2021-08-23--28 • virtually • Sustainable Mobility in Metropolitan Regions

Category: DAAD Summer School

Postponed Summer School 2021: A Great International Experience with A Cross-Country Cooperation

What a success!

After six weeks full of different speakers on different topics, intensive group works, and commitments the postponed DAAD Virtual Summer School 2021 has come to an end on Friday, December 10, 2021.

This year’s transnational summer school was sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service („Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst“ and organized by the Centre for Logistics and Traffic at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, together with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Earth Institute, of the Columbia University (CU) in New York. The key topic of the summer school was sustainable mobility in metropolitan regions.

Initially planned for holding the summer school in August at the CU, it was held from November 5 to December 10, 2021, online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual format of the event made it easier for students, doctorate candidates, and post-docs from all over the world to participate. We could count 36 participants from 22 different countries!

Every Friday, there were many experts and speakers from science, industry, and the general public who gave talks about four different working fields and several case studies regarding  

  • Urban freight systems and global supply chains
  • Business model innovations in transport and mobility
  • Sustainable cities: low-carbon urban mobility and logistics systems
  • Role of new technologies: electrifications, big data, new modes

Overall, we had 23 speakers who gave insights into the topic of sustainable mobility from different perspectives.

PD Dr. habil. Ani Melkonyan-Gottschalk who is the Executive Director of the Centre for Logistics and Traffic, took the active role of guiding the speakers and participants through all sessions with engaging questions and following up on group works. The lectures by the speakers were the basis and incentives for the participants to develop their own ideas in the working groups. Apart from that, the different academic backgrounds as well as the country of origin of the participants were a perfect basis for developing business model ideas for several countries such as Brazil, China, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Singapore, and many others.

On the final day, every group presented their results. It was exciting to listen to the innovative ideas the groups came up with. However, at the end, the winner group was chosen by the jury with the focus on having the most interesting potential to be developed.

Group 4 was chosen as winner whose idea refers to new delivery methods and business operating models for a green last mile. The group members were from various countries all over the world which was a bit challenging to handle. As a prize, the group will be given the opportunity to publish their results in a scientific journal.

Dr. Jaqueline M. Klopp, the Co-Director Center for Sustainable Urban Development, Earth Institute, CU, took the role of awarding the certificates of participation. Each participant said some words of thank you and how useful the summer school was for them.

The organizers are excited about the fact which impact this summer school has had and which international networks could have been created by the participants within the six weeks. We are sure that these networks will be kept and consolidated in future projects. We wish the participants success for their future ideas which will have a positive impact on regional, national, or global level.

Watch the recorded sessions here: https://ecol-summerschool.net/programme-2021/

Follow the Centre for Logistics and Traffic on LinkedIN.

DAAD Summer School 2021 – Sustainable Mobility in Metropolitan Regions: Best Practices

How can we create future-oriented mobility in metropolitan regions?

The Centre for Logistics and Traffic will organize another transnational summer school this year which is sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service („Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst“). This year‘s summer school is going to be held online together with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development of the Columbia University (CU) in New York from August 23 to August 28, 2021. The key topic of the summer school is sustainable mobility in metropolitan regions.

Urbanization and rapid economic growth have led to increasing traffic and mobility activities in the past years. This development requires efficient and sustainable mobility and logistics concepts. Globally, developed national economies and metropolitan regions put effort in detaching their economic growth from their greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are still difficulties in decarbonizing the mobility sector. Traffic volume is still seen as an indicator for economic activity and prosperity.

Furthermore, the mobility and logistics sectors are inherently linked to each other and use a variety of similar vehicles and infrastructures. With regard to climatic and social challenges, sustainable supply chains become indispensable. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic proves the significance of intact supply chains. Generally, it is expected that the mobility and logistics sector will offer high quality and inexpensive services in an environment of constantly expanding and overloaded urban systems. However, primarily digital transformation which includes platform economies, causes unprecedented disruptions of existing business models.

Due to the persisting pandemic, the summer school will take place virtually. The target groups are students in their graduate studies (preferably in advanced study semesters or with a potential thesis topic), doctoral candidates and post-docs. The aim of the summer school is to develop innovative and sustainable mobility and logistics solutions for metropolitan regions in close cooperation with the participants from all over the world and the lecturers of the UDE and CU. To achieve this, different perspectives and approaches from several research fields will be taught and applied. It is considered that the created networking groups continue existing beyond the summer school.

During the six-day event, the participants shall develop innovative solutions and concepts regarding sustainable mobility in four different working fields. These include the topics

  • global supply chains and transport systems: sustainable governance in innovative transportation systems,
  • urban mobility and logistics: best and worst practices to transform urban mobility systems – lessons learned,
  • business model innovations in transport and mobility: cross-sector experiences, multi-stakeholder cooperation in innovating the sector,
  • technical solutions to transform the transportation and mobility sector towards more sustainable solutions: technology acceptance by industry and users.

Prior to the practical part of the event, there are going to be engaging lectures held by speakers from UDE, CU and other organizations. Also, an accompanying virtual program is an essential part of this year’s summer school to promote the cultural exchange among the participants.

The language of the event is English, and the participation is free of charge. However, there is a participant limit. Detailed information regarding the program and the registration will follow soon.

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