Berlin is growing unexpectedly dynamically. The city’s infrastructure is not yet prepared for this. The increasing number of conflicts over space and use show that the design of the city needs a productive and understanding-oriented discussion of different social interest groups in order to develop sustainable solutions. The major transformations caused by urbanization and climate change are also placing new demands on science and universities. In addition to research on the current situation, todays problem areas and the development of viable future scenarios, it is important to develop concepts, initiatives, instruments and measures that help shape the necessary transformation.

It is essential to Berlin’s future to adapt the transit infrastructure to future needs, to implement solutions to assist with the integration of migrants, to sustainably shape increasing tourism, and to provide residents with housing suited to their needs. The transdisciplinary project “ New Urban Agenda Berlin” aimed to contribute to understanding the current and future challenges of the growing city as well as achieve a consensus-oriented dialog among the various social interest groups.  Trialogs and trialog-based project groups – in which stakeholders from public policy and administration, organized civil society, local industry, and academia participate – were be used to develop concrete transdisciplinary strategies for action and new impulses for the Berlin urban community.

During the two-year project duration (2018 to 2020) the TU Berlin worked with the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform to hold four trialogs and four trialog-based project groups on the city’s challenges in mobility, migration, housing, and tourism. The transdisciplinary process was actively accompanied – from defining a field of action or research question to the development of a concrete project design through to the project’s implementation. The project aimed to reveal the current need for research and generate new discoveries and knowledge through mutual understanding to determine different options for taking action and then further develop and test these in pilot projects.

Predecessor project:

As part of the trialogue series “City Awakening: For future infrastructures” (2016), actors from urban society discussed with scientists in order to arrive at transdisciplinary-oriented questions and project ideas. Transdisciplinary trialogues were jointly developed by the Technical University of Berlin and the HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA Governance Platform in order to create a suitable method for the much-discussed demands for societal connectivity of research through transdisciplinary work. As part of the Trialog series, actors from urban society discussed with scientists in order to arrive at transdisciplinary-oriented questions and project ideas. As part of the project, a total of four trialogues were prepared and carried out for the TU Berlin over a period of eleven months (February 2016 – December 2016). You can find more information about the joint activities to expand and promote the transdisciplinary research principle at TU Berlin here. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christine Ahrend, Vice President of the TU Berlin talks here about the added value of the Trialogs for transdisciplinary research.