Build4People

Build4People is thrilled to announce that from 01 September 2025, its concluding two-year Implementation phase will begin. Under the guiding principle of the so-called Twin Transformation the Build4People project will use digital technologies and data purposefully to advance sustainability goals. More specifically, we aim to use the potential of digitalization to promote participatory, inclusive and sustainable urban transformation by supporting the Phnom Penh municipality to connect its existing green and smart city strategies.

In this context Build4People will build upon its most successful transdisciplinary transformative format of the past RD phase and facilitate the implementation of the so-called B4P Transformation Toolbox. Already during RD phase, a toolbox prototype has been developed as a tangible integrative output of the Ecocity Transition Labs series conducted in 2022, 2023, 2024 to foster innovative practices and alternative visions with Phnom Penh municipality and local developer companies within a collective learning system. This format particularly served to test locally adapted criteria, guidelines and strategies of sustainable neighbourhood development with the aims of reducing environmental costs, increasing urban resilience, and making sustainability measurable as well as on a more general level of strengthening the implementation power and regulatory role of Phnom Penh municipality.

The final aim is to implement the B4P Transformation Toolbox as a comprehensive digital planning instrument and as inter-active online information-, public participation-, technology-, and learning platform that enables evidence-based data driven decisions towards sustainability and enhanced quality of life.

Implementation will happen during four distinct phases:

• Exploration (3 months: September till December 2025)
• Testing (6 months: January till August 2026)
• Comprehensive implementation (6 months: September 2026 till May 2027)
• Expansion and Scaling-up (3 months: June till August 2027)

Implementation will get facilitated by a) two B4P Transition Manufactories as integrated one-week workshops on the ground to test and to apply innovative digital planning tools in regard of specific neighbourhoods in Phnom Penh b) Train-the-Trainer sessions, to empower local stakeholders with technical and implementation knowledge, c) Multi-Stakeholder Policy Dialogue Workshops to establish the digital tools within the national governance framework and to replicate them to other Cambodian cities to empower local stakeholders with procedural and dissemination competencies, d) the infusion of the collective transformative knowledge to the curricula of local partner universities as long-term impact.

After the ending of the funding from the German government, the further operation of the Build4People products shall be taken over by the recently founded Phnom Penh Smart City Hub. 

Finally, an overall aim of the Implementation phase is a formative accompanying process evaluation of the implementation activities with the aim to optimize ongoing processes, to promote replicability and ultimately to achieve and to disseminate lasting transformative learning effects.

Last but not least, we would also like to announce a change in the consortium lead of Build4People for administrative reasons: From 01 September 2025, Hildesheim University will take over from Hamburg University and will be responsible for the Work Packages “Sustainable Urban Transformation” and “Coordination, Communication and Dissemination”. 

Build4People is very proud to publish the fourth B4P Snapshot Interview. This time, we welcome Dr. Stephan Anders from the German Building Council (DGNB). He is the Director of Network and Consulting department at the DGNB, a non-profit organization and Europe’s largest network to foster sustainable building as well as sustainable urban transformation in the building industry.

The interview offers insights into DGNB’s general work approach to promote sustainable urban neighborhoods. Furthermore, he explains, how the DGNB is cooperating with Build4People and the Phnom Penh Capital Hall (PPCH) to develop sustainable urban neighborhood criteria. Specifically, these criteria are meant to reduce environmental costs, to increase urban resilience, and to make sustainability measurable.  On a more general level, these criteria shall contribute to strengthen the implementation power and regulatory role of PPCH.

During the interview he describes, how such cooperation processes can be implemented successfully and these offer positive benefits for all participants. Adapting those processes to local conditions and cultural differences thereby mirrors the people-centered approach of Build4People, where transformation is thought as a holistic process, that should include everyone of the society. 

Finally, it has to be mentioned that the neighbourbood evaluation criteria Build4People has developed in close cooperation with DGNB have become integral part  of the final output product of the Build4People Research and Development phase: the Build4People Transformation Toolbox.

Build4People would thus like to sincerely thank Dr. Stephan Anders as well as the DGNB again for their valuable contribution to the B4P Transformation Toolbox, and is looking very much forward to our next chapter of our joint work: the 2-year Build4People Implementation Phase.

#Build4People #BMFTR_SUREregions #sustainableurbantransformation #sustainablebuilding #sustainableurbanneighbourhoods #sustainabilitycriteria #measuringsustainable #earlyplanningstagescriteria 

Build4People is very happy about this milestone and would like to take the opportunity to sincerely thank all supporters of this meaningful project.

To facilitate science-society transfer and to increase awareness among relevant stakeholders in the field of sustainable building and of sustainable neighbourhood development, Build4People has worked intensively on the public documentation of its transdisciplinary research.

Our communication activities span multiple social media channels and are aimed at diverse target groups, far beyond our own scientific community. This includes LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, as well as the most common network in Southeast Asia: Facebook.

This transparent approach of good scientific practice to provide state-of-the art science communication is a central transformative component of Build4People.

In this context, we are very proud that Build4People’s presence at Facebook has reached the milestone of 5,000 followers. This is by far the highest number among all research projects supported by the SURE (Sustainable Development of Urban Regions) funding priority of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR).

Unlike in Germany, where Facebook may be looked upon as a bit old-fashioned, Facebook is the key (social) media and communication platform in Cambodia.

The Build4People Facebook page is aimed primarily at the Cambodian public and particularly at young people as whom we regard as potential agents of change and future decision-makers. The Build4People Facebook page is used to provide information about Build4People activities, good practice examples for green buildings and sustainable neighbourhood development, as well as innovative policy and governance approaches. There are currently around 150 postings per year on our Facebook platform. 

Thanks to the analytical functions of Facebook, the outreach and engagement levels can be quantitatively measured. This has provided significant insights into the interests and awareness levels of the audience. For example, the most successful post on the Build4People Facebook page in May 2024 reached more than 250,000 people and was shared more than 600 times. This proven figure illustrates how a smart social media strategy can complement research activities and formal academic publications by disseminating knowledge and insights to a broader public via informal channels. This ensures wider awareness of activities and results across large swathes of society, including residents of the urban structures we investigated.

The following overview shows Build4People’s various social media platforms and their respective outreach, as of 15 August 2025.

#Build4People #Sciencecommunication #BMFTR_SUREregions #sciencesocietytransfer #goodscientificpractice #scientifictransparency #scientificoutreach

Build4People is thrilled to announce the publication of the video clip documentation of the Build4People Science Workshop “B4P Transformation Toolbox” which took place at the Cambodia-Korea Cooperation Centre (CKCC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) on 27 May 2025.

This vibrant gathering of Cambodian and international experts was jointly organised and hosted by the Build4People Work Packages “Behaviour Change”, “Sustainable Neighbourhoods” and “Sustainable Urban Transformation”.

The workshop aimed to introduce and discuss the B4P Transformation Toolbox (TTB) with local stakeholders. This tangible product is the result of the collaborative efforts of the Build4People team and compromises which several interconnected components, including guidelines, manuals, applications, and capacity-building materials designed to foster sustainable neighbourhood development in urban Cambodia.

Special focus was placed on the TTB guideline “Governance and Participation”. In this context, the participants were introduced to the method of post-occupancy-evaluation (POE), a process which allows to assess the performance and effectiveness of a built environment, such as a building.

To gain a deeper understanding of the method, participants had the opportunity to experience an exemplary POE exercise with a spatial focus on the RUPP campus during the workshop.

#Build4People #BMFTR_SUREregions #UrbanTransformation #SustainableCities #Cambodia #RUPP #ScienceWorkshop #InterdisciplinaryResearch #GreenUrbanDevelopment #publicparticipation #transformationtoolbox #governance #sustainableurbantransformation