As part of the academic symposium, KoMet invited participants in the Metropolitan Innovation Summit Ruhr 2022 and members of the interested public to Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) on September 3, 2022, for an in-depth discussion of metropolitan innovation ecosystems in the context of the sustainability transition from the perspective of (transformative) research.
The day began with opening remarks and an introduction by Uta Hohn (KoMet Spokesperson/Urban and Metropolitan Studies Group, RUB), Martin Paul (President of Ruhr University Bochum), and Matthias Kiese (KoMet Research Area Knowledge Metropolises/Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences/Urban and Regional Economics Group). In their remarks, the professors emphasized the importance of mutual learning and interregional knowledge exchange among researchers from universities and research institutes, as well as cooperation with practitioners from the field, for the success of a sustainability transformation originating from the respective innovation ecosystems.
Maryann Feldman (Arizona State University, Phoenix) kicked off the symposium. In her keynote address, “Innovation for Urban Resilience in the Desert,” she focused on the innovation ecosystem of the Phoenix/Arizona desert region in the United States and the challenges there for a transition toward greater sustainability. Following this, Andreas Löschel (Environmental/Resource Economics and Sustainability, RUB), Ray Gastil (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Remaking Cities Institute), and the plenary, moderated by Stefan Gärtner (Institute for Work and Technology), discussed issues of governance and leadership in metropolitan sustainability transformations, taking into account different scales of action. Following this, early-career researchers from RUB and the University of Tsukuba in Japan, moderated by Judith Wiemann (Urban and Regional Economics Working Group, RUB), presented their doctoral research projects in five-minute pitch presentations. The presentations, which had been selected in advance through a call for presentation proposals, were very diverse in content and covered a wide range of topics related to the sustainable transformation of metropolitan areas. The early-career researchers used the Academic Symposium as an opportunity to present their research projects to a larger audience as a prerequisite for their international and interdisciplinary networking.
In conclusion, Matthias Kiese summarized key findings from the Metropolitan Innovation Summit and the academic symposium and highlighted opportunities for international comparative research. The academic symposium has now provided an initial impetus in this regard. Following the event, participants will come together to explore potential joint research activities in the field of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary metropolitan research.
