Welcome to SPRING!

May 10th 2012 - Luis Felipe Melgarejo from Colombia, who joined the SPRING-programme in 2003, visited his friends and former lecturers on April 23rd in Dortmund. He was on a short visit in Germany as a preselected candidate for the International Climate Protection Fellowship, a programme initiated by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His proposal deals with the topic of regional governance of climate change hazards and methods for rapid shelter assessment. Luis Felipe Melgarejo took the chance and presented it to the current SPRING-students and lecturers. His project was finally selected and will start in autumn this year. 
After completing SPRING, Luis Felipe Melgarejo worked as a GIZ advisor on peacebuilding, governance and conflict transformation in Colombia. Recently his research and consultancy work focuses on the challenges of regional planning for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries.

• More: International Climate Protection Fellowship

April 11th 2012 – In March the former SPRING student Julio Estrada (Batch 2006/07) used his invitation to a conference in Lüneburg for a brief visit in Dortmund. After completing the SPRING programme he started working as regional planner in the Regional and Land Use Planning Department, the governmental planning institution of Guatemala. During his stopover in Dortmund he shared his practical experiences in regional planning and presented a proposal for a 2013 Conference where former SPRING students will discuss relevant urban planning topics.

• more: Report of Julio Estrada 

April 4th 2012 - During March 27th and 30th the current SPRING batch visited Berlin. The 22 students were accompanied by two staff members of the ISPC. Together they discovered old and new sites of the German capital in a number of guided tours and sight visits. Of course this included a visit to to the "Reichstag", the German Parliament building, as well as the "Prenzlauer Berg" and the former royal city of Potsdam. Other items of the programme were a discussion at the Berlin-Brandenburg Department for Intergovernmental Cooperation in Regional Planning and a presentation on Capital-City Planning at the Senate of Urban Development.

• more: Photo Gallery