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On March 7, 2023, Dr. Henning Duderstadt, Maria Goncalves, Prof. Dr. Ingo Ballschmieter and Dr. Mirko Petersen were guests in the third largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia at the invitation of the Dortmund Economic Development Corporation. In the "Projector" room in downtown Dortmund, urban innovation topics were discussed in the course of three lectures and many talks.

The cities of North Rhine-Westphalia are facing major challenges. The focus on innovation to meet these challenges is gaining in importance. But no city can develop all the solutions itself. That is why exchange between cities is so important. Following this idea, Open Innovation City and representatives of the city of Dortmund exchanged ideas on March 7, 2023.

The invitation was extended by the Dortmund Economic Development Agency in the person of Patricia Olbert and Sebastian Winkler, who visited OIC in Bielefeld in November 2022. After the welcome by Sebastian Winkler, the Bielefelder:innen first presented the approach of open innovation at city level. Besides the general idea behind OIC, some lighthouse topics and current actions and publications were highlighted in more detail. Afterwards, project coordinator Maike Sproß and communications officer Olivia Nierobisch presented the Smart Cities model project of the cities of Dortmund and Schwerte. The presentation of an enormous range of fields of action in a network between a large and a small city left a lasting impression on the participants. Finally, Andrea Schubert and Dr. Arne Elias focused on a special Dortmund focus, namely social innovation. The head of the "Founding" team at the Dortmund Economic Development Agency and the head of the Social Innovation Center presented the greenhouse.ruhr project, which supports founders with social and ecological business ideas.

During the presentations as well as in the many conversations on the sidelines, the participants were able to identify many thematic overlaps on which discussions could be held and on which a more in-depth joint debate will be worthwhile in the future.

In the group picture:
top row from left to right: Maria Goncalves, Dr. Mirko Petersen, Maike Sproß, Sophia Wasmuth, Jonathan Almus, Oliver Walter
bottom row from left to right: Sebastian Winkler, Dr. Arne Elias, Dr. Henning Duderstadt, Prof. Dr. Ingo Ballschmieter, Kurt Pommerenke, Olivia Nierobisch