How DLR Projektträger helps making cities smart and sustainable
Almost 78 per cent of Germans live in cities – from small towns of around 20,000 people to Germany's largest metropolis, Berlin. As different as these cities are, they all face similar challenges – be it climate change, demographic change, digitalisation, scarcity of resources or mobility. These challenges lead to similar questions: How can cities become more resilient and less vulnerable to crises? How can municipalities strengthen local social cohesion as well as improve quality of life and participation?
There are different definitions of Smart Cities. DLR Projektträger sees Smart City as a macrosocial transformation process affecting society as a whole. The aim is to increase the resilience and future viability of cities and regions in a sustainable way – with the help of digital and social innovations, and the participation of all stakeholders.
Cities and regions must find answers to these and many other questions if they want to remain attractive, economically successful and liveable in the future. With its smart city services, DLR Projektträger supports those responsible for sustainable and integrated urban development. The common goal is to make cities intelligent and sustainable and thus future-proof.
The route to Smart City – transformation and digitalisation
DLR Projektträger sees Smart City as a macrosocial transformation process affecting society as a whole. The aim is to increase the resilience and future viability of cities and regions in a sustainable way – with the help of digital and social innovations, and the participation of all stakeholders.
This transformation process requires expertise in all areas of urban development. Expertise that is not equally available in all cities. For this reason, DLR Projektträger has brought together all its expertise and skills in the field of smart cities in a task force. In this way, it can offer cities single-source, comprehensive solutions on their way to becoming a smart and green city, hence, actively driving the twin transformation forward.
DLR Projektträger services at a glance
- Comprehensive consulting based on a holistic understanding of smart cities and smart regions
- Expertise in all areas of sustainable integrated urban development – from environment and climate protection, via mobility and energy supply to health and cyber security
- Knowledge-based policy advice and applied research for urban practice
- Development and implementation of innovative and interdisciplinary funding instruments for smart cities and smart regions throughout Germany and Europe – from villages to megacities, in rural areas and metropolitan regions, at city, district and regional level, for research and practice
- Development and implementation of measures for knowledge transfer between stakeholders at all levels
- Development and implementation of communication and participation strategies to inform and motivate all stakeholders
- Science-based monitoring and evaluation to ensure the impact of measures and to continuously improve instruments.
The comprehensive services of DLR Projektträger are complemented by the Institute for Qualifying Innovation Research and Consultancy (IQIB). The IQIB is a subsidiary of DLR Projektträger that develops innovative solutions, particularly in the area of knowledge transfer.
Best practices for smart and sustainable cities
DLR Projektträger has expertise in all areas of sustainable integrated urban development. Here are some examples of current projects:
Collapses
DUT is the central platform for research and development in the field of sustainable urban development in Europe. DLR Projektträger is a member and – on behalf of the BMBF – coordinates the German participation in European project consortia focusing on sustainable urban mobility.
On behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Building and Urban Affairs (Bundesministerium für Bau- und Stadtentwicklung, BMWSB), DLR Projektträger has been operating the Coordination and Transfer Office for Smart Cities Model Projects since July 2021. With its specialised consultancy unit and in cooperation with the consortium partners, DLR Projektträger provides technical support to the 73 funded model projects for the development of smart city strategies and the implementation of measures. It also provides comprehensive support in the form of practical research, monitoring and, above all, an innovative knowledge and networking platform. At the same time, DLR Projektträger disseminates the results so that all municipalities in Germany can benefit from them.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF) is funding sustainable research and development projects in municipalities and regions under the umbrella brand "Stadt-Land-Zukunft" (City-Region-Future). DLR Projektträger developed the funding concept as part of the Federal Government's "Future Strategy for Research and Innovation" and implements the funding measures "Sustainable Mobility in Regional Transformation Areas" and "Transformation Cluster Social Innovation for Sustainable Cities".
DLR Projektträger has designed and implemented the RegIKlim funding programme on behalf of the BMBF. Six model regions are working together to build knowledge in order to cope with the consequences of climate change at local and regional level. Since 2020, DLR Projektträger has been supporting eight transdisciplinary collaborative projects which, in close cooperation with politics, administration and industry, are developing new digital solutions for local adaptation to climate change, for example for dealing with urban heat islands, drought or heavy rainfall.
With SAFESTREAM, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, BMWK) wants to promote the operation of driverless public transport without a human supervisor on board. The test regions are Kelheim and Monheim am Rhein. DLR Projektträger provided preparatory and ongoing advice as well as support, monitoring and evaluation for this project.
The aim of the iLaPark project is to transform urban car parks into large-scale charging areas in order to supply as many electric vehicles as possible with electricity at the same time. DLR Projektträger provided preparatory and ongoing advice as well as support, monitoring and evaluation for this project.
On behalf of the German Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, BSI), DLR Projektträger is implementing a funding programme focusing on digital sovereignty and cyber security for 5G/6G communication technologies. The aim is to build a stakeholder network, transfer research results into real innovations and projects and thus successfully activate the market.