Research projects

The community project 'Experimental Spaces', which is part of the ICUH (InnovationsCommunity Urban Health) project examines barriers to implementation in urban neighbourhoods affected by environmental injustice and tests innovative methods for implementing technical and social innovations for socio-ecological transformation. In the first step, urban neighbourhoods in the old industrial areas Ruhr area and Bremen/Bremerhaven will be identified that are characterized by health disadvantages and whose populations are affected by environmental injustice. This is done by means of multiple burden analyses using the SUHEI (Spatial Urban Health Equity Indicators)-Model and small-scale analyses in the field of active mobility. The SUHEI model serves as a screening tool and integrates existing data on urban stressors such as noise, heat, and air quality, as well as urban resources like green spaces and the vulnerability of the population based on indicators of social status, such as the proportion of citizens receiving SGB II benefits.

In addition to the aforementioned analyses, ongoing planning processes are also identified for the selection of neighborhoods, in which experimental approaches can be tested. Innovative approaches for implementing technical and social innovations will be developed and tested in selected neighborhoods in order to contribute to a socio-ecological transformation.

The focus here is on environmental distribution and procedural justice in the fields of 'active mobility' and 'climate adaptation strategies in the areas of heat and flooding'.

The aim is to derive concrete recommendations in funding frameworks, legal frameworks and local work processes to promote environmental justice.