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January 1th: Start of the project  

Our transfer project (TP) 2 Micromobility and Energy started at the beginning of 2023. It is part of the THALESruhr project at Bochum University of Applied Sciences, which aims to bring university knowledge out of the academic ivory tower and bring research results in the field of sustainability to life in the Ruhr metropolis. The overarching aim is to implement technical, economic and social innovations in the heart of our society for which they were once developed. As part of THALESruhr, Bochum University of Applied Sciences is bringing such topics to society in nine transfer projects and working together with a large number of stakeholders on the vision of the "Greenest Industrial Region in Europe". The individual projects are divided into three areas: "Resilience, Mobility, Energy", "Sustainable Living and Business" and "Production, Planning, Construction". The project topics include efficient land use, resilience to extreme weather events, sustainable construction, climate compensation projects and the redesign of roads in traffic areas. 

By the end of 2027, we as TP2 will work together with citizens to develop needs-oriented micromobility offers with sustainable charging infrastructure and implement them in a real-world laboratory. This real-world laboratory will be continuously evaluated, adapted and improved in an iterative process with the help of citizens. We share our approach, our findings and the evaluation of this project with interested parties from research, business, municipalities and civil society.   

March 7th: Onboarding  

The THALESruhr participants took part in an onboarding session. The nine transfer projects presented their planned measures, networked and tapped into synergy potential.  

June 13th: Kick-off conference 

The official starting point for THALESruhr was the kick-off conference, which took place in radiant sunshine. The day began in the BlueBox at Bochum University of Applied Sciences with a welcome from Katrin Heymann, Head of the International Office and moderator for the day, and from the President of Bochum University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr. Andreas Wytzisk-Arens.  Dr. Dorothea Schostok, head of the department "Sustainable Development, Coordination of Sustainability Strategy NRW, Environmental Trends", also welcomed the audience. After the scientific project manager of the THALESruhr project and Vice-President of Bochum University of Applied Sciences Prof. Dr. Mi-Yong Becker gave her presentation on the THALESruhr project, Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind, Lord Mayor of the City of Wuppertal, followed his rousing input on the transformation of urban spaces towards sustainability. Inspired by these presentations, the event continued with the Gallery Walk, where all transfer projects exhibited their content in the form of posters. One highlight was the Market of Opportunities, where visitors to our stand were able to experience e-micromobility for themselves and ride a pedelec around the university campus, among other things. Our solar-powered Energy Hub for charging light electric vehicles (LEVs) also attracted a lot of attention during the tour. We were also visited at our stand by the Transformation Advisory Board, a committee of experts from education, research, civil society, administration and business who are working on sustainable development in the Ruhr Metropolis. We presented our project content to this committee and received valuable feedback. In addition, visitors to our stand were able to win small prizes on the wheel of fortune and by taking part in our mobility quiz. We were able to gain interesting insights through a survey on the topic of "How did you get here today?".  

August 25th: Bochum Summer of Music 

Together with other THALESruhr members, we presented our project as part of the Bochum Summer of Music. With over 1,000 musicians, the three-day music festival attracted around 150,000 visitors and therefore offered a good opportunity to provide information about our project. When designing our information material, we focused on simple and understandable language. This is because it is particularly important for citizen participation that people interested in mobility from any background and with any prior knowledge can contribute their opinions. In addition, both children and adults were able to put their knowledge of mobility to the test in an age-appropriate way with specially created quizzes. Over the course of the day, we welcomed around 230 people to our stand and had many interesting conversations.

September 10th: Lindener Meile  

We used the "Lindener Meile" city festival to gain a better insight into a peripheral urban area with limited mobility options. The popular festival in Bochum Linden took place for the 11th time this year and attracted many citizens from Linden and other parts of the city. In addition to the stage program, arts and crafts and regional sports clubs, our stand at the colourful family festival also attracted the interest of visitors. The aim of our participation was to talk to visitors about our project. Our questions to the people were: 

• How are citizens in urban peripheral areas with limited mobility options travel?   
• What criticisms, wishes and ideas about mobility in the neighbourhood do residents have? 

The results of an online survey and personal interviews provide an initial basis for planning citizen participation. With over 250 visitors to our stand and 108 completed questionnaires, we were delighted with the high level of participation. We were very pleased with the great curiosity of the visitors about our project. 

November 20th - 21st: DECOMM conference  

On November 20 and 21, we attended the 12th German Conference for Mobility Management DECOMM. Under this year's motto "Lifelong self-determined mobility - mobility management for better mobility for all", 16 themed forums as well as excursions, panel discussions and thought-provoking impulses were offered over two days at the Rheinterrasse in Düsseldorf. In forums such as "Inclusive mobility management" or "Evaluation approaches in mobility management", we were able to gain helpful ideas for the theoretical and practical implementation of our mobility project. In addition to the scientific input in the specialist forums, there was also plenty of opportunity for informal discussions. The evening event in particular was a great opportunity to network with mobility enthusiasts from all over Germany.  

November 29th: Meeting with the Transformation Advisory Board 

We presented our results to date in the transfer project to the Transformation Advisory Board, clarified open questions and received feedback. The meeting gave us an overview of the developments in the other transfer projects.   

December 12th: Christmas Meeting 

As part of the Christmas meeting, new THALESruhr members were welcomed, brief reviews of the individual transfer projects were presented and feedback and opinions on the work in the THALESruhr project were obtained. One result of this exchange is a collective desire for stronger networking between the individual transfer projects to exploit synergies and benefit from the knowledge, opinions and equipment of other THALESians.   

We are currently working on the development of suitable formats and implementation options for citizen participation, which we have planned for April 2024. In addition, we are continuously networking with key players in order to incorporate as many perspectives and interests as possible into the further planning of our project and to strengthen cooperation and transfer with stakeholders. Discussions are also taking place on the selection of the location for our citizen participation and the implementation of the micro-mobility services.