News about any potential excursions will be posted here in the future. Stay tuned!

DE-US.net in Washington, D.C. in July 2018!

A German delegation of DE-US.net members from the Helmholtz Centre for Enviromental Research - UFZ, German Environment Agency (UBA) and representatives of the three SMEs JenaGeos, Quaas Stadtplaner and Die Kommunikatisten met in 2018 in D.C. for a series of events to meet with old and new partners and interested parties into "Building the City of Tomorrow" to be sustainable, resilient and healthy.

German SME partners in DE-US.net Dr. Kersten Roselt, JenaGeos and Ingo Quaas, Quaas Stadtplaner meet with Colin Cathcart, Kiss + Cathcart Architects - giving the prelude of the DE-US.net events in Washington D.C.

Representing the EnergieWerkStadt consortium, Kersten and Ingo will facilitate with Colin joint collaboration projects, in particular toward "Innovations Highways" in the US State of New York and the German State of Thuringia.

Excursion to Regeneration Examples in Alexandria, VA

The City of Alexandria, Arlington County and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission started a restoration effort focused on naturalizing the banks along the corridor and improving access to the stream through overlooks and terracing; replace rip-rap stone along the banks with native plants; create living shorelines, which are small breakwaters built from stone with wetland plants behind them, on the Arlington side; the existing asphalt trail adjacent to Four Mile Run will be completely rebuilt to current standards, including a new sub-base and asphalt surface; New trail railings and a new observation platform will be installed; restore the tidal wetland condition in Four Mile Run Park on the Alexandria side. 

• 07:45    Leave by bus from The Pod Hotel, 627 H St. NW, 20001 Washington, D.C.
• 08:50    Arrive at 301 King Street, Alexandria VA, Alexandria City Hall, Sister Cities Conference Room 1101
• 09:00    Welcome/Introduction
  
• 09:05    Overview of Alexandria activities
  
  • Dana Wedeles, City of Alexandria VA, Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities
  • Ellen Eggerton, City of Alexandria VA, Sustainability Coordinator
  • Richard Lawrence, City of Alexandria VA, Planning and Zoning 
  • Aileen Winquist. Arlington County
• 09:45    Overview of German projects in Thuringia
  
  • Dr. Kersten Roselt, JenaGeos
  • Ingo Quaas, Quaas Stadtplaner
• 09:55    Question and answer
• 10:30    Depart for 4MR for site visit
• 11:45    Close and return to Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, July 17 at U.S. Green Building Council, 2101 L St NW #500, Washington, DC 20037, USA

13:30     Part I: Where have we started and what has been achieved over the last 25 years?

• Facilitated by Annette Gatchett, each presenter reflects in a ca 15 min talk (one key topics meaningful for collaboration - referring to Challenges at the beginning | Policy strategy | Public awareness | Environmental legislation | Public financing | Strategic research | Future challenges as of today | Key areas for international collaboration | …)

• US perspectives, including:
  

  • Susan Julius\ Keely Maxwell\ Britta Bierwagen, US EPA “Research to support multi-sector adaptation pathways for future resilient communities”

  • Dale Medearis, NVRC "Planning climate resilient communities in Northern Virginia through US-German policy transfer partnership"

• German perspective, including:
  

  • Detlef Grimski, UBA “Land recycling in Germany – Reviewing the past and looking into the future”

  • Kersten Roselt, JenaGeos "Smood - Smart Neighborhood: A new initiative for systemic value adding in energy conversion of residential neighborhoods"

15:30     Part II: Key Lessons Learned from 25 years of bilateral collaboration and main challenges for the future

Facilitated by Stephan Bartke, UFZ/UBA: Identification of and discussion in groups on priority topics to deal with in the future. These priority topics will be discussed in further detail on the next day.

Wednesday, July 18 at U.S. Green Building Council, 2101 L St NW #500, Washington, DC 20037, USA

09:00     Part III: Preparing the next phase of collaboration

Discussion in group(s) about how to deal with priority topics. What can be achieved in our team? Who are new strategic partners? What are specific next steps of collaboration?  What outcomes are expected from the collaboration?

12:00     Close

Wednesday, July 18, 14:00 - meeting at 475 Long Bridge Dr., Arlington, VA 22202

Long Bridge Park has been cleaned and transformed from an 1890 brickyard, former scrap yard with over 100 years of industrial operations to meet community needs for playing fields and park/natural space in a developed area of Arlington Virginia just south of Washington DC. 

Learn more about this site and the next phases of revitalization from Arlington consultants and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality staff!

You can see this here:

http://www.de-us.net/webinar.html

https://deus.clickmeeting.com/resources-for-the-future

Motivation

• More than at anytime in history, urbanization is the dominant environmental, economic and social challenge determining whether earth stays on a sustainable trajectory. Cities in the US and Europe are at the center of efforts to promote resilient infrastructure, employment opportunities, healthy communities and feed their populations.
• Building the „City of Tomorrow“ and promoting resilient cities highlight the importance of joint scientific, technical and policy cooperation at the metropolitan level between the US and Europe. This is especially the case with investments into resiliency with public funds and support for outcome-oriented integrated approaches in planning and urban development for more sustainable and resilient communities.
• This call is reinforced in urban development strategies, such as the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III), the Urban Agenda for the EU or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• In a workshop at the German embassy in Washington D.C., we will focus on the strategic approaches and research needs identified in Germany and the US in order to improve them and exploit synergies through future collaboration.
• This special event is facilitated by DE-US.net – www.de-us.net – and INSPIRATION – www.inspiration-agenda.eu. We invite representatives from municipalities, academia provide solutions for sustainable and better living in the city of tomorrow.

Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes

• Review of shared strategic research demands on urban resiliency in the US and Germany – Presentation of current strategies and agendas
• Exchange about specific collaboration topics – All participants share their prior collaboration topics (e.g. a specific research question or follow-up on a cooperation project or a topic from their local development strategy …)
• Identification of topics of common interest to strengthen transatlantic applied research on urban resiliency - Identification of topics where synergies of collaboration are likely
• Prepare development of concrete project collaborations by reviewing experience on success and failure stories and collect available funding formats
• Merging topics and formats: Deriving joint activities and clarify next steps

Thursday, July 19 at German Embassy, 4645 Reservoir Rd NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA

09:00 - 09:10    Meeting and registration at entrance of the Embassy - Going to meeting room as a group.

09:15   Welcome – Tour de Table

• Welcome by Science & Technology at German Embassy – t.b.c.
• Welcome by Stephan Bartke, Coordinator of DE-US.net

09:30   Strategic Research Demands on Urban Resiliency in the US and Germany

• Review status quo
  • Germany
    • Detlef Grimski, UBA: INSPIRATION – Integrated Spatial Planning, Land Use and Soil Management Strategic Research Agenda for Europe
    • Reimund Schwarze, UFZ: UFZ-Strategy 2025 Safeguarding the Future - Research for the Environment
    • Stephan Bartke, UBA: German Environment Agency Research Agenda: Environmentally-Oriented Urban Development
  • USA
    • Annette Gatchett, Director, NCEA Cincinnati Division: US EPA
    • Colin M. Cathcart, kiss & cathcart architects, Brooklyn, NY
    • Dale Medearis, Northern Virginia Region Commission, George Mason University
    • Doug MacCourt, Rosette LLP
    • John Motloch, Sustainable Communities Institute
    • Peter B. Meyer, University of Louisville and E.P. Systems Group, Inc.
    • Sarah Sieloff, CCLR - Center for Creative Land Recycling

11:30   Getting into details: Exchange about specific collaboration topics

• All participants are invited to share in a maximum 3 minute pitch their priority collaboration topic (e.g. a specific research question or follow-up on a cooperation project or a topic from their local development strategy…)

12:30   Lunch

13:30   Reviewing cooperation experiences - Examples of ACGUSA

• Panel discussion facilitated by Robin Cammarota, Program Director and Digital Strategist, American Council on Germany
  
  • topics
  • success/failure factor and lessons learnt
  • formats
• Speakers include
  
  • Dale Medearis, Northern Virginia Region Commission
  • Jeremy Bedine, Gridlion

14:45   Perspectives for future collaboration

• Matching interests regarding identified topics
• Available funding formats - exchange of experiences
• DE-US.net platform as communication and exchange hub

16:00   Closing

Motivation

This is a meeting of early and advanced career scientists. We involve scientists and researchers from universities, agencies, think tanks to exchange and look at research outcomes, frontlines and collaboration interests, etc.

Resources For the Future, 1616 P St NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA, 7th Floor

8:30 ct    Breakfast and registration

9:00       Welcome

Short presentations by hosts of event setting the scene.

• Ann Bartuska, Vice President RFF Land, Water and Nature (LWN) Program: Welcome to RFF
• Annette Gatchett, EPA: The history of US-German Bilateral Working Group
• Stephan Bartke, UFZ/UBA: A short introduction of the DE-US.net Platform
• Q+A round

9:30       Short research talks

Facilitated by Margaret Walls, RFF, inputs will examplify research frontlines in the US and Germany by illustrating specific focus topics, achieved and expected outcomes, potential challenges and collaboration interests.

Confirmed presenters include:

• Reimund Schwarze, UFZ and European University Viadrina
  "Using Fulbright support for climate and extreme events risk research"
• Detlef Grimski, German Environment Agency
  "Stakeholder needs for research for sustainable land-use"
• Britta Bierwagen, US Environmental Protection Agency
  "Community Resilience Research at EPA"
• Allison Reilly, University of Maryland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  "Repeated disasters and the costs for FEMA: Insights from the Public Assistance Program"
• Kris Wernstedt, Virginia Tech Urban Planning
  "The Risk of Resilience"
• Leidy Klotz, University of Virginia VA Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture
  "Nudging Designers: Choice Architecture for More Resilient Infrastructure"
• Mike Gerst, University of Maryland, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center
  "Development of Resilience Indicators in Maryland Communities"
• Casey Wichman, Resources For the Future
  "Who pays to replace water infrastructure in the U.S.?"

11:00     Break

11:15     Panel debate

Facilitated by Stephan Bartke (UFZ and UBA), the panel will discuss and conclude on the emerging picture of research frontlines in the US and Germany regarding "Building the City of Tomorrow”, highlighting German - US research collaboration potentials.

Panalists include

• Annette Gatchett, EPA
• Joseph Schilling, Urban Institute
• Margaret Walls, Resources For the Future
• Reimund Schwarze, UFZ and European University Viadrina

12:15     Informal exchange and lunch snacks

Participants are invited for a buffet lunch to facilitate personal exchange and matching in informal atmosphere