Joint research for urban and regional transformations: IOER strengthens strategic collaboration with Taiwan

The Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) and the National Taiwan University (NTU) intend to work more closely on questions of sustainable urban and regional development in the future. Through the exchange of scientists at all career levels and joint research projects, new concepts and approaches for transformative change shall be developed. This forms the subject of a cooperation agreement that both institutions signed in July 2023.

Six people stand next to each other smiling, the two in the middle hold folders with seals in their hands. — IOER and NTU have signed a new Memorandum of Unterstanding: (left to right) Prof. Liling Huang, Prof. Liang-Chih Che, Prof. Marc Wolfram, Prof. Mao-Hsiung Chiang, Prof. Shang-Hsien Hsieh, Prof. Yin-Chieh Chan. (Photo: Cheng-Chen Hsu/NTU)

Apart from policy and planning approaches required to navigate deep systemic change, topics of joint interest are especially urban and regional climate neutrality, resilience and adaptation, restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity, circularity in the built environment as well as related innovations in spatial data sciences. Both partners are leading in these fields and intend to focus their collaboration on synergies identified during a joint online workshop in November 2022. In the meantime several exchanges have taken place already online as well as through in-person events (co-)organised by NTU in Taipei, including the Future Earth international symposium on “Just transitions towards decarbonised urban systems” in February 2023. At the occasion a first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Department of Geography, affiliated with the NTU College of Science. In July a second MoU was amended, including the NTU College of Engineering in the collaboration.

“NTU is not only an excellent university with a very strong research profile. In our research field it clearly excels for its interdisciplinary but also transdisciplinary orientations, working closely together with stakeholders in society – this is truly outstanding,” says Prof. Marc Wolfram, director of the IOER. “I hope that the MoU between NTU and IOER will lead to a state of quantum entanglement in the realm of scholarly work pertaining to transformative sustainability,” says Prof. Sue-Ching Jou, Department of Geography (College of Science). Prof. Shang-Hsien Hsieh, Department of Civil Engineering (College of Engineering) specifies “We are very excited about starting our collaboration for advancing research together on digital transformation and green transition for the built environment”. His colleague Prof. Liling Huang, Graduate Institute of Building and Planning (College of Engineering), further adds: “We sincerely look forward to the journey of collaborative knowledge creation between NTU and IOER.”

The National Taiwan University (NTU) is widely considered to be the most prestigious university in Taiwan, and is also internationally very well recognised (69th in 2024 QS world university rankings). Founded in 1928, it currently has 35,000 students and nearly 4,000 faculty members. As part of IOER’s international networking strategy, the institute also maintains collaborations with other universities and research institutes in Taiwan, including National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology and Academia Sinica.

Contact at the IOER
Prof. Dr. Marc Wolfram, e-mail: M.Wolframioer@ioer.de

A man stands on stage in a lecture hall and gives a lecture. — Marc Wolfram holding a keynote lecture on “Just Transition - toward decarbonized urban systems”, International Symposium of the Future Earth Urban Knowledge Action Network (Urban KAN), February 2023, Taipei. (Photo: Cheng-Chen Hsu/NTU)

People sit at tables arranged in a U-shape and talk to each other. — Academic exchange at a seminar with NTU students and professors, NTU, July 2023. (Photo: Cheng-Chen Hsu/NTU)

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