23. April '24
A group of young people, wearing yellow aprons, stand in a Hochschule Coburg classroom holding posters with information about countries including Turkey. They are smiling and giving thumbs up.
A group of young people, wearing yellow aprons, stand in a Hochschule Coburg classroom holding posters with information about countries including Turkey. They are smiling and giving thumbs up.
A group of people gathered outdoors, listening to a speaker from Hochschule Coburg holding a large photo. They are dressed in jackets and hats, suggesting cool weather. The background features tall green structures and trees.
A group of people gathered outdoors, listening to a speaker from Hochschule Coburg holding a large photo. They are dressed in jackets and hats, suggesting cool weather. The background features tall green structures and trees.
A group of six people stands in a semi-circle, engaging in a panel discussion at Hochschule Coburg’s conference room. A presentation is displayed on a screen behind them. An audience is seated in the foreground, listening attentively.
A group of six people stands in a semi-circle, engaging in a panel discussion at Hochschule Coburg's conference room. A presentation is displayed on a screen behind them. An audience is seated in the foreground, listening attentively.
Representatives from academia, politics and practice met at a conference on the “Transformative power of European cities and regions”.
In Basel, Switzerland, the aim was to develop guidelines for future-oriented urban and regional development.
The International University Day of the National Urban Development Policy was co-organized by Coburg architecture and urban planning professorMario Tvrtkovic .
He has been committed to the topic for years, teaches it at Coburg University of Applied Sciences and was also represented with a group of students in Basel last week.
Universities and colleges have a key role to play as places of education for future experts: their commitment and knowledge transfer are crucial for the implementation of a culture of social, ecological and economic responsibility.
They promote and develop principles of transformative planning and have an impact on society.
Together with Prof. Mario Tvrtkovic from the Faculty of Design at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, students in Basel last week took part in the conference “Transformative power of European cities and regions. Shaping the future in uncertain times” in Basel last week.
Here, a common understanding of European planning culture for transformative regional and urban planning and design was discussed from an international perspective and ways for joint implementation were developed.
The focus was on the question of how universities can be better utilized as valuable resources for the realization of sustainable development of cities and regions.
Crises and complex challenges
Under the auspices of many crises, the changed, complex challenges for shaping spatial development were already discussed at the National Urban Development Policy University Days in Coburg and Berlin in 2022 and 2023.
At the same time, impulses were given for a necessary reorientation of our actions.
The conference in Basel followed on from this.
Coburg architecture and urban planning professor Tvrtkovic co-organized the conference, as he has done in the past.
He emphasized: “Only with forward-looking planning action by municipalities, cities and the federal states can spatial and structural development be steered in such a way that socio-political values about an appropriate living environment can be implemented now and for future generations.”
Opportunities through urban development and regional planning
Since the end of last year, Tvrtkovic has been Scientific Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee of the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning (DASL), which was responsible for organizing the conference in Basel in close cooperation with the Institute for Spatial Development (IRAP) at the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland in Rapperswill.
The DASL brings together experts in urban and regional planning who have made outstanding achievements in research and practical planning.
“The specialist disciplines responsible for spatial development also have a responsibility for the transformation towards sustainability. The DASL promotes these topics in science and practice and makes them accessible to the public,” explains the Coburg scientist.
The conference was sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) as part of the National Urban Development Policy.
