermore we invite interested students to apply as research assistants. Get in touch with us!