Since 2020, the interdisciplinary research network has been exploring how cities can get through crises and disasters better and stabilize themselves again quickly on the basis of information and communication technology with a total of almost 17.5 million euros in support from LOEWE. The Technical University of Darmstadt is in charge, the University of Kassel is involved, as is the University of Marburg. The LOEWE committees will decide on further funding for the center in 2025 and 2026 in autumn 2024.

Infrastructure is vulnerable

"After decades without any major existential crises in Germany, we have seen how vulnerable our infrastructures are in recent years with the pandemic, the threat of war, impending problems in the energy supply or even hacker attacks on municipalities," explains Science Minister Angela Dorn. "With emergenCITY, TU Darmstadt, the University of Kassel and Philipps University Marburg have created a research center that plays a prominent pioneering role nationwide."

"The LOEWE Center emergenCITY successfully and excellently establishes a network between basic research and application-oriented research," says LOEWE Program Advisory Board Chairman Prof. Dr. Stefan Treue. "The interim evaluation in fall 2023 proved once again how important this bridge-building is in the field of crisis prevention."

On the part of the University of Kassel, Prof. Dr. Gerrit Hornung and Prof. Dr. Oliver Hohlfeld are involved in emergenCITY with their Research Groups.