This PhD summer school focuses on climate change adaptation and flood recovery, with a particular emphasis on strengthening long-term resilience in both urban and rural areas. Floods are among the most disruptive climate-related hazards in Europe, and recent events have shown that flood recovery involves not only technical reconstruction but also broader questions of planning, governance, and long-term resilience.
The summer school uses flood-affected regions as learning environments to examine how recovery decisions are made and how they shape future vulnerability. Drawing on experiences from recent flood disasters, including the Ahr Valley in Germany, the summer school explores what build back better means in practice. Participants will discuss challenges related to land use, reconstruction, governance, and planning, and reflect on how recovery strategies can reduce existing vulnerabilities rather than reproduce them.
The summer school offers a collaborative, transdisciplinary learning environment combining field visits, interactive workshops, and facilitated discussions with experts and regional stakeholders. Participants will compare recovery approaches, reflect on land use and governance challenges, and co-produce knowledge that bridges science and practice. Jointly organized by RPTU Kaiserslautern, TU Dortmund University, and IQIB Germany, the event brings together up to 12 PhD students and practitioners from local administrations, infrastructure operators, and civil protection agencies to engage with flood recovery challenges from multiple perspectives. The aim is to foster mutual learning across science and practice and to support participants in developing critical, context-sensitive perspectives on flood recovery and resilience-building.
The event is linked with TERRAenVISION conference 2026 (https://terraenvision.eu/).
What to expect
With mentoring from experienced scholars in the field, this intense summer school provides a unique opportunity to develop this important and often overlooked niche in the risk cycle.
The research of the summer school will focus on three specific subjects:
- Challenges of recovery from spatial planning perspective
- Motivation versus incentives: private land and flood recovery
- After the flood and recovery: became the affected region more resilient?
Organisation and Scientific Committee
- Dr. Robert Juepner, Dr. Martin Fabisch (RPTU Kaiserslautern University)
- Dr.-Ing. Thomas Hartmann, Ayça Ataç-Studt (TU Dortmund University)
- Bert Droste-Franke, Tanja Nietgen (IQIB, Germany)
- Daniel Gronwald, Patrick Tarrach (THW – German Technical Relief Service)
- Stefan Frank (DB Infra GO – German Railway)
Venue and Contact Information
IQIB – Institute for Qualitative Industrial and Infrastructure Research Kurgartenstraße 1, 53474 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany.
The venue is located in the Ahr Valley region, approximately 30 km south of Bonn and 50 km north of Koblenz. It can be reached easily by train or car from Cologne, Bonn, or Frankfurt. The venue is in reach of Cologne Airport.
Program
| 10 Sept | Morning |
Field excursion in the Ahr River Valley (DB Infra GO, wastewater treatment plant, THW, etc.) |
| Afternoon | ||
| Evening | Barbecue dinner at THW Sinzig | |
| 11 Sept | Morning | Ph.D. Workshop – Group work |
| Afternoon | Presentation and final discussion with stakeholders | |
| Evening | Farewell Dinner |
Fees
There will be no summer school fee. It is expected, that the participants will cover their travelling expenses to the venue as well as the hotel.
How to apply:
If you are interested in intensively participate in the Land4Flood summer school please write a short application with
- Your cv
- PhD. research topic and actual status and
- Motivation
to Prof. Dr. Thomas Hartmann (TU Dortmund University): summerschool.land4flood@gmail.com
Information:
Further Information will be announced at our webpage. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact:
Prof. Dr. Robert Jüpner (RPTU Kaiserslautern): robert.jeupner@rptu.de