About the Project

Inclu­sive Cities is a DAAD-funded aca­d­e­mic coop­er­a­tion that aims at fos­ter­ing a col­lab­o­ra­tion that nav­i­gates the con­nec­tion between com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation in urban plan­ning and the broader ideals of sus­tain­abil­ity. Coor­di­nated by Bauhaus-Uni­ver­sität Weimar, the project brings together part­ner insti­tu­tions from Ger­many, Lebanon, Oman and Egypt.

Mis­sion

We jointly explore how com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation can sup­port more inclu­sive and sus­tain­able urban futures. Through aca­d­e­mic exchange, jointly upgraded teach­ing for­mats, work­shops, cross-con­tex­tual dia­logue and pub­lic-fac­ing out­puts, the project reflects on and pro­motes inclu­sion in urban plan­ning and pub­lic space, with a spe­cial focus on under­stand­ing how urban spaces are planned, expe­ri­enced and trans­formed in dif­fer­ent social, cul­tural and polit­i­cal con­texts and across dif­fer­ent urban realities.

Who we are? – A grow­ing partnership

Pur­su­ing its aim, the project forges a part­ner­ship between the Bauhaus-Uni­ver­sität Weimar (Ger­many), Notre Dame Uni­ver­sity-Louaize (Lebanon), the Sci­en­tific Col­lege of Design in Mus­cat (Oman), and Alexan­dria Uni­ver­sity (Egypt). In addi­tion, two local non-uni­ver­sity actors.

To sus­tain the project impact, this part­ner­ship is designed to grow, with regional upscal­ing prospect and planned syn­er­gies with fur­ther part­ners and initiatives—designed for sus­tain­abil­ity and scalability.

This part­ner­ship brings together exper­tise from human­i­ties and urban social stud­ies with those from applied sci­ences and design-ori­ented fields, inte­grat­ing knowl­edge from aca­d­e­mics, prac­ti­tion­ers, as well as soci­etal stakeholders.

By lever­ag­ing the strengths and exper­tise of these part­ners, the project will facil­i­tate a rich exchange of knowl­edge, expe­ri­ence, com­pe­ten­cies and best prac­tices with regard to the gen­eral approach to archi­tec­ture and urban planning—particularly with regard to sub­jects of pub­lic parti­cipation, social sus­tain­abil­ity, urban jus­tice, and inclu­sive urban design.

Objec­tives

The project pur­sues five key objectives:

1. Con­sol­i­dat­ing a Sus­tain­able Partnership
   Estab­lish, con­sol­i­date, and main­tain a resilient and region­ally-scal­able dia­logue-ori­ented part­ner­ship between its part­ner insti­tu­tions on the sub­jects of com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation and urban sustainability.
2. Course Devel­op­ment
   Sup­port the joint-devel­op­ment offer­ing and deliv­ery of (the­mat­i­cally and ped­a­gog­i­cally) updated rel­e­vant teach­ing courses at the par­tic­i­pat­ing HEIs.
3. Fur­ther Qualification
   Pro­vide dif­fer­ent tar­get groups of the par­tic­i­pat­ing HEIs—i.e., stu­dents, researchers, early-career aca­d­e­mics, and (junior) teachers—with var­i­ous (per­sonal, inter­cul­tural and pro­fes­sional) devel­op­ment and fur­ther qual­i­fi­ca­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties through dif­fer­ent exchange formats.
4. Anchor­ing & Dessim­i­nat­ing Themes for Dialougue
   Estab­lish and con­sol­i­date the themes of parti­cipation and ‘glo­cal’ chal­lenges of urban sus­tain­abil­ity as pri­or­i­ties for con­tin­ual dia­logue and joint-research at the par­tic­i­pat­ing uni­ver­si­ties and pro­vid­ing a plat­form to dis­sem­i­nate the result of this dialogue.
5. Link­ing with Civil Society
   Con­tribute to a (re-)linking between acad­e­mia and civil soci­ety to pub­licly debate urban sus­tain­abil­ity chal­lenges and pro­mote com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation in the urban context.

With the cre­ated part­ner­ship and its sus­tain­able chan­nels of exchange (between acad­e­mia and civil soci­ety), and by con­tribut­ing to fur­ther qual­i­fi­ca­tion of the par­tic­i­pants, these objec­tives, com­bined, shall give impe­tus to sus­tain­able strength­en­ing of link­age with HEIs in the region. By open­ing such new forums for com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation and pub­lic engage­ment, they will also con­tribute to the strength­en­ing of the role of aca­d­e­mic insti­tu­tions in pub­lic life.

Activ­i­ties

The imple­men­ta­tion of Inclu­sive Cities com­prises 9 main inter­re­lated mea­sures over closely inter­linked phases and sub-activities:

• Prepa­ra­tion
• Phase 1: Train­ing & Joint Course Development
  • Kick-off event
  • Aca­d­e­mic stays for junior staff
  • Joint cur­ricu­lum development
• Phase 2: Exchange
  • The­matic, case-ori­ented work­shops (Com­mu­nity Parti­cipation in Context)
  • Aca­d­e­mic stays
  • Teach­ing mobility
• Phase 3: Dis­sem­i­na­tion & Sustainability
  • Joint pub­li­ca­tion
  • Sym­po­sium

Through these activ­i­ties, Inclu­sive Cities aims to strengthen aca­d­e­mic coop­er­a­tion and con­tribute to more con­text-sen­si­tive and inclu­sive approaches to urban transformation.

Expected results/impact

Besides con­sol­i­dat­ing the part­ner­ship con­tact with the part­ners, the expected results of these activ­i­ties include struc­tural and indi­vid­ual enhance­ments in areas of cul­tural exchange, teach­ing and research. These enhance­ments shall ben­e­fit dif­fer­ent tar­get groups of the par­tic­i­pat­ing uni­ver­si­ties, with a spe­cial focus on stu­dents and (junior) aca­d­e­mics who shall acquire fur­ther qual­i­fi­ca­tions and inter­cul­tural skills within the frame­work of this tech­ni­cal coop­er­a­tion. Together, these results shall strengthen and main­tain long-term sus­tain­able inter­cul­tural dia­logue between the BUW and the part­ner uni­ver­si­ties as well as their wider spheres/region on the iden­ti­fied com­mon interest.

›Last word‹:

By jointly explor­ing the vital role of com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation in urban plan­ning and exchang­ing knowl­edge on inclu­sive, con­tex­tu­ally rel­e­vant and cul­tur­ally sen­si­tive urban prac­tices, Higher Edu­ca­tion Insti­tu­tions from both regions can fos­ter stronger mutual under­stand­ing that would pave the way for deeper aca­d­e­mic part­ner­ships and shared approaches to address ‘glo­cal’ urban chal­lenges in their contexts.

By con­nect­ing aca­d­e­mic per­spec­tives with local urban real­i­ties, Inclu­sive Cities aims to strengthen long-term coop­er­a­tion, sup­port crit­i­cal knowl­edge exchange and con­tribute to more inclu­sive approaches to urban transformation.

Ethos?

„At its core, … “.

At the heart of the project is the idea that inclu­sive urban futures can­not be shaped through tech­ni­cal solu­tions alone. They require dia­logue, con­tex­tual under­stand­ing and active engage­ment with the lived expe­ri­ences of com­mu­ni­ties. (Rather than approach­ing inclu­sion as a purely tech­ni­cal ques­tion, the project under­stands it as a process of dia­logue, parti­cipation and shared learning).

Through work­shops, research stays, sum­mer schools, aca­d­e­mic exchange and pub­lic-fac­ing out­puts, the project cre­ates spaces for stu­dents, researchers and prac­ti­tion­ers to exchange per­spec­tives on urban devel­op­ment, spa­tial jus­tice, belong­ing and sus­tain­able urban futures, to learn from one another and to jointly reflect on parti­cipation, belong­ing, spa­tial jus­tice and sus­tain­able urban development.

Our team

[TBC]