Facing climate emergency: a transdisciplinary, cross-institutional approach for built environment higher education

Higher education is essential for equipping architects, engineers and professionals in the built environment sector to tackle the challenges of climate change. To address the multifaceted nature of societal transition effectively, we highlight two key aspects: firstly, we assert that governmental frameworks, regulatory agencies and construction and planning authorities will play a pivotal role in the successful transition. Secondly, we highlight the importance of addressing not only future planners, but also the current active workforce, in order to contribute to an adequate response to the upcoming global changes. In this study, we critically examine the approach of the Public Planning Lab, a postgraduate interdisciplinary seminar at the Technical University of Munich, dedicated to training future civil servants of built environment authorities. We argue that universities can provide the scientific expertise and innovative approaches necessary for high-quality training programs by fostering transdisciplinary formats in a cross-institutional approach and an experimental culture. By analyzing the program and compiling suggestions for further development, we hope to contribute to the debate with a concept of higher education that can offer mutual gains to all parties involved, including students, trainees and built environment authorities.