About the Project

Funded by the DAAD and coor­di­nated by the Bauhaus-Uni­ver­sität Weimar in Ger­many, this part­ner­ship includes Notre Dame Uni­ver­sity-Louaize from Lebanon, the Sci­en­tific Col­lege of Design-Mus­cat from Oman, and Alexan­dria Uni­ver­sity from Egypt. To strengthen the con­nec­tion with local prac­tice and civil-soci­ety per­spec­tives, addi­tional non-uni­ver­sity part­ners are also anchored to this collaboration.

Mis­sion

What we aim for

Inclu­sive Cities seeks to fos­ter, strengthen and main­tain cross-regional dia­logue and col­lab­o­ra­tion between its part­ners around more inclu­sive ways of under­stand­ing and shap­ing urban spaces. It also aims to build evolv­ing struc­tures that sus­tain this dia­logue and embed it within the par­tic­i­pat­ing institutions.

What we do

Inclu­sive Cities cre­ates var­i­ous inter­ac­tive spaces for dia­logue, col­lab­o­ra­tive explo­ration, mutual learn­ing, co-pro­duc­tion and joint reflection.

Through a range of exchange and col­lab­o­ra­tion for­mats, the project offers struc­tured oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents, researchers, teach­ers, social actors and prac­ti­tion­ers to share knowl­edge and per­spec­tives, com­pare meth­ods and expe­ri­ences, and jointly explore how com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation can sup­port more inclu­sive and sus­tain­able urban futures across dif­fer­ent urban con­texts. These exchanges address themes such as place­mak­ing, belong­ing, spa­tial jus­tice, inclu­sive urban design and sus­tain­able urban development.

What we con­tribute to

Through its coop­er­a­tion struc­tures, activ­i­ties and sus­tained dia­logue, Inclu­sive Cities sup­ports teach­ing, research and aca­d­e­mic-soci­etal exchange that respond to diverse urban real­i­ties and con­tribute to more inclu­sive, par­tic­i­pa­tory and sus­tain­able approaches to urban development.

Objec­tives

The project pur­sues five key objectives:

1. Con­sol­i­dat­ing a Sus­tain­able Part­ner­ship | Estab­lish, con­sol­i­date, and main­tain a resilient, spe­cial­ized and dia­logue-ori­ented part­ner­ship between par­tic­i­pat­ing insti­tu­tions in Ger­many, Lebanon, Oman and Egypt.
2. Course Devel­op­ment | Sup­port the joint devel­op­ment and deliv­ery of (the­mat­i­cally and ped­a­gog­i­cally) upgraded rel­e­vant teach­ing for­mats at the par­tic­i­pat­ing part­ner institutions.
3. Fur­ther Qual­i­fi­ca­tion | Pro­vide stu­dents, researchers, early-career aca­d­e­mics and teach­ers of the par­tic­i­pat­ing insti­tu­tions with var­i­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties for aca­d­e­mic exchange, inter­cul­tural learn­ing and pro­fes­sional development.
4. Anchor­ing Themes for Dia­logue | Estab­lish and con­sol­i­date the top­ics of parti­cipation, inclu­sion and urban sus­tain­abil­ity as shared the­matic pri­or­i­ties for teach­ing, research and con­tin­ual dia­logue at the par­tic­i­pat­ing uni­ver­si­ties and pro­vide plat­forms to dis­sem­i­nate rel­e­vant outputs.
5. Link­ing with Soci­etal Actors | Estab­lish and strengthen links between higher edu­ca­tion insti­tu­tions, civil soci­ety and local urban actors pro­mot­ing com­mu­nity-based parti­cipation in the urban context.

Approach

Our aca­d­e­mic approach is grounded in a set of shared under­ly­ing premises and val­ues that guide how the project under­stands parti­cipation, coop­er­a­tion and urban inclusion.

Premises | Where we start from

• Parti­cipation in urban plan­ning is con­text-depen­dent; it is shaped by spe­cific social, polit­i­cal, cul­tural and insti­tu­tional con­texts. Par­tic­i­pa­tory approaches there­fore can­not sim­ply be trans­ferred unchanged from one con­text to another.
• Cross-con­tex­tual dia­logue and com­par­a­tive learn­ing can reveal both com­mon chal­lenges and mean­ing­ful dif­fer­ences, there­fore open­ing up new ways of under­stand­ing urban prac­tices and gen­er­at­ing new knowledge.
• Inclu­sive urban futures can­not be shaped through tech­ni­cal solu­tions alone; they require con­tex­tual under­stand­ing, local knowl­edge and active engage­ment with the lived expe­ri­ences of communities.

Ethos | What we stand for

Inclu­sive Cities approaches inter­na­tional coop­er­a­tion as a process of mutual learn­ing and dia­logue rather than one-way knowl­edge trans­fer. It seeks to cre­ate spaces in which dif­fer­ent expe­ri­ences, forms of knowl­edge and urban real­i­ties can encounter one another on equal terms.

Its work is there­fore guided by open­ness to, and respect for, con­tex­tual dif­fer­ence, rec­i­p­ro­cal exchange and crit­i­cal reflec­tion. Rather than search­ing for uni­ver­sal solu­tions, the part­ner­ship uses dia­logue and com­par­a­tive learn­ing to explore how approaches to inclu­sive urban devel­op­ment can be under­stood, adapted and prac­ticed across dif­fer­ent contexts.

The project there­fore under­stands, and pro­motes, urban inclu­sion not as a fixed model or a purely tech­ni­cal ques­tion, but as a con­text-sen­si­tive process shaped by parti­cipation, local knowl­edge, social respon­si­bil­ity and the real­i­ties of every­day urban life.

A grow­ing partnership

This part­ner­ship com­bines exper­tise from urban stud­ies, archi­tec­ture, design-ori­ented fields and the human­i­ties and social sciences—integrating knowl­edge from aca­d­e­mics, prac­ti­tion­ers and soci­etal actors.

By draw­ing on the diverse strengths and exper­tise of its part­ners, the project facil­i­tates the trans­fer of knowl­edge, expe­ri­ence and best prac­tices with regard to the gen­eral approach to archi­tec­ture and urban plan­ning, and con­tributes to the devel­op­ment of rel­e­vant com­pe­ten­cies within the part­ner institutions.

Designed as a grow­ing coop­er­a­tion struc­ture, the part­ner­ship seeks to develop fur­ther syn­er­gies with rel­e­vant part­ners and ini­tia­tives and to evolve into a sus­tain­able cross-regional Inclu­sive Cities network.

Impact

Inclu­sive Cities seeks to strengthen long-term aca­d­e­mic coop­er­a­tion and sup­port more inclu­sive, con­text-sen­si­tive approaches to urban devel­op­ment, design and trans­for­ma­tion. Its expected results include enhanced teach­ing and research capac­i­ties, inter­cul­tural learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, pub­lic-fac­ing knowl­edge out­puts and stronger links between acad­e­mia and society.

By con­nect­ing aca­d­e­mic per­spec­tives with local urban real­i­ties, the project con­tributes to crit­i­cal knowl­edge exchange and mutual under­stand­ing across regions. It sup­ports stu­dents, researchers, teach­ers and prac­ti­tion­ers in devel­op­ing approaches to address ‘glo­cal’ urban chal­lenges in their contexts—challenges that are local in their con­di­tions but con­nected to broader global ques­tions of inclu­sion, parti­cipation and sustainability.

Activ­i­ties

The project is imple­mented through inter­con­nected activ­i­ties, includ­ing jointly upgraded teach­ing for­mats, col­lab­o­ra­tive workshops/seasonal schools, sym­po­sium events, pur­pose-linked aca­d­e­mic stays, and pub­lic-fac­ing out­puts. Together, these activ­i­ties are designed to cre­ate struc­tured oppor­tu­ni­ties for exchange, reflec­tion and col­lab­o­ra­tion across dif­fer­ent aca­d­e­mic and urban contexts.

Explore project activ­i­ties.

Our team