RE-CITY results so far, include three finished PhD theses by. While the first one delivers a highly innovative benchmarking system on shrinking smart that goes beyond the state of the art in the field. It particularly offers a practicable and innovative tool on dealing with urban development for cities. The second thesis delivers innovative ways to revitalize shrinking cities incorporating bio economy in the development. While the third one contributes to broadening the understanding of regrowth. In more detail, the research focuses on the drivers for change and on developing tools grounded in European policies. Additionally, the project sheds light on the currently much discussed situation of migrants in shrinking cities the role of cultural assets for redevelopment, the importance of social capital and path dependency, active citizenship and the uncertainties of governance in a shrinking city and spatial injustice. Additional research is finalized on the role of green infrastructures in shrinking cities, both landscaping and technical installations, strategic planning and their potential for resilience towards climate change.
The Research and Training Programme including local and network wide training events with focused on skills in media production, environmental planning and climate change, land-use, governance and civic involvement as well as theoretical and methodological approaches. Furthermore, it supports the transfer of knowledge through practitioners acting as Talent Coaches, teaching entrepreneurial skills and policy formulation. This approach is also strengthened by the close cooperation with the Stakeholders Committee comprising of high-ranking officials in local, national and international organisations.
The Communication and Dissemination activities followed a detailed strategy for public outputs and publications including a dynamic social media presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and a Blog, as highlighted on the project website. Additionally, the RE-CITY MOOC offers a novel tool of application, which goes beyond the state of the art in urban research and can be used by a range of stakeholders throughout Europe and beyond. It also fosters sustaining the collaboration within the network after the duration of the project. A multimedia release features an interactive tool with concise information on the project and was launched to promote the final conference. Furthermore, the project developed a jointly produced teaching video for schools on shrinking cities to be used in the classroom for teaching at high school level perfectly matching with today‘s requirements of education and will ensure a broad distribution. Apart from the PhD theses, the Edward Elgar handbook on Shrinking Cities, published in 2022, edited by K. Pallagst, E. Cunningham-Sabot, M. Bontje and R. Fleschurz is of of particular importance. It presents novel research results of the consortium to be utilized by a range of stakeholders (planning practitioners, policy makers, students).
