These an other questions were at the centre of the research marketing campaign 'City of the Future' of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Targeted international activities advertised the strengths of Germany as a research and innovation location.
The aim was to promote German solutions abroad, but also to recruit international experts. The campaign focused on the following four topics from a 'City of the Future' perspective:
- Energy, resources and infrastructure systems
- Mobility and movement of goods
- Data, information bases and knowledge transfer
- Interface technologies
Funding and investment opportunities
The campaign provided ten excellent research networks with a platform to present innovative projects for sustainable and smart cities and to win internatioanl partners in five target countries: China, India, Vietnam, Colombia and the US. The marketing activities were accompanied by a roof campaign with central communication measures and events, both in the target countries and in Germany. The networks were funded over a period of 18 months, with € 100,000 each.
Background
The 'City of the Future' had already been in the focus of the national Year of Science 2015. The international research marketing campaign 'City of the Future' built on this from a global perspective. The importance of this thematic area is also reflected in the Federal Government's current High-Tech Strategy 2020, that drafted the future project 'The CO2-Neutral, Energy-efficient and Climate-adapted City'. The activities of the 'City of the Future' campaign were integrated into the overarching initiative 'Research in Germany – Land of Ideas', which promotes Germany as a centre of innovation.
