Co-Creation and Sustainable Urban Planning: Who Co-Creates Sustainable Mobility Solutions at the Neighbourhood Level? Experiences from the Horizon 2020 Project “Sunrise”

Co-creation is applied as a key concept to develop, implement, assess, and facilitate learning about new ways to address urban mobility challenges at the neighbourhood level in the HORIZON 2020 project SUNRISE1(“Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods - Research and Implementation Support in Europe”). SUNRISE’s objective is to contribute to sustainable urban development by stimulating co-creative processes and problem solutions in neighbourhoods in the field of new mobility concepts and new forms of mobility. Towards this aim, six cities (Bremen, Budapest Jerusalem, Malmö Southend on Sea, Thessaloniki) are fostering comprehensive collaborative processes with various actors in specific neighbourhoods with the explicitmandate to implement sustainable mobility solutions. The involvement of different actors is an important aspect and a challenge for co-creation processes. On the one hand, the involvement of residents and other stakeholders in sustainable urban planning is seen aspromising. in terms of achieving better results to improve the adaptability of socio-ecological systems. On the other hand, there are often questions such as: "who is participating?", "how can different actors be reached?" and "what results can be achieved with co-creation?". This paper provides answers to these questions based on experiences from co-creation processes in the SUNRISE project. After defining and embedding the term co-creation in planning theory, this paper gives an overview of the involved actors in the co-creation processes in SUNRISE, the co-creation activities carried out, and the mobility solutions developed on the neighbourhood level. Finally, the challenges of involving various actors in co-creative processes and the opportunities for co-creation when planning sustainable mobility solutions on the neighbourhood level will be discussed

Integrating international student mobility in work-based higher education: The case of Germany

Dual study programs are hybrid forms of work-based higher education that have expanded very rapidly in Germany—a country traditionally considered a key model in both higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET). The continued expansion of these hybrid programs increasingly raises questions if, how, and why they may be internationalized. Although comparative research suggests that this could be challenging due to the uniqueness of the German education and training system, strong forces support internationalization. This study examines the current state and the future prospects of internationalization of such innovative dual study programs by focusing on student mobility, a key dimension of internationalization. We find growing interest in but still relatively little mobility related to dual study programs, whether among German (outgoing) or international (incoming) students. Based on expert interviews and document analysis, we extend existing typologies of student mobility regarding specific features of work-based HE programs. Furthermore, we discuss opportunities—at home and abroad—for increasing student mobility in this rapidly expanding sector

Scarlet fever outbreak in a primary and middle school in Germany: importance of case ascertainment and risk communication

A cluster of 18 scarlet fever cases and large illness absenteeism (32%, 58/184) in a school prompted concern and further investigation. We conducted telephone interviews with parents to ascertain cases and better comprehend parents’ views. We identified 19 cases, of which 13 reported scarlet fever diagnosis by a physician and only seven fulfilled the probable case definition. We concluded that the outbreak was far smaller than suspected and found that communication and reporting could be improved. Accurate information and communication is essential in an outbreak; the school’s concern could have been alleviated sooner and response measures better targeted.Peer Reviewe

Co-Creation in der Stadtplanung - Solidarität und Partizipation 2.0? Erfahrungen aus dem Horizon-2020-Projekt SUNRISE

Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich am Beispiel des Horizon-2020-Projekts SUNRISE mit der Frage, inwieweit Co-Creation als solidarischer Planungsprozess gelten kann. Heterogene AkteurInnen wirken bei Co-Creation kollaborativ zusammen, um neue Lösungen für gesellschaftliche Herausforderungen zu entwickeln. In SUNRISE ist Co-Creation das Schlüsselkonzept für die Entwicklung, Umsetzung und Bewertung von nachhaltigen Mobilitätslösungen auf der Quartiersebene. Als partizipatives, inklusives Konzept kann Co-Creation auch als solidarischer Planungsprozess verstanden werden. Co-Creation ist eine solidarische Praxis, weil sie Beziehungen zwischen AkteurInnen neu herstellt oder bestehende verbessert. Co-Creation entwickelt neue Ideen und Konzepte und setzt diese kollaborativ um; sie schließt damit an den generativen Aspekt von Solidarität an. Die Einbindung aller relevanten AkteurInnen in einen Co-Creation-Prozess ist nicht möglich, sodass Aspekte von Inklusion und Exklusion auftreten.This contribution addresses the question of the extent to which co-creation can be considered a solidary planning process based on the Horizon 2020-project SUNRISE. Co-creation refers to a participatory planning process in which heterogeneous actors collaborate to develop new solutions for societal challenges. In SUNRISE, co-creation is the key concept to develop, implement and evaluate sustainable urban mobility solutions on the neighborhood level. As a participatory and inclusive concept, co-creation can be understood as a solidary planning process. Co-creation is a solidary practice as relations between actors are newly created or intensified. Co-creation develops and implements new ideas and concepts collaboratively, thus connecting to the generative aspect of solidarity. The involvement of all relevant actors in a co-creation process is hardly possible, and thus it generates aspects of inclusion and exclusion

The Covid-19 Pandemic:Continuity and Change in the International Political Economy

As Covid-19 disrupts political and economic arrangements around the world,International Political Economy (IPE) is uniquely positioned to reflect on the pandemic’s global economic and financial impact. To explore what IPE research can bring to the table, we situate state and market crisis responses within patterns of continuity and change in core structures of the international political economy as well as developments in everyday life. Spanning themes from the role of industrial animal farming and global value chains in spreading the virus to how the pandemic affects foreign aid, the politics of IMF aid disbursements, distributional conflicts within the European Union and surveillance capitalism, we outline research agendas for scholars and students of International Relations and International Political Economy to examine the origins, spread and responses to Covid-19 in years to come

First-order magnetic phase-transition of mobile electrons in monolayer MoS2_2

Evidence is presented for a first-order magnetic phase transition in a gated two-dimensional semiconductor, monolayer-MoS$_2$. The phase boundary separates a spin-polarised (ferromagnetic) phase at low electron density and a paramagnetic phase at high electron density. Abrupt changes in the optical response signal an abrupt change in the magnetism. The magnetic order is thereby controlled via the voltage applied to the gate electrode of the device. Accompanying the change in magnetism is a large change in the electron effective mass