A question of perspective?

How would migrants design a (more) sustainable city of Mannheim? Would the city benefit from intercultural perspectives? And: Can migrants with academic degrees this way unveil their competencies for the job market? In the BMBF-funded, inter 3 led project "Welcome Perspectives - Migrants4Cities", the city of Mannheim and the Technical University Berlin are looking for answers to these questions. Over the period of two years an urban thinking process is created that focuses on the idea of a climate-friendly and livable city.

Good to have you here: Welcome perspectives for urban development

With an Urban Design Thinking Team, the cosmopolitan city of Mannheim will, for the first time, involve migrants in urban development through nine so called UrbanLabs that start in early 2017. Intercultural win-win situations will become tangible through networking and communication with the urban society. At the same time, the urban design thinking approach will be tested under real-life conditions.

Migrants4Cities: Sustainability from an intercultural perspective

inter 3 performs two tasks in this process: accompanying the design thinking labs designed by TU Berlin in order to assess the potential of migrants as ‘change agents’ and the way this potential can be used. The team also examines how Mannheim’s sustainable urban development approaches and solutions can be adapted by other cities. A pool of partner cities and multipliers is involved in this transfer process.

In the "Migrants4Cities" project inter 3 addresses two insights gained in more than 10 years of transformation research and management: the insufficient mobilization of migrants – or their potential – for sustainable location, urban and regional development as well as one-sidedness and standstill when it comes to developing German sustainable solutions.  

Transformation through transfer: Shaping urban spaces together

Findings on urban design thinking, transformation potential of migrants and knowledge transfer will be summarized and made available for decision-makers and transdiciplinary research teams at the end of the project. A number of tested sustainable urban design prototypes will be provided for trials in other cities.