The TUD knowledge architecture team led by Prof. Jörg Rainer Noennig has received the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This honors the “Urban Collective Design Environment” (U_CODE) project. It enables different stakeholders to be involved in the development of urban spaces and buildings. Last year, thousands of citizens in Dresden took part in digitally redesigning Fritz-Foerster-Platz with the help of U_CODE. The prize is endowed with 50,000 euros.

On the occasion of the announcement of the TUD success and four other award winners, Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek declared: “Europe can only assert itself in the world with excellent joint research. The cooperation across national borders enables an inspiring exchange between the best minds with completely new insights. It demands openness, intercultural communication skills and dedication from every researcher. We are honoring this achievement with this year's Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area. It is important to me to make the latest research findings and methods available to our citizens. I am convinced that the winners with their exciting communication concepts will inspire people for their innovative solutions for a sustainable Europe. "

Prof. Noennig says: “Our team at the Knowledge Architecture Lab is extremely happy about the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize! It confirms that our participation system - which arose from a Horizon2020 research project that was completed in 2019 - is far from having an end in sight. Rather, U_CODE is now really picking up speed: More and more municipalities and institutions are contacting us who want to use the system for their planning and participation projects. Inquiries not only come from all corners of Germany, but reach as far as India and Africa!” And further: “ We are now founding a startup to put U_CODE on a solid footing, to let it grow further and to prepare it for a developing market of digital participation tools . The attention and recognition associated with the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize is of course a strong support for this. In addition, the award - which is awarded for the EU research area - shows that joint efforts by European teams of scientists can lead to powerful products and services that are able to have a significant impact across borders."

Prof. Noennig also explains why his team uses the prize money: “We will use the prize money to carry out a 'digital roadshow' for U_CODE in various German cities. There we want to use the participation tool 'live on site' with planning authorities, schools as well as architecture and urban planning offices for local planning projects, but also to explore the limits of the tool. Because we see other promising use cases and areas of application that have yet to be explored in theory and practice. In order to be able to implement this, we have to carry out extensive basic research at the TU Dresden - so it remains exciting at all points!"

In addition to “U_CODE”, awards are given to projects from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research, the University of Leipzig, the Technical University of Hamburg, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration.

Background:
The Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area has recognized excellent research since 2019 and supports the communication of scientific results to the public. Every two years, the BMBF honors German scientists who take part in the EU framework program for research and achieve exceptional success. And not just with a view to their scientific results, but also with regard to communication to the public. With prize money of around 50,000 euros each, the winners can implement creative communication ideas.

The award is part of the national funding program “Innovation Union Europe”. With this funding program, the BMBF supports European research cooperation and networking. In addition, science communication is promoted through European research projects. The European Research Area becomes tangible and clear through personalities and concrete results from European cooperation.

This year's jury for the Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area includes top-class scientists and well-known personalities from the media sector. From science: the President of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Prof. Andreas Barner, Prof. Birgit Eickelmann from the University of Paderborn, the Director of the German Center for Artificial Intelligence, Prof. Antonio Krüger, and Prof. Christa Liedtke from the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. From the media sector: Korinna Hennig, who is responsible for the science podcast "The Coronavirus Update" with Christian Drosten at NDR Info, and Dr. Jürgen Rink, editor-in-chief of the "ct - magazin für computertechnik".

Information for journalists:
Prof. Jörg Rainer Noennig
Faculty of Architecture
Institute of Buildings and Design
Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture

https://tu-dresden.de/bu/architektur/wa

Link to the website of the BMBF on the "Ralf Dahrendorf Prize for the European Research Area": https://www.bmbf.de/de/ralf-dahrendorf-preis-fuer-den-europaeischen-forschungsraum-7420.html