"Design the Future, Together" is the new challenge in continuation of the previous guiding theme "Imagine the Future". Accordingly, from 24 to 28 July, thirteen Master's students from the Urban and Regional Development Management specialisation analysed and reflected on topics of "governance of transformation" together with nine students from the Division of Policy and Planning Sciences at the University of Tsukuba under the direction of Prof. Dr. Uta Hohn and in close exchange with experts from the field. The focus was on actors and alliances of actors, their understanding of their roles, their visions of the future and strategies, their resources and projects, as well as the spatial effects of their actions in the sense of a cooperative design of equitable, sustainable and resilient urban futures using the potential of digitalisation.

A special guest was Sawako Kon, who had already participated in a Summer School in 2009 and now works at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in Tokyo. And during the visit to the Feldherrenviertel in Herne, another participant of the Summer School 2009, Martina Liehr, was available as an expert. Other experts from the field with a connection to the Institute of Geography were, among many others: Prof. Dr. Rolf Heyer, Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Noll and Dr. Stephan Treuke.
After a three-year interruption due to the Corona pandemic, the tradition of annual summer schools founded in 2005 in cooperation with the University of Tsukuba could thus be continued. The Master's students of the Department of Geography had organised the programme for the Japanese guests in advance and prepared an English-language reader. The "Team of the Day" then led through the respective Summer School day. A large final round with quiz, memory and pitches rounded off the programme on Friday evening in Duisburg's RheinPark, which was structured as follows.

Bochum: Transformation Strategies in a "City of Knowledge and Science

• Campus Bochum
• ISEK city centre and initiatives of cooperative future design in adjacent neighbourhoods
• Mark 51°7/Laer

Dortmund: "Innovation from the Neighbourhood" and other actors in the city-wide transformation ecosystem

• Innovation Capital of Europe 2021: "Projector"
• Dortmunder U, Unionviertel and Union Gewerbehof
• Smart Rhino as a major project of the Thelen Group
• Waterfront Redevelopment in Dortmund Harbour
• IGA Future Garden Emscher northwards (Hansa coking plant & Deusenberg)

Emscher Region: Blue-green infrastructures as building blocks and catalysts of sustainability transformation and the special role of the Emschergenossenschaft

• Future Garden Emscherland
• Herne "Feldherrenviertel" (master plan for water locations and neighbourhood development)
• Future Garden Nordsternpark
• Freedom Emscher (Essen and Bottrop)

Essen: Transformation processes in a former Companytown

• Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site as a Transformation Location
• University Quarter (Green Centre Essen)
• Krupp Belt (West City, Thyssenkrupp, Krupp Park, Essen 51)

Duisburg: Transformation strategies at district level - Ruhrort and Hochfeld

• Ruhrort: UrbanZero
• Hochfeld: Urban Future Ruhr
• RheinPark and connection: IGA 2027

After this extremely work-intensive and at the same time very insightful week, part of the Bochum team is now very much looking forward to the Summer School in the Tokyo metropolitan region under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sayaka Fujii and to seeing the Japanese students again. Five Master's students and two doctoral students from the Department of Geography will take part in the Summer School in Japan from 18 to 23 September together with Prof. Dr. Uta Hohn. Eight Master's students will spend the second part of the Summer School in the Delta metropolis of the Netherlands under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Thomas Feldhoff.

For the Summer School Team Alina Grunwald and Prof. Dr. Uta Hohn