LENZSIEDLUNG e.V. - Association for children, youth and community

Self-description of the partner

With the experience of over 40 years of practical support services in the neighborhood and the never-ending curiosity to find new and innovative ways to and with people, Lenzsiedlung e.V. is on the path between human crises and order - the right path, so to speak. Together with the staff, people of all ages find a place for leisure activities, problem solving, muse, activities, increasing knowledge and community spirit.

Challenge: Capturing the dimensions of climate resilience

The Lenzsiedlung e.V. association focuses on the connection between social work and climate protection. Initially, efforts focused on making the association itself climate-neutral, based solely on its activities. In the long term, however, the aim is to support the Lenzsiedlung, with its more than 3,000 residents from over 60 nations, in becoming climate resilient. Climate resilience refers to the ability to cushion the effects of climate change and the consequences of climate protection measures. Heatwaves, sudden heavy rainfall events, rising energy costs and changing urban (mobility) infrastructures are examples of phenomena that can lead to severe stress for residents.

Aim of the challenge

The challenge is to capture the important dimensions of climate resilience in the Lenzsiedlung, first conceptually and then, if possible, at the household level. It could also be about using tools to enable residents themselves to understand their vulnerability to climate change and climate protection measures and to increase their own climate resilience. It would be desirable to develop these tools together with the residents in a participatory process. Tools can be both digital and analog. This promotes students' data literacy skills, enabling them to convert a complex target variable (climate resilience) into something measurable and intuitively understandable in a context-adapted manner. They also learn in which situations digital tools are suitable and in which analog tools must at least be offered as a supplement. They also learn how to handle extremely sensitive personal and household data confidentially.

Provision of data & infrastructure

The data would have to be collected. Any infrastructure cannot be provided. Prof. Dr. Anita Engels in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, is available for technical support.

Expected competencies of teachers and students

It would be desirable to have a team consisting of social sciences / ethnology, climate research, computer science and possibly other fields of knowledge. The students must be able to move respectfully, openly and informally in a very diverse social environment.

Project duration

Two semesters.