Research Interests
Planning Cultures: comparative planning, organizational and knowledge management, innovation processes
Environmental Planning: resource management, climate change adaptation, adaptive/temporary land use and governance
Complexity Sciences: (Actor) Network Theory, Resilience Theory
Master Thesis
The Actor-Network Approach: Temporary Use in Planning Practice
Abstract available here .
Academic & Professional Experience
Since 07/2015
PhD Researcher & Lecturer at the Department of European Planning Cultures, Faculty of Spatial Planning of the Technical University of Dortmund
Since 01/2014
Administrative Support for the European Urban Research Association (EURA) Secretariat in Dortmund
01/2013-06/2014
Student Research Assistant with Professor Ulrike Weiland at the Institute for Geography at University Leipzig
01/2012-09/2012
Community and Land Use Planner at the District of Kitimat in British Columbia, Canada
04/2011 – 01/2012
Planning Assistant at the District of Kitimat in British Columbia, Canada
Education
2003-2015
Technical University of Dortmund (GE), Masters in Science of Spatial Planning
2010-2011
Academic exchange with the Town & Regional Planning Program at the University of Dundee (UK)
2006-2011
University of Northern British Columbia (CA), Bachelor of Environmental Planning
Scholarly & Community Publications
Holden, Meg; Chang, Robin; and Gunderson, Rebecca (2019): Resilience and Pedagogy. Learning From International Field Studies in Urban Resilience in Canada and Germany. In Cities and the Environment (CATE) 12 (1). Available online at https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol12/iss1/2/ .
Chang, Robin A. (2018): Temporary Use & Collective Action: How Urban Planning Practices Contribute to Adaptive Capacity Building for Economic Resilience. In plaNext 7, pp. 82–99. Available online at http://journals.aesop-planning.eu/volume-7/article-51/ .
Zimmermann, Karsten; Chang, Robin; Putlitz, Andreas (2018): Planning Culture. Research Heuristics and Explanatory Value.
Chang, Robin (2017): How ‘temporary urbanism’ can transform struggling industrial towns. Edited by Catesby Holmes. The Conversation. New York (Politics + Society). Available online at https://theconversation.com/how-temporary-urbanism-can-transform-struggling-industrial-towns-75114 .
Chang, R. (2016). CultNature. The Fate of Innovative Renewable Energy Concepts without Community Ownership in Central Germany. In M. Andouin, M. Razaghi, & R. Himsl (Eds.), Governance, Innovation and Performance in Cities Quarterly: Vol. 2. Multi-level Governance in the Urban Context (1st ed., Vol. 2, pp. 8–12). Lausanne, Switzerland: Chair MIR, École Polytechnic Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
Chang, R. (2016). Renewably Energized ‘Urban’scapes:: What Now After the Innovations? Available online at http://iglus.org/renewably-energized-urbanscapes-what-now-after-the-innovations/
Zimmermann, K., Chang, R., & Putlitz, A. (2016). Gleanings from Governance and Green Infrastructures: A 2015 IGLUS Snapshot in Dortmund. Available online at http://iglus.org/iglus-snapshot-in-dortmund/
Chang, R. (2015). ZwischenInnovation: Actor-Network Theory through Temporary Use in Bremen. In M. Macoun & K. Maier (Eds.), Book of Proceedings. Definite Space – Fuzzy Responsibility (pp. 3095–3109). Fakulta architektury.
Chang, R. & Leyva, F. (2013). Knowledge Management and Transfer for Microenergy Systems: Crossing Borders Worldwide. Available online at https://energypedia.info/wiki/Knowledge_Management_and_Transfer_for_Microenergy_Systems_%E2%80%93_Crossing_Borders_Worldwide
Chang, R. & Leyva, F. (2013). Users Perspectives. Available online at https://energypedia.info/wiki/Users_Perspectives
Chang, R. (2011). A Dilemma to Contain: Shipping Containers in Kitimat . Kitimat, BC. Available online at http://www.kitimat.ca/assets/Municipal~Hall/Public~Notices/A%20Dilemma%20to%20Contain.pdf
Chang, R., Negrin, C., & Connell, D. J. (2010). Profile of Economic Development Agencies in Prince George . Prepared for H.B. Lanark and the City of Prince George. Prince George, BC.
Picketts, I., & Chang, R. (2009). Adapting to Climate Change in Prince George (Foundation Research Bulletin No. 1). Victoria, BC.
Conferences & Presentations
Robin Chang, Meg Holden, Lena Aumueller, Florian Eckervogt, Rebecca Gunderson (2018, February ). Researching Urban Resilience. German and Canadian Experiential Insights . 2018 Dortmund Conference: The Great Transformation – Challenge and Opportunity for Spatial Planning. Dortmund, NRW.
Chang, Robin (2017, September). bestendiging van slow urbanism; enkele internationale voorbeelden. (Inter)National Insights . ZOHOCitizens. ZOHOCitizens. Rotterdam, NL.
Chang, Robin (2017, June). Temporary Use. Making sense of Dichotomies between ephemeral tactics and strategic institutions . 2017 EURA Conference: Cities Locked in Networks. European Urban Research Association (EURA). Warsaw, Poland.
Chang, Robin (2017, April). Investigating the Temporary. Means to Institutionalization & Acculturation . 11th AESOP Young Academ-ics Conference: Planning & Entrepreneurship. Association of European Schools of Planning Young Academics (AESOP YA). Munich, Germany.
Chang, Robin; Maegdefrau, Nadine (2017, March). Resiliency and You. Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change. Can cities have the wisdom to adopt preventive measures before disaster. Resiliency and YOU 2017 Series. Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions; Pacific Water Research Centre; Faculty of Environment, Simon Fraser University. SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver, BC.
Babicki, Dominica; Carr, Constance; Chang, Robin; Holden, Meg (2016, July). Toward Better Case Studies. :Understanding what ecourbanism means for urban governance . Track 7a: Local and regional governance. 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society Conference (ISDRS 2016). International Sustainable Development Research Society. Lisbon, Portugal.
Chang, R. (2016, March). Tracing the Temporary: Actor-Network Theory (ANT) Case Studies in Vancouver (CA) & Seattle (US) . 46th Annual Urban Affairs Association Conference, San Diego, California.
Chang, R. (2016, February). ’ANT’icipating Complexity in Temporary Use: Two Comparative Case Studies in Bremen & Seattle . 14th Meeting of the AESOP Thematic Group on Planning and Complexity, Bamberg, Bayern, Germany.
Chang, R. (2016, February). Narrating through Actor-Network Theory: Sharing Stories behind Temporary Use . Colloquium for Doctoral Students of the School of Spatial Planning: Winter Semester 2015/2016, Dortmund, NRW.
Chang, R. (2015, September). CultNature: Biomass Landscape Parks . Dortmund Module, Dortmund, NRW.
Chang, R. (2015, July): ZwischenInnovation: Illustrating Actor-Network Theory through Temporary Use. 29th Annual AESOP 2015 Congress. Prague, Czech Republic, July 13–16.
Chang, R. (2015, April). Urban: Interrupted. Temporary Use through Actor-Network Theory. Prof. Dr. Anne Taufen Wessells. 4th Year Urban Ecology, Sustainable Urban Development Program, Tacoma, Washington.
Chang, R. (2014). Community ownership potential for micro-energy networks through CultNature in the Ruhr region of Central Germany . Symposium “Innovating Energy Access for Remote Areas: Discovering untapped resources”, Berkeley, California.
Chang, R. (2010, March). Professional Development for Students . PlanTalk Series, Prince George, BC.
Chang, R. (2010, February). Sustainability through Agriculture in Southwest British Columbia: Perceptions from Diverse Practitioners . Annual Conference, Guelph, Ontario.
Chang, R. (2009, September). Meaningfully Engaged: A Proposal for Enhancing Youth Capacity to Collaborate on Youth Sexual Health Research . Youth Sexual Health Team Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Chang, R., & Kosek, L.-A. (2008, October). Local Urban green space: Planned and Unplanned . PlanTalk Series, Prince George, BC.
Chang, R., Carmichael, E., & Dudzik, D. (2008, June). Urban Beautification: From Guerilla Gardening to sustainable Landscaping for Climate Change . Annual Conference, Prince George, BC.
Chang, R. (2008, May). Meaningfully Engaged: An Introduction . Youth Sexual Health Team Meeting, Fort St. James, British Columbia.
Teaching Responsibilities
Seminars & Projects
2019-2020 Fortgeschrittenenprojekt (‘F-Projekt’ or Advanced Bachelor Project): F 02 – Focus on the False Creek Flats:
2019 Summer Semester: Temporary Urbanism: Experimenting to plan? Or planning for experimentation? Energizing Participation: What happens when social processes meet natural and complex adaptive systems?
2018-2019 Winter Semester: Temporary Land Use: Evolving Practices & Processes Complexity Continued: Concepts for Adaptive Planning
2018 Summer Semester: Planning Alternatives: Complex Perspectives and Processes
2017-2018 Winter Semester: Temporary Land Use: Evolving Practices & Processes Urban Resilience: A Conceptual Breakdown
2016-2017 Fortgeschrittenenprojekt (‘F-Projekt’ or Advanced Bachelor Project): Resilient City: Risks, Repercussions and Realities for Resilience Planning in Vancouver
2016 Summer Semester: Canuck Zone Seminar: More than forest, igloos, and hockey
2015-2016 Winter Semester: Tempoaray Land Use
Supervision
Current
Master Thesis Potenziale von Zwischennutzungen bei der Quartiersentwicklung am Beispiel “Barker Barracks” in Paderborn
Bachelor Thesis
Completed
Master Thesis
2019The Role of Metaphors and Analogies in Spatial Planning
2018Innovative Städte in Deutschland. Eine empirische Analyse der Innovationskraft und Erfolgsfaktoren
Mienhardt, Madeleine. Exploring the Contribution of Temporary Urbanism to ustice in Participatory Planning – A Discourse Analysis
2016Social Innovation in Urban Planning: Comparative Temporary Use Case Studies in the Netherlands and Germany .
Bachelor Thesis
2019Jugendkultur und Graffiti in Dortmund – eine ethnographische Untersuchung
Jorg, Lena Kristen. A Disaster Resilient City? Bristol’s Flood Risk Management Approaches and Adaptive Capacity
2018Please mind the gap: Discrepancies in the preception of empowerment through Glasgow’s Resilience Strategy
2017The Influence of Previous Shocks and Stresses on the Strategy of Urban Resilience .
Tiessen, Jan-Simon. Potential of Industrial Brownfields for Urban Development and Environment in the Ruhr Region – Redevelopment of Zeche Waltrop .
2016-2017 Fortgeschrittenenprojekt (‘F-Projekt’ or Advanced Bachelor Project) Resilienz: Modebegriff oder echte Chance für eine andere Raumplanung? Dipl.-Ing. Nadine Mägdefrau
Membership
Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) Die Urbanisten e.V.