ProPolis – Basics for the Operationalization of PALM-4U – Practicability and Continuation Strategy

German Aerospace Center

The overall funding measure "Urban Climate in Transition 2" aims to further develop the PALM-4U model developed in the first phase into a practical model and to transfer it into an operational mode. PALM-4U should be able to support daily planning work in the urban environment and thus help to take climate change aspects into account appropriately by answering current and future questions on urban climate and for climate change-compatible settlement and open space development.

The research program is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for a period of 36 months. The extensive project consists of three collaborative projects with partners from universities and research institutions, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, and works with various municipalities from all over Germany, including municipal practice partners from the cities of Berlin, Chemnitz, Dresden, Essen, Hamburg, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart.

Within the framework of ProPolis (one of the three collaborative projects of the research project), the practical suitability of the model is tested together with actors from the participating municipalities and a verification strategy as well as a community of practice are developed. The target group consists of planning, controlling and acting actors. With the help of the new urban climate model, they are to be enabled to make statements on the possible effects of structural or climatic changes on urban spaces and situations for municipal, private and commercial planning and decision-making processes.

The project is divided into seven work packages and includes a cross-network workshop concept.

TU Dortmund University is responsible for activities to create a 'user community of practice' and for knowledge transfer. The community of practice forms a central basis for the stabilization of the model application and flanks the technical development work. For this purpose, a stakeholder structure is being established, which will be continuously developed and evaluated together with practice partners. Furthermore, TU Dortmund University coordinates knowledge transfer and model dissemination. In addition, 'user stories' summarize complex application contexts and enable greater impact and awareness among users. For the dissemination of the model into user practice, networking opportunities into national and international projects and networks are being tested.

Another important role is played by the TU Dortmund University in shaping a dialog process between science and practice. Ultimately, the practical suitability of PALM-4U will also be evaluated and further recommendations will be formulated. The central event format is represented by the so-called experimental rooms (ExLabs). A distinction is made between ExLab 1-20, which are conducted on site with individual practice partners, and ExLab A-H, in which thematic focal points are explored in greater depth for several practice partners. The implementation of ExLabs with the involvement of the practice partners is indispensable for a practical test of PALM-4U. While the on-site ExLabs 1-20 serve in particular the collection of experiences with the practical suitability and a deepening of the model application in the planning practice of the practice partners, a large part of the thematic ExLabs will be used primarily in the later course of the project to obtain live feedback for future application fields and users of PALM-4U.

• GERICS: Climate Service Center Germany
• German Institute of Urban Affairs
• GEO-NET Environmental Consulting GmbH
• Dortmund University of Technology - Social Research Center
• Fraunhofer IBP

Municipal practice partners from the cities of Berlin, Bonn, Chemnitz Dresden, Essen, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart.

The division of the consortium into the three modules: Module A (model development), Module B (model validation) and Module C (practical suitability testing) from the first funding phase was retained.

The two Module C consortia KliMoPrax (carried out by sfs, among others) and UseUClim from the first phase have merged for phase two. Thus, ProPolis is to be seen as a continuation of the projects KliMoPrax and UseUClim.

Develop a future-proof and high-performance urban climate model for practical use and a verification strategy for application after the end of the project.

In order to establish PALM-4U as a community model, a Community of Practice (CoP) is being set up in which municipalities and other practical users can network and exchange information. The centerpiece of this activity is the newly established forum, where external interested parties can register in addition to project participants. In the forum you will find announcements, newsletters and general information on the use of PALM-4U. You can discuss content-related questions about the urban climate model with other users as well as with experts from the project. In addition, all training materials and the new user manual will be published in the forum at a later date.

If you are interested in using PALM-4U, you can register in the forum and receive further information.