Research Project

Town & Gown- Better cooperation between cities and research institutions

Project of the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer and the Real-world Lab Urban Office at Heidelberg University, Sub-Project of: Wissens- und Ideentransfer für Innovationen in der öffentlichen Verwaltung (WITI)

Research institutions rely on their regional environment and at the same time strongly influence it. A successful cooperation between research institutions and their cities is central in the knowledge society, but challenging due to different strategic and legal planning horizons.

The five-year project Town & Gown is therefore intended to use current research and selected examples to help improve cooperation between city administrations and local research institutions. The theoretical frame of reference is the triple or quadruple helix model (Etzkowitz & Leydesdorff; Carayannis & Campbell).

In concrete terms, this involves cooperation with regional partners such as the Rhineland-Palatinate Future Initiative (ZIRP), the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (MRN), the City of Heidelberg, the Real-world Lab Urban Office at Heidelberg University and numerous other players. Based on this regional perspective, the aims are to develop and optimise capacities for the mutual transfer of ideas and knowledge and to give practical recommendations for a broader transfer.