The starting point of the project is the hypothesis that both within science and society the vulnerability of urban structures to risks, particularly those associated with global warming, has been underestimated, downplayed or suppressed. Looking for alternative and more realistic perspectives, Jem Bendell's concept of "deep adaptation" comes into focus: He advocates to prepare for the collapse of some of the systems that are currently ordering our lives—and seeing this positively as an opportunity for change.

This change and the resulting challenges we face are primarily not technological, but also social, economic and organizational in nature. Moreover, they are highly interdependent and all-encompassing and require systemic change, profound transformations and adaptations of action. Therefore, it is not about developing technical solutions in isolation, but rather about fundamentally rethinking the way we live, operate, work, travel and interact.

The first six months of the funding period will be dedicated to publish a special issue of the journal SPOOL (TU Delft, Open Access) on the topic of Deep Adaptation. In teaching, students will be taught the importance of systemic change and the necessity of interdisciplinary thinking and acting. In the second half of the funding period an Individual Research Grant will be prepared and submitted to the German Research Foundation (DFG).