OpenCultures

How can climate knowledge be translated into sustainable living through design principles which directly support climate adaptation in urban development and spatial planning? The Climate Future Lab ‘Open Planning Cultures. Design Principles for Transformative Spaces (Open Cultures)’ is a trans- and interdisciplinary research consortium that develops solutions for a safe and just climate future. It sets out to disentangle the complex relationship between climate knowledge and the praxis of urban design and sustainable living. Scientists from TU Braunschweig, the Julius Kühn Institute Braunschweig, and the Scientific Centre ‘Genealogy of the Present’ at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg explore in three SubLabs the social, material and symbolic dimensions vital for a climate-sensitive approach to urban design. Working with a decidedly diverse network that includes academic institutions, actors from civil society, urban governance, policy making, and a wide range of practice partners, Open Cultures aims to bridge expert/non-expert divides. Creating new ecologies of knowledge by the fusion and intersection of disciplinary and scientific knowledge with other forms of knowledge. It will develop design principles that can be applied in wider spatial settings within Germany and beyond. With a Living Lab as design-build project, Open Cultures not only establishes a space for inter- and transdisciplinary research, but also works as a site for participatory endeavours, bringing different disciplines and civil society into dialogue in order to understand how climate adaptations can be realized in a sustainable manner. Open Cultures It is funded by the Volkswagenstiftung and the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Sassonia in Germany.