The core of the Research Forum Global Health is formed by the thematic workshops. In several exchange formats, campaign boosters from art and culture, organized civil society, politics, and administration, as well as economy and science identify current areas of tension in the implementation of urban health in Berlin and derive concrete questions from this, which can be addressed particularly well in the integrated research environment of Berlin. The thematic workshops started in May 2022. The goal of the thematic workshops is to form transdisciplinary partnerships that will continue to work on these future topics in the field of urban health – in the form of scientific research projects or concrete pilot projects that are jointly advanced by scientific and non-scientific stakeholders.

Phase 1 – completed

Phase 1 comprises the kick-off meeting of the Sounding Boards of the Research Forum Global Health on April 26, 2022, and the kick-off meeting of the core group on May 16, 2022. The core group consists of representatives from the fields of art and culture, organized civil society, politics, and administration, as well as economy and science, who continuously accompany the thematic workshops. During the kick-off meeting, the 17 participants used the space to formulate their expectations for the process and outline initial challenges in the implementation of urban health in Berlin.

Phase 2 – completed

Phase 2 included five thematic sprints that took place from June 10 to June 29, 2022. Representatives from the fields of art and culture, organized civil society, politics, and administration, as well as economy and science were asked to name the urgent challenges of urban health in Berlin from their point of view. For each area, a one-day thematic sprint took place in the Private Roof Club at the Oberbaumbrücke. These were professionally moderated. All thematic sprints were structured according to the same pattern. However, for methodological reasons, the results of the previous thematic sprint were not incorporated into the respective subsequent thematic sprint. A total of 66 people participated in the thematic sprints.

Phase 3 – being planned

Phase 3 includes the Markt der Themen [Theme Market], which will take place in Berlin on September 28, 2022. At the Theme Market participants of the kick-off event, the thematic sprints and further interested parties will convene to discuss the urgent tension fields around urban health in Berlin identified during the thematic sprints, to merge questions or to restructure them if necessary. The goal is to formulate very specific questions about current challenges facing urban health in Berlin that are so exciting and promising that they will be worked on further in transdisciplinary partnerships.

Phase 4 – being planned

Phase 4 includes the Markt der Partnerschaften [Partnership Market] (November 23, 2022). The Partnership Market will connect interested parties on specific questions formulated in Phase 3 to collaborate on initial implementation outlines for urban health measures in Berlin. The focus of the measures can be manifold and range from research proposals and the development of an urban health mission statement to exhibitions or specific neighborhood projects. Participants decide for themselves what ideas they want to work on and what resources they bring to the table.

Phase 5 – being planned

In Phase 5, the partnerships established in Phase 4 will continue to work individually on their project ideas and bring them to fruition. To receive support from the Research Forum Global Health project team, the partnerships must be transdisciplinary, i.e., scientific and non-scientific stakeholders must develop and implement their ideas conjointly.

If you have any questions about the thematic workshops or would like to participate, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Nadin Gaasch, Angela Osterheider – Program Managers Research Forum Global Health
Email: globalhealth-forum@berlin-university-alliance.de