On March 16, 2026, the Competence Center Resilient City at the Department of Architecture will host the Designing Resilience conference. From 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., various aspects of urban resilience will be debated. The conference marks the start of the international student competition Designing Resilience Global 2026, which is being organized this year by CEPT University, formerly known as the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, in Ahmedabad, India. The conference is also open to anyone interested in sustainable urban development and resilient cities.

Long-standing involvement of the department in the competition

The competition was initiated in 2014 by the National University of Singapore under the title Designing Resilience in Asian Cities to stimulate discussion on strengthening resilience in the Asia-Pacific region. Ten different universities have the opportunity to exchange innovative ideas and critically examine the challenges of climate protection and urbanization. The Department of Architecture at TU Darmstadt has been successfully participating in the competition since its inception.

How can design enable cities to live with too little and too much

water?

This year, the newly founded Competence Center Resilient City is addressing the challenge posed by the Vishwamitri: During the monsoon season, the river floods the area around the city of Vadodara, which is otherwise characterized by drought and heat. These extremes have been exacerbated by rapid urbanization and the decline in ecological capacity, for example the ability of soils to absorb water and release it slowly. The question that participating students are supposed to find solutions for: What options do cities have for adapting to constantly changing hydro-ecological conditions? The aim is to promote resilience based on ecological function, social justice, and the coexistence of different species, recognizing the river as a dynamic, living system.

Interested?

You can find more details about the event here.

Date: Monday, March 16, 2026
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Lecture hall HR 92, Department of Architecture L301, Campus Lichtwiese

Conference program

12:30 p.m. Welcome and introduction to the topic

1:00 - 1:45 p.m
“Resilient City” - Dimensions of a Challenge
Gül Tücaltan, Global Center on Adaptation\

1:45 - 2:30 p.m.
Research on the “Resilient City”
Prof. Dr. Markus Keck, University of Augsburg Chair of Urban Climate Resilience

2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Coffee break

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Contributions from architecture and landscape architecture to the “resilient city”
Christoph Elsässer, West 8 urban design & landscape architecture b.v.
Mechthild von Puttkamer, Terrabiota Landscape Architects and Urban Planners GmbH

4:30 - 5:00 p.m. Summary and concluding discussion