DLU Scientific Values

In one of our first meetings as a department, we collectively defined a set of scientific values and working culture priorities to guide our research. These are reviewed and updated regularly.

As a department, we place inclusivity at the forefront of our research. This includes co-production and co-integration of knowledge with communities, attention to power and resource asymmetries in knowledge production, and making efforts to communicate our research in ways that reach different stakeholders and with respect for the contributions of everyone involved.

As a department, we see diversity as critical to our science. This includes combining different fields, perspectives, and other forms of knowledge (e.g. art, oral traditions) with common aims in the study of urban and land use co-evolution, as well as recognising the epistemic value of research conducted in different linguistic, cultural, and geographic contexts. Further, promoting and maintaining gender balance and ensuring equality across diverse backgrounds are key priorities for us.

As part of the inherent challenges of Geoanthropology, we seek to link local stakeholders from around the globe. It is critical that we give back to the communities in which we work, but also on local, regional, and national levels, so that German taxpayers understand what we do, feel its relevance, and can support our work.

We are, in a sense, a multilocal community: our science and hiring practices connect people and ideas across many places.

The DLU is committed to open science, data accessibility, and FAIR principles (e.g. through its flagship URBank database (https://urbank.earth)), as well as to transparent, well-documented, and reproducible research practices.

We also seek to impart knowledge and to communicate our research to the broader public through various avenues including social media platforms, events, and new tools (e.g. gamified modelling).

While we seek coherence in addressing key questions, we also pride ourselves on dynamism, where our research changes and shifts depending on findings, critical reflection, and emerging global challenges.

As a department, we aim to be curious and creative. We want to be ‘scientific influencers’, passionate about the work we do and believing that we bring new perspectives that can advance urban and land use research both inside and outside academia.

We strive to find and maintain that passion for our research topics and projects. If we cannot find the love for our project, we should do it differently.

‘Innovation’ can be daunting, but we are all passionate about the work we do and believe we bring new perspectives that can make advances.

We are collaborative and comparative, aiming to act as a hub for urban and land use research across space and time through the construction of databases, hosting of workshops, and stimulation of new research fields. The way we ‘co-evolve’ as a team mirrors our study of co-evolving land use and urban (and non-urban) systems.

As a department, we want to continuously question ‘categories’ and their applications around the world. This includes ‘urbanism’ and ‘land use’ and what they mean in different contexts and to different people.

We believe it is essential that our research is usable, relevant, and capable of driving real change. We are passionate about ensuring that our work not only reaches the communities we engage with but also informs policy-making bodies. Our goal is to contribute to policy development and support decision-making processes through the knowledge gained from our research and our collaborations.