4th IOER Conference “Space & Transformation“
Digitalisation meets Transformative Governance: Towards urban and regional sustainability‽
22/09/2026 – DLGS Summer School (PhD)
23+24/09/2026 – Main Conference
Spatial development today must grapple with complex sustainability challenges. These have accumulated into what is often referred to as a polycrisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion, the restructuring of (post-)industrial economies and territories, as well as growing conflicts over socio-spatial cohesion, inclusion, and democratic stability. All must be addressed simultaneously, while relying on outdated governance and planning systems and contending with limited (transformative) capacities.
Of particular importance in overcoming these challenges is the emerging conjunction of two major trends: digitalisation and transformative governance.
- Digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) are profoundly reshaping how cities and regions are perceived and experienced, as well as how they are conceived, planned and managed. The adoption and diffusion of big data analytics (e.g. data mining, large language models, deep learning models) operating in real time, increasingly linked to causal and/or agent-based system models and various human–machine interfaces, are creating novel conditions for both individual and collective decision-making and interactions. These technologies enable the description and assessment of a wide range of spatiotemporal changes in almost any given situation, but they also raise new questions concerning, for example, participation, accountability, bias and required skills.
- Transformative governance has been developed over the past decade through transdisciplinary interactions between science and society across diverse domains, and is continuously refined through new concepts, approaches, and methods aimed at enabling and facilitating transformative change towards sustainability. Based on systems thinking and ontological diversity such approaches typically involve processes of futuring, co-creation and experimentation. Transformative governance can lead to the redesign of institutions, policies, and practices, often drawing on place as a catalyst. However, it also entails unresolved issues concerning, for instance, representation, legitimacy, and capacity.
Both trends have the potential to substantially alter the orientation and dynamics of spatial change, as well as the effectiveness of societal efforts to steer such change towards sustainability. Yet, they are driven by rather distinct coalitions of interest and currently differ markedly in terms of their reach and impact. So when, where, and how do these trends intersect? Is a convergence under way, or are there inherent conflicts hindering this? What are the potentials and risks involved? And what are the practical examples – and with what results?
The 4th IOER Conference “Space & Transformation” 2026 will focus on these questions. It aims to further explore the relations between digitalisation and transformative governance in research, policy and practice with a view to the diverse urban and regional sustainability innovations urgently required.
In addition, on 22 September, the first day of the IOER Conference, the Dresden Leibniz Graduate School (DLGS)organises its international DLGS Summer School 2026 for doctoral students on the same overall topic.
The conference offers ample space and a diversity of formats for personal interaction and discussion, building on inputs from invited speakers, participants as well as IOER researchers. It is an on-site event hosted at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden in Germany but also provides limited options for online participation in certain sessions.
A detailed call for contributions will follow shortly.