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With their historical centres, many towns and small cities in Germany and Europe have a unique quality of life. However, most studies on urban life as well as city rankings ignore the potential of this cultural heritage. Now scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), the International Institute (IHI) Zittau of the Technische Universität Dresden and the Polish Institute for Territorial Development (IRT) have developed a list of relevant indicators to ensure that the quality of life in smaller municipalities is more easily recognized and visualized…

Roofs are not the only suitable places for installing photovoltaic modules to generate electricity from the sun’s rays. Facades could also play a much more significant role in Germany’s energy transition towards renewables as well as helping to reduce land consumption for energy parks. Together with the Fraunhofer ISE, the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development has calculated the potential area of Germany’s building facades for the installation of PV systems. It is twice as large as that of roofs. They published their findings in the journal "Transforming Cities".

As part of the BMBF project "Scientific support of the transformation process in Lusatia Region" of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ecological and Revitalizing Urban Transformation (IZS) in Görlitz, a planning lab will develop spatial visions for the future of the transforming region from March 2021. Applications are open to interested participants until 8 February 2021.

Five research institutes of the Leibniz Association have joined forces to form the Leibniz Research Network "Knowledge for Sustainable Development". In this way, they bundle their competencies with the aim to further developments in the sustainability sciences and foster societal sustainability transformations.