AESOP is pleased to announce that Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus–Senftenberg, in collaboration with Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), has been selected to host the AESOP Heads of Schools Meeting 2027. The selection was formally approved during the AESOP Council of Representatives meeting held in Helsinki in July 2026.
The meeting will take place in March 2027, with activities hosted across both Cottbus and Berlin, offering participants the opportunity to experience two complementary planning contexts: a region undergoing profound structural transformation and one of Europe's leading metropolitan areas. Exact dates will be announced soon.
Hosts and Organising Team
The meeting will be jointly organised by the Institute of Urban Planning at BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg (lead institution) and the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning at TU Berlin.
The Local Organising Committee is composed of:
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Prof. Dr. Silke Weidner (BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg)
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Prof. Anna Lundqvist (BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg)
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Prof. Christoph Wessling (BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg)
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Prof. Dr. Angela Million (TU Berlin)
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Prof. Dr. Jan Polivka (TU Berlin)
Theme and Objectives
The 2027 Heads of Schools Meeting will be organised around the theme:
"Experiences and Challenges for the Transformation of Cities and Regions – from Periphery to Metropolitan."
The programme will explore how planning schools respond to the diverse challenges of urban and regional transformation by bringing together perspectives from metropolitan centres and peripheral regions. Discussions will focus on planning education, territorial transformation, sustainability, international cooperation, and the evolving role of planning schools in addressing contemporary societal challenges.
The organisers also intend to involve a wide range of academic, professional and public-sector stakeholders, creating opportunities for dialogue between universities, planning practitioners and policy-makers.
Programme and Study Visits
The meeting will begin at BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg, where the Executive Committee and Council of Representatives meetings will be held, followed by the first part of the Heads of Schools programme. Participants will then travel through the Lusatia region, exploring examples of post-mining landscape transformation, urban regeneration and regional development before continuing to Berlin for the second part of the meeting.
Study visits in both Cottbus/Lusatia and Berlin will provide opportunities to discuss planning responses to structural transformation, climate adaptation, urban regeneration, participation, heritage, and innovative planning education through real-world case studies.
More information on the programme, registration and logistics will be shared in the coming months.
AESOP warmly thanks all institutions that submitted excellent proposals to host the 2027 Heads of Schools Meeting and looks forward to welcoming the AESOP community to Germany next spring.
