CRED Visiting Research Scholar speaks at expert meeting for future Mega-City Funding

CRED Visiting Research Scholar, Dr. Diana Reckien was recently invited to an  Expert Meeting at the  German Federal Ministry for Education and Research  (BMBF) to discuss future research priorities  “Sustainable Development in Rapidly Growing Cities and Regions.” BMBF’s current research priority on  “Future Megacities” (2008-2013) is coming to a close in June 2013 and  future research needs and  challenges need to be formulated for the next  phase of funding. The new call will greatly influence Megacity research  in Europe and elsewhere as the BMBF is one of three main funding bodies  for city research in Germany.

The event comprised an international expert panel of about 10 people from academia, planning, practitioners as well as industry, plus about 5 people from the BMBF and 2 board members of the current research  priority “Future Megacities”. The meeting started off with three keynote  contributions to brand-new research findings and associated research  needs.  One key-note was given by myself and provided an  overview of  climate change policy and planning in European cities; another one  provided insights into the concept and challenges of closed cycles in  cities; and yet another one presented knowledge gaps and research needs  from an urban manager’s/authorities’ perspective in Lagos, Nigeria. The  one-day meeting, held at the 30th of October, was then excessively used  for debate and discussion.  Much it at stake -not only for single researchers, consortia, and the international community- but also for  the planet as a whole.