The Department of Architecture and Built Environment (ABE) of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Sciences of the Leibniz University Hannover, to establish collaboration on an urban mapping and research project.

The Department of Architecture and Built Environment focuses on interdisciplinary teaching and research in the fields of architectural design and building technology. It offers advanced undergraduate courses in these professional disciplines which has become the first in Eastern China to be accredited by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). In 2021, the Department of Architecture and Built Environment opened the MSc Urbanism and Sustainable Environments, cultivating the talents for urban sustainable transformation.

The Leibniz University Hannover is one of the nine top technical universities in Germany. The Institute for Urban Design and Planning of the Leibniz University Hannover develops international research and teaching on urban patterns in global scale. Led by Prof. Tim Rieniets, the core team of the Department includes two architects Ines Dobosic and Alkistis Tomidou, who have collaborated with Dr Maycon Sedrez since 2015, through research projects and teaching support.

The newly established collaboration will support the MSc Urbanism and Sustainable Environment programme of UNNC, by training master students to gain the ability to systematically analyse urban patterns and spaces in terms of their characteristics, challenges and opportunities. Students’ work will contribute to the development of an online platform – Uuurble – created by the Department of Urban and Spatial Development of the Leibniz University Hannover. The collaboration allows the co-development of teaching and research, while linking local and global urban knowledge.