Working Together for a Sustainable Transformation in Construction
The University of Siegen and Architects for Future Deutschland e.V. are strengthening their collaboration to promote a climate- and resource-friendly transformation of the construction industry. As part of the “Future Curricula Circuit Training” summer school, University Rector Prof. Dr. Stefanie Reese and Leon Beck, Executive Director of Architects for Future, signed a cooperation agreement titled “Working Together to Advance Sustainable Teaching and Research in the Context of the Construction Transition.” The collaboration stems from funding provided by the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education for the university network “Together for the Construction Transition.” The network will receive approximately 222,000 euros in funding for a period of three years beginning October 1, 2026. The grant recipient is Architects for Future; the project is led by architecture professor Jan Kampshoff (Department of Spatial Conceptualization and Design) from the University of Siegen.
“The construction transition is a key challenge for the future that we can only tackle together. Through this collaboration and the coordination of the university network, we are creating the essential conditions for permanently embedding sustainable perspectives in teaching, research, and knowledge transfer,” said Rector Prof. Dr. Stefanie Reese.
The university network “Together for the Construction Transition,” which has been in existence since 2024, brings together around 100 faculty members from more than 40 universities in German-speaking countries. It promotes exchange in architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, spatial planning, and civil engineering. The goal is to further develop sustainability-related content, cooperative teaching and learning methods, and cross-university knowledge transfer processes.
The funding enables the establishment of an institutionally anchored coordination office, regular digital and in-person exchange formats, and thematic working groups. Planned formats include lecture series, network meetings, workshops, and the online format “Vernetze Lehre” (Networked Teaching). Results are to be systematically documented in the future and incorporated, among other things, into teaching materials, handouts, and recommendations for the higher education sector.
The cooperation paper explicitly builds on the Dresden Declaration of the Conference of Deans and Department Chairs for Architecture, Spatial Planning, and Landscape Architecture in the Federal Republic of Germany. The partners aim to strategically advance sustainable architecture and planning education, strengthen the transfer of knowledge between universities, the planning profession, and civil society, and highlight innovative approaches.
The signing was preceded by a joint tour of the Summer School, during which interim results were presented. Afterward, approximately 70 faculty members and students discussed “Structures and Organizations in Motion” and the future of architecture education with Prof. Mario Tvrtković, member of the Executive Board and Scientific Secretary of the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning (DASL); Teresa Immler, President of Nexture plus e.V.; Katja Domschky, President of the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Architects, and Leon Beck (Board Member of A4F) about “Structures and Organizations in Motion” and the future of architectural education.
Background
Architects for Future is a nonprofit organization and independent movement within the construction sector that advocates for an ecological and socially just transition in construction. The university network is an initiative of Architects for Future Deutschland e.V. and is committed to firmly embedding a climate- and socially-just transformation of the construction sector in university education. It brings together stakeholders from academia, the planning profession, and civil society.
