• geosciences
• new technologies
• serious games with climate change

Participation in 3 summer schools in
- Norway (13 - 19 May 2024)
- Malta (20 - 26 October 2024)
- Bochum (probably 24 - 28 March 2025)
and accompanying virtual lessons

Will be announced during the seminar.

• In-depth examination of the complexity, multidimensionality and multiperspectivity of urban transformation processes in a district with a particular need for action with regard to the design of a just socio-ecological transformation.
• Development of a kit of methods for process-accompanying analysis of the effects of measures for initiating or shaping transformation processes using the example of Duisburg-Hochfeld
• Development and testing of a baseline for the impact analysis of activities within the project "Urban Future Ruhr" in Hochfeld

In cooperation with Urbane Zukunft Ruhr GmbH, a set of indicators and a coordinated set of methods are being developed that are suitable for a cost-effective and efficient process-accompanying analysis of transformation processes at the neighborhood and district level. Indicators and methods will be tested, critically evaluated and further developed in subsequent study projects within the framework of the determination of a baseline for the process-accompanying impact analysis of the project Urbane Zukunft Ruhr of the Initiativkreis Ruhr and examined with regard to their transfer potential.

In the first part of the two-semester study project, the introductory focus is on the transformation ecosystem of Duisburg-Hochfeld and the theory-based examination of the actors from different system worlds, their normative visions of the future, strategies and spatial effects, as well as their integration into a governance of transformation. In this context, insights from two previous seminars of applied geography in Hochfeld will also be incorporated.
The examination of the transformation processes in Hochfeld is oriented towards the goal of making their complexity accessible to a multidimensional and multi-perspective impact analysis by developing suitable indicators and methods.
In the second part of the study project, the focus in summer semester 2024 will be on the practical testing of the developed method set and its critical reflection, or the empirical surveys to determine the baseline for a process-accompanying impact analysis of the project Urbane Zukunft Ruhr.

Initiativkreis Ruhr, Urbane Zukunft Ruhr: https://i-r.de/projekte/urbane-zukunft-ruhr

https://i-r.de/magazin/artikel/hochfeld-braucht-ein-von-allen-getragenes-zukunftsbild

https://i-r.de/magazin/artikel/hochfeld-interview-hohn

Schneidewind, Uwe (2018): Die Große Transformation. Eine Einführung in die Kunst gesellschaftlichen Wandels. Frankfurt a. M.

Stadt Duisburg, EG DU Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Hrsg., 2021): Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept Duisburg-Hochfeld 2020. Fortschreibung Februar 2021. Duisburg

Self-organized learning, development of a project in subgroups, preparation of a project outline

In 2000, the EU adopted the Water Framework Directive, which obliges all member states to improve water quality from a holistic perspective. It requires that all water bodies achieve a "good ecological status" within a certain period of time. The so-called "good ecological status of a water body" comprises hydromorphological, biological and chemical aspects. In order to be able to assess the good ecological status, different assessment methods are used in the seminar. In this project seminar the students have the opportunity to get to know different methods of stream assessment, to integrate them into their self-organized project context and to implement their self-developed project in the second part of the project seminar in the summer semester through field and laboratory work. Streams are in a landscape context, so floodplains can also be included in the project in this seminar. Here, there is the possibility to investigate soils or to conduct floodplain mapping and vegetation surveys. Since the EU Water Framework Directive also provides for the involvement of the public, there is also the possibility to include environmental education aspects in the project.

In the winter semester (Part I), the necessary technical basics are developed and presented according to areas of interest. In the further course of the seminar, the project is developed and written in a project outline. In the summer semester (part II) the project is carried out.

Will be announced during the seminar.

The aim of this study project is the joint conception and development of an atlas on the geobotany of the plant genus Capsicum. Through scientific research, students will learn about the basic characteristics of chili and bell pepper plants, especially their origin and distribution. The students acquire in-depth methodological basics of thematic cartography and atlas editing. Creative approaches to digital map design are developed and discussed. Current potentials of Artificial Intelligence as a tool for writing technical texts as well as for deriving creative visualizations will be integrated. The project is carried out in collaboration with the RUB Botanical Garden.

Chilies and peppers are cultivated plants that people have been growing for thousands of years. They originated in South America and have spread around the world since the voyages of Christopher Columbus. As a result, a diverse range of varieties emerged, the spatial origin and distribution of which is not very clearly documented. Until today, there are only very few publications, which elaborate the origin and distribution of the varieties in detail or even try - on the basis of scientific research - to record them cartographically. The idea of this project seminar is the joint conception and development of an atlas that elaborates the geobotany of the plant genus Capsicum (with a focus on the varieties of the species capsicum annuum, capsicum chinense and capsicum baccatum) and presents origins and distributions in creative thematic cartographic approaches.

• Plant characteristics of the genus Capsicum
• Differences between the species capsicum annuum, capsicum chinense and capsicum baccatum
• Getting to know the diversity of varieties and their cultivation methods
• Photo documentation of plant characteristics (in chili exhibition in the Botanical Garden)
• Research exercises on geobotany
• Basics of digital thematic cartography (with open-source Inkscape, possibly Adobe Illustrator)
• Basics of interactive web cartography
• Coloring in cartography
• Development of own color scales, appropriate to the theme
• Think tank for the design of creative thematic maps
• Collaborative map and atlas design 
• Use of AI for text and graphic design
• Presentation of results as atlas
• Public presentation of results as a lecture (colloquium)
• Guest lectures and excursions to the botanical garden

optional:

• - Chili Tasting
  - photo contest
  - card competition
  - joint chili cultivation and seed collection

Joint project seminar, project phases structured according to the above-mentioned contents, with final atlas project and presentation of results (colloquium).

Rasche, J., Riering, J., Riering, T. (2017). Chilis. Witten: Formosa Verlag.

Further recommendations during the seminar.

Many environmental problems such as air pollution, noise and heat are concentrated in cities due to the high density of human activities. At the same time, particularly vulnerable population groups are found here. However, actual exposure is often unknown because these environmental stressors are very unevenly distributed and change rapidly. In addition, the least data is often available in particularly affected areas, which opens up questions of environmental justice. Therefore, in order to make a differentiated assessment of the situation and to enable improvements for those affected, suitable data in high spatial and temporal resolution is often lacking.

In this course we want to deal with different environmental problems and design and carry out our own measurement campaigns to assess them.

In the seminar we will

•     deal with urban environmental stressors (heat, noise, air pollution, ...),
•     deal scientifically with the conception and construction of measuring networks,
•     support and advance the construction of the measuring network,
•     build sensor systems ourselves and plan problem-specific measurement campaigns,
•     carry out measurement experiments at different locations,
•     evaluate and visualise data,
•     address issues of environmental justice,
•     and derive recommendations for measures.

For this purpose, the following contents, among others, are studied in depth: Urban climate, (regional) climate change, air quality, noise, health impacts, measurement methods (meteorology, air quality, noise and other environmental parameters), citizen science, sensor construction, planning of measurement networks/campaigns, project management, data evaluation.

The course lasts two semesters and is divided into four parts: 1. theory, 2. project development, 3. implementation, 4. analysis. In the first semester, work is mainly done in course groups, in the second semester in small groups of 3-5 people.

Grimm, Nancy B., Stanley H. Faeth, Nancy E. Golubiewski, Charles L. Redman, Jianguo Wu, Xuemei Bai, und John M. Briggs. „Global change and the ecology of cities“. science 319, Nr. 5864 (2008): 756–60.

Oke, T. R., G. Mills, A. Christen, und J. A. Voogt. Urban Climates. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Szombathely, Malte von, Myriam Albrecht, Dejan Antanaskovic, Jobst Augustin, Matthias Augustin, Benjamin Bechtel, Thomas Bürk, u. a. „A Conceptual Modeling Approach to Health-Related Urban Well-Being“. Urban Science 1, Nr. 2 (12. Mai 2017): 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1020017.