ARL International

Welcome to the knowledge and communication platform of the ARL - Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association , where you’ll find comprehensive information on the Academy’s international expertise.

A successful ARL Congress on the future of EU Regional Policy took place in Cologne on 1–2 October, bringing together experts from across Europe for two days of exchange and discussion

Latest News

09/10/2026

First Recap of the 2026 ARL Congress on European Regional Policy in Times of Transition

A successful ARL Congress on the future of EU Regional Policy took place in Cologne on 1–2 October, bringing together experts from across Europe for two days of exchange and discussion.

25/09/2026

The ARL at the VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School 2026: Navigate Planning Through Changes

From 23 to 29 August 2026, 30 young planning professionals and students from across the Baltic Sea Region and Ukraine gathered in Gdańsk, Poland, for the VASAB Young Planners’ Summer School, held under the theme “Navigate Planning Through Changes.”

16/09/2026

ARL Lunch Talk: Ponds as Spaces of Art and Science

📅 29 October 2026
🕐 1:00–2:00 p.m. CET

In this ARL Lunch Talk, artist Margherita Pevere and environmental anthropologist Germán Joosten invite us to explore Berlin’s urban ponds through the perspectives of both art and science.

11/09/2026

Aerial city view with river and bridges, partly overlaid by a red diagonal shape. White text on the overlay reads “Summer School 2026”.

New Perspectives on Urban Infrastructures

Reflections on the ARL Summer School 2026

From 8 to 10 July 2026, twelve doctoral researchers from across the globe gathered at the University of Amsterdam for the infrastructure-focused edition of the ARL Summer School.

07/09/2026

Special Issue “Spatial Transformation from a Planning Perspective” published

Participants in the ARL International Summer School have published their findings in a special issue of the European Journal of Spatial Development

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Who we are

The ARL – Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association is the central platform and professional voice of spatial science research and practice. As a social research infrastructure, we bring together recognised experts on socially relevant topics.

We provide our members and all participants in our network with the human and financial resources necessary for inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation, the synthesis of spatial knowledge and the effective transfer of results. In this way, we tackle current issues of sustainable spatial development in an integrated, multidisciplinary and practice-orientated manner.

This inter- and transdisciplinary approach characterises all our activities, events and publications with the aim of stimulating forward-thinking change and actively shaping the process of spatial transformation.

The ARL is a member of the Leibniz Assoctiation.

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