Magazine IRS aktuell

This issue of IRS aktuell is dedicated to the activities of the IRS research focus on contemporary history and archives as well as its scholarly collections, which have taken major steps in both directions - citizen science and proactive communication - in recent years. These include, for example, the technically highly sophisticated digitalisation of our collection holdings on GDR building history and the “Stadtwende” research project on initiatives against old town decay in the GDR with its multimedia-based public relations work. more infos

In this issue of IRS aktuell, which was supervised by Matthias Bernt, we devote special attention to the industrially built large housing estates of East German cities and their remarkable change of role: from attractive, modern residential areas to media-stigmatised places of departure and from there to new arrival points of migration. In the aforementioned joint project, the IRS, together with partner institutions in the region, researched the background and practical challenges of this change. Contributions in this issue provide information about the change in municipal integration work, the role of the housing industry and demands on open space planning. more infos

In this issue, we turn our attention to cities and their – possible – role as pioneers of climate policy. The IRS has been researching the spatial dimensions of energy transition for quite some time. Three years ago, the question of climate policy approaches in cities, in Germany as well as in the European context, was added. In the title articles of this issue, we ask which cities are actually becoming active in climate policy, how they are doing it, which historical and structural factors influence the activities, and how current events affect them. more infos

The time when rural areas were written off wholesale is over. However, this image change has been underway for some time. Small rural towns are becoming increasingly attractive. Newcomers and old residents are revitalising villages, sometimes even in structurally weak regions far from the urban centres. Another megatrend is digitalisation. Online shopping and mobile working - now fuelled by the pandemic - have been threatening the "business model" of expensive city centres for some time. At the same time, where connectivity is sufficient, digitalisation supports new working arrangements in rural areas and new forms of social organisation in villages. In the penultimate issue of IRS aktuell (No. 94, "Digital Tools and Visual Media"), we reported on the "Smart Villagers" - the well networked and committed villagers who find socially innovative solutions to the problems of rural areas with digital means, from the village car to the digitally bookable community house. This issue is now dedicated to the question of how innovative, digitally supported solutions for rural areas can be promoted and implemented. more infos

A crisis presents actors with an imminent threat, fundamental uncertainty, and a necessity to act under immense time pressure. Crises can lead into disaster, but they do not necessarily do so. Crises can also be turning points for the better. Notably, they can foster creativity and innovation. In this issue of IRS aktuell we reflect on the current coronavirus crisis, other crises like that experienced by internationally oriented universities under the conditions of Brexit, but also crisis and innovation in general. We also present some key contributions by IRS scholars to contemporary debates about crises. more infos

Digital technologies affect both urban planning and rural development. This issue of IRS aktuell addresses the question, how actors in cities and villages use digital technologies to solve problems and to communicate about planning. From active ruralists who develop village apps to compensate the loss of social infrastructures and services, via urban planners who use digital tools to prognosticate the impacts of development projects, to civil society initiatives who critically engage with visual representations of such projects, it brings together a multitude of insights into research conducted at the IRS. more infos

That the IRS researches spaces and spatiality is well known. In its new research programme “Cities and Regions as Arenas for Action” (2019-2021), the institute focuses on collective conceptual work on “spatio-temporal dynamics”. What does this mean? For the researchers it involves finding out how the diverse objects of research at the IRS manifest, spread, and change in space and time. To this end, theoretical and methodological tools are required: How can one understand time and “temporality”? How do these relate to our established research object, space? By what means can this interrelation be investigated? And finally: What new insights does this perspective bring? more infos

That social disparity is on the rise in our society is largely no longer a matter of dispute. Many analyses and studies even speak of social polarisation, meaning that opposition is increasing while the centre ground is being lost. This social divergence is also spatially evident. Whether it be within urban neighbourhoods or between city and countryside, inequalities are becoming more pronounced. The IRS researches socio-spatial polarisation from a variety of perspectives and, through policy consultation, assists in the search for possibilities for restoring balance. This themed issue examines both of these aspects. more infos

Change is the central hallmark of the world of work. There is hardly a generation that has not experienced upheavals in the ways in which they work – from the introduction of the assembly line to the introduction of paid parental leave for employees. That the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) designated the title “Working Lives of the Future” for Science Year 2018 testifies to a phase of accelerated change and the many open questions about work of the future. The Leibniz Institute for Research on Space and Society isn‘t a classical labour-research institute – so why an issue of “IRS aktuell” on the Science Year? You‘ll find the answer in the following IRS Aktuell. more infos