Resource Efficiency in Architecture and Planning (REAP)

INTERNATIONAL: REAP is an international Master’s program that has been bringing us, students from over 70 countries around the globe, to Hamburg for the past 14 years. The interactions in our diverse community are special: each individual bringing their culture, values and perceptions and getting familiar with other languages and traditions. With worldwide perspectives, we discuss and compare global issues and work on projects in different geographical, cultural and socioeconomic contexts.

INTERDISCIPLINARY: We are professionals from different disciplines like Architecture, Urban Planning, Geography, Engineering, Political Sciences, Business and Administration, Economics, or Humanities. Together we work in teams, discuss ideas focusing on sustainable planning and urban development and learn from each other and from the inputs of the faculty. Professors and research assistants bring their diverse expertise in forms of lectures and seminars, offering a wide range of possibilities to focus on, targeting the improvement of human activities and living conditions, while respecting the ecology as much as the social and economic prosperity.

INTEGRATIVE: From the first weeks we learn skills to integrate different disciplines into the thinking and planning process. The integrative approach allows us to valorize the multidimensional level of urban contexts, go far beyond the limits of a specific sector, look into further specificities and reflect on synergies between the scopes of Water, Energy, Mobility, Materials, and Urbanism. The project work is the space for applying the learned tools and methods, conducting fact-based and structured analysis, often supported by case studies and expert interviews offering the chance to interact with other researchers and professionals. The outcome of our work is integrating the wide range of knowledge into our concept and designing schemes for incentives and policies to support the desired transformation. Climate change is at the heart of the program, by developing concepts for climate mitigation and adaptation and investigating possibilities and technologies capable of strengthening the climate resilience of urban infrastructures and communities. REAP is about developing solutions based on real life conditions and frameworks, opportunities and challenges and aiming to contribute to a more sustainable and livable environment. It prepares us to be more aware of the economic, ecological and social pressures and to contribute to the efficient use of resources in our professional fields.