Zeitz, Jana Friederike

Today, beauty is a marginal topic within the scientific debate on cities. Fundamental questions such as “What constitutes urban beauty?”, “What are its origins?”, “How can planners and designers contribute to its creation?”, and “How did the urban areas that we find appealing evolve?”, largely remain unexplored. ILS scientist Dr. Stefano Cozzolino was a guest expert at a digital event on “Urban beauty beyond the visible and designable” at the “Art University of Isfahan” (Iran). To the report

ILS scientist Dr. Noriko Otsuka holds the position of Specially Appointed Associate Professorship at Osaka University, Japan. She was in Japan for two weeks in January for research activities using the cross-appointment system initiated by Osaka University. The appointment as a faculty member of the Cybermedia Centre, an interdisciplinary research centre, in Osaka University has facilitated the opportunity to exchange knowledge on the field of urban design and mobility, and urban regeneration, as well as educational activities for Master and PhD students. Dr. Otsuka has held this position since 2019 and has played a key role in strengthening international exchanges and creating new project opportunities in German and Japanese academic institutions.

FGB and GUM researchers participated in a 3-day kick-off meeting of the GreenMe project (in Barcelona hosted by Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. GreenMe aims to identify ways in which effective nature-based therapy and a broader green care framework can be scaled-up to improve adult mental health and wellbeing equity while contributing to multiple socio-ecological co-benefits. The consortium consists of 19 partners from eight countries: Spain, Italy, Belgium, UK, Germany, Poland, Sweden and US. The expertise of involved researchers and practitioners ranges from nature-based therapy, health, social sciences, landscape architecture and planning, to communication specialists. ILS leads a WP to develop a methodology for co-creating solutions and guidelines including an EU framework and country-specific schemes for bolstering green care along with an identified community of green care actors. To the project page