I took a degree in industrial engineering and majored in civil engineering, which gave me my first insights into sustainable and strategic urban development. I then spent a decade as a research assistant at the Institute of Urban Development and Construction at Leipzig University, where I worked on research projects at the interface of the property/housing sector and urban development. This role included acting as a consultant on management processes during the implementation of urban renewal PPP projects under the EU project CoUrbit on behalf of the City of Leipzig and Bocconi University in Milan. Since 2004, I have been the managing partner of |u|m|s| STADTSTRATEGIEN, a consultancy which delivers a wide range of conceptual and planning services regarding towns, cities, regions and real estate. For example, I conducted a SWOT analysis for the Halle 14 arts centre in Leipzig in connection with Second Chance, an EU project focusing on disused industrial sites repurposed for cultural purposes. Since 2012, I have held the Chair of Real Estate Management at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences. I am involved in both teaching and research on aspects of the property and housing sector, activities which are frequently geared towards objectives of urban strategic planning and participation processes. Two projects worthy of special mention are ‘Mittweida – Future Town’ and ‘Urban Production – Is Industry Returning to Urban Areas?’.

I have several years’ teaching experience, including in the postgraduate sector. I set great store by the use of innovative, usually digitally supported forms of teaching and learning, as this enables me to integrate very heterogeneous groups into dialogue and learning activities and also to explain very complex subject matter. At Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, I have frequent contact with foreign students, e.g. on exchange programmes and international dual degree programmes. I am familiar with academic exchange on a transnational and European level thanks to my involvement in subprojects of the EU programmes CoUrbit and Second Chance. Together with colleagues from the university and Mittweida local authority, I am currently initiating a project devoted to Cross-Media Participation Cultures in Urban Development under the programme to promote cross-border cooperation between the Free State of Saxony and the Czech Republic. In addition to academic exchange and teaching activities at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, from my consultancy projects I am familiar with formats of public and administrative involvement in strategic urban development processes and network activities, such as the network ‘Leipziger Freiheit’ (Leipzig Liberty). Furthermore, I moderate workshops and future workshops as well as other types of events featuring diverse panels and teams, e.g. Chair Session ‘Urban Economics and Planning’ at the 23rd Annual European Real Estate Society Conf.