Michèle Knodt, Joachim Schulze and Frank Hessel presented the “Digital Heinerblock” mission at the Schader Foundation
Making urban resilience a local issue, too, - this is what emergenCITY representatives were promoting at this year’s Darmstadt Transformation Days of the Schader Foundation. In a Sounding Board on March 28, 2025, stakeholders from the fire department, disaster control, police and rescue services as well as representatives of local administration, municipal and state politics and companies came together with experts from political science, computer science and urban planning from the LOEWE research center emergenCITY and the application and transfer center DiReX (Digital Resilience Xchange), which is currently being founded. Together, they discussed the researchers’ measures for the transformation of Darmstadt’s Lichtenbergblock into the resilient urban quarter Heinerblock.
With the Digital Heinerblock mission, emergenCITY is scientifically supporting the implementation of this transformation process. The DiReX transfer center puts the results of the research into practice. The focus is on traffic-calming measures to create more space for social interaction and measures for climate adaptation and crisis prevention. With the advertising pillar 4.0 and a network of sensor boxes, emergenCITY has also developed specified and unique prototypes that use innovative digital technologies to strengthen urban resilience. Transparent communication of these technologies to the residents of the neighborhood and the early participation of the population in decision-making processes are key concerns.
Based on the question what contribution the sensor boxes and the advertising pillar 4.0 can make to local urban resilience, the discussion during the panel revealed that the use of these technologies must be integrated into governance processes. The clear definition of responsibilities, the interaction of various stakeholders and a crisis-proof organization at municipal level form the basis for their successful deployment.
“Resilience is not created on paper. It must be actively practiced and shaped together,” says Michèle Knodt, deputy scientific coordinator of emergenCITY.
The example of the design of the advertising pillar 4.0 clearly shows that it must provide technically reliable, multilingual and low-threshold information and be integrated into a neighborhood in a participatory manner in order to be perceived and accepted as a decisive voice in the information process.
Mission website Digital Heinerblock: www.emergencity.de
Presentation of the advertising pillar 4.0 in Darmstadt: www.emergencity.de/news
Information on the Sounding Board at the Schader Foundation: www.schader-stiftung.de (in German)
