Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik

The German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) – located in Berlin and Cologne – is a research and consultation institution for German cities founded in 1973 on the initiative of the German Association of Cities. The Institute is lead in the form of a non- profit GmbH and employs approximately 180 employees. Difu supports municipalities through practical research, training and consultancy in solving current problems as well as giving support in the development of long-term prospects for a sustainable urban development. As a scientific community facility of German cities, it pays special attention to the continuous exchange of information – with both science and the municipal practice. For this purpose, it provides a broad range of services based on interdisciplinary expertise.

Dipl.-Geographer Luise Willen, Department of Environment, will coordinate the project work of Difu. The department is focusing on climate protection and climate change adaptation in municipalities for years now. The Service and Competence Center: Local Climate Protection (SK: KK) is located here. Other projects of Difu are e. g. KommAKlima (BMUB), Plan4Change (BMUB) and the guidelines ‘Handbuch Stadtklima’ (MKULNV NRW) and ‘Leitfaden Kommunaler Klimaschutz’. From all its departments, Difu continuously transfers practical knowledge to the different fields of work relevant for cities (e. g. KLARIS, Geschäftsstelle National Platform Zukunftsstadt (NPZ), KURAS, WK INIS, Überflutungsvorsorge – Planer im Dialog, iResilience). The institute is highly experienced to meet the complexity of urban tasks in particular by this cross-disciplinary work with close contact to the cities, to advise local administration and politics and to develop practical solutions to tackle the challenges of modern cities.