Kick-off Resilient City Hub
We are happy to announce that on Wednesday 12 April we brought together important stakeholders for the soft launch of our newest knowledge & Innovation Hub, the Resilient City Hub.
Students from the TU-Delft MSc programme Engineering and Policy Analysis (EPA), staff members from the three LDE universities and members of the municipality of The Hague came together at the new LU campus in The Hague to discuss the resilience of cities as part of the transition towards a circular economy. First steps included figuring out which are the key themes & challenges and what type of research questions can be distilled from them. Formulating these questions and working on them together with students, academics and organisations (companies, governments and so on) lies at the heart of what do at our knowledge and innovation hubs.
Outcomes of the session
During this preliminary phase, we defined the most important challenges which are needed to build a resilient city categorized by using the following three themes:
- Social: How to shift the focus of companies and organisations to a long term focus instead of the here and now focus.
- Legal: We need new legislation that enables start-ups and companies to execute innovative ideas into practices.
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Technical: We need ways to design and make products from waste (and start treating waste as a resource) and we need to design products that can more easily be recycled and last long(er).
Who can join the hub?
- Students from all disciplinary backgrounds as well as PhD students, postdocs etc. are encouraged to join our hub and work together on challenges that are both crucial and urgent when transitioning towards a circle economy. The hub is the chance for them to tackle research questions directly connected to these and more broad resilient related challenges. If you interested in joining our hub or if you require more information, please send an e-mail to hubs@centre-for-sustainability.nl.
- Are you a business, NGO or governmental organisation with a focus on resilience topics related to the Circle Economy? We also welcome you to join our hub by telling us about your most pressing challenges and by letting us know how our students (and staff) can contribute to solving them. We offer many possibilities when it comes to connecting interdisciplinary student groups and academics to all types of organisations and challenges. Through internships, thesis research, short term practical projects (linked to a course or else) or longer term research (PHD or Postdoc positions). . Please send an email to hubs@centre-for-sustainability.nl and discover the possibilities.
More information about the Resilient city hub
Cities of the future are faced with tremendous challenges which require them (us!) to become resilient and circular in order to become sustainable. These urgent societal challenge ask for a strong collaboration between academia, organisations, government and civil society. By bringing and working together with all these actors through our knowledge and innovation hubs, the Centre for Sustainability (CfS) aims to support this transition.