The first day of the workshop started with an opening speech by Nermine Abdelaty, the coordinator of the DAAD project, COSIMENA, on behalf of Dr Carsten-Michael Walbiner, the director of the DAAD Regional Office in Cairo, in which she welcomed the audience and briefed them on the workshop as part of the COSIMENA Project. After that, Lorena Mohr, Head of Science and Protocol at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Egypt, gave a speech in which she mentioned her participation in the World Urban Forum in Cairo last month. Mohr expressed that the topic of the workshop, namely climate change and urbanism come at an important time amid an increase in population in cities and the growing dangers of climate change.

Mohr said that she noted during the World Urban Forum that most of the participants were construction companies, while the number of academics was low. “I missed the conference’s approach to human-city relations. I stressed the importance of ensuring that human is at the center of urban development,” she added.

On the first day, Dr Zeina Elzein, Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University, Egypt, provided an explanation of the workshop’s purpose and highlighted the program’s focus on Sustainable Architecture and Urban Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University. She explained that the establishment of the program comes in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), calling for making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Dr ElZein highlighted that the workshop is part of the Principles of Sustainable and Environmental Design that she is teaching to the participants. The workshops provide an additional layer of social sustainability to the course, supporting the human consideration in sustainable urban studies. Hence, the workshop aims to provide a new perspective on caring about cities.

A researcher at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in urban planning, Hannah Mueller delivered a lecture on “Caring Cities: Potentials for Sustainable and Equitable Urban Development,” highlighting the transformative potential of urban planning centered on care. The lecture showcased findings from a ten-month research initiative that explored how the concept of “Caring City” integrates care work—ranging from childcare to urban maintenance—into sustainable city planning. Case studies from cities such as Barcelona and Madrid (Span), Bogotá (Columbia), and Umeå (Sweden) underscored diverse approaches to addressing urban challenges through care-centered strategies.

Furthermore, key elements were identified including neighborhood-level care systems, integrated care centers, and urban designs promoting proximity and sustainability, such as Barcelona’s “superblocks.” Mueller emphasised the importance of institutional support, stakeholder collaboration, and awareness-raising to embed care ethics in city planning. The findings advocate for caring cities as a critical component of sustainable urban futures, aligning with global goals to recognize unpaid care work and promote shared societal responsibility. The full results of the project are expected to be published in 2025.

During the Q & A session, the lecturer received several questions from the audience; the questions revolved around the services that the Caring City concept can provide to the community, to which Mueller responded that the services provided have to be adapted to the specific local needs, instead of applying a universalised concept. The attendees also discussed the application of this concept in Egypt and its relationship to charitable organizations and efforts to support the elderly and vulnerable groups. In addition, the session addressed the issue of integrating clean energy into designs to improve urban life, and they stressed the need to take into account the human dimension in urban designs.

Dr ElZein explained that students are studying a program on sustainable architecture and urban design that started in 2021 with the aim of integrating environmental dimensions such as water management and renewable energy, in addition to the human dimension, into architecture and urban design. The workshop’s participants are third-year students enrolled in the program. In the course “Principles of Sustainable and Environmental Design,” they study how designs can be sustainable and take into account environmental dimensions, such as air quality, energy management, and humanistic aspects. “The main goal of the program and the workshop is to teach students how to design buildings in a holistic way that considers both the environment and people at the same time,” she explained, highlighting the role of social media in providing caring without labeling it. “One of the roles of a planner is to consider the diversity of people and their diverse needs in each neighborhood,” Dr ElZein said.

On the second day, a central theme of the workshop was redefining care work, traditionally undervalued and largely performed in domestic or informal settings. Participants discussed mapping care activities, including time use, caregiver density, and spatial resources. Examples from Bogotá, Colombia, have successfully demonstrated the transformative potential of integrating care into urban planning.

The workshop attendees engaged in mapping exercises to better understand the spatial and social dynamics of care work. One task involved the creation of “Care Maps” to visualize daily routes, care-related activities, and the spaces where these activities take place. Another task involved designing “Caring Neighborhoods” that integrate essential care services within a 15–20-minute walking radius. These interactive sessions highlighted the importance of participatory methods in urban planning, ensuring that diverse perspectives—particularly from caregivers—are considered.

Hannah Mueller,  said, “The environmental and social aspects are not sought together very much now; however, they have a lot of common aims. Often, actions motivated by environmental issues also have a positive impact on care and caregivers, such as the benefits of improving mobility, expanding public spaces, and creating green zones for people. Therefore, a city that prioritises care also contributes positively to the environment.” Mueller explained that the “Caring City” concept is for all people because we all need care. All individuals require sustenance, rest, health, emotional support, and to avoid loneliness, a significant issue in today’s world. “While this applies to all individuals, there are specific groups that require additional support,” she added. Mueller added further that she was positively surprised by the participation of the students and their enthusiasm to transfer theoretical knowledge into action on the ground in Egypt.

Among the participants was Adham Yasser, an assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, who participated on the first day of the workshop. He observed that the workshop’s effectiveness stemmed from its focus on the social dimension, an aspect often overlooked in design studies programs in Egypt. “One of the difficulties in addressing the social dimension in studies in Egypt is the lack of standard criteria for studying this dimension and the varying angle of approach among researchers. What is important in the workshop is that it addresses care centers, which are physical structures that we as designers can deal with,” Adham Yasser added.

Roaa Mohamed, a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, highlighted the need to raise awareness among people about the concept of caring city, especially since a large segment of people in Egypt live in informal buildings. She said that “One of the most important reflections of this workshop is that it draws attention to the importance of shedding light on informal housing. This workshop holds significant importance for students and provides them with valuable insights for their course work.”

“Although we are university undergraduates, the workshop contributed to opening new horizons for them to understand a new approach to dealing with the urban phenomenon and taking into account the social and human dimension”, According to Youssef Abdullah, a third-year student at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, who attended both days of the workshop. Rana Ashraf a student in the same year, said that attending such workshops contributes to developing their skills and linking the theoretical knowledge they study in lectures with applied and practical models.

The workshop concluded with a discussion session during which participants presented the most important takeaways they had learned from the two days. One participant expressed that the workshop introduced him to the significance of considering the human dimension in designing -for the first time-, while another emphasised that the workshop’s training influenced his perspective and encouraged him to consider the needs of all societal segments. Another participant said that he learned how to put theory into practice and real application of the Caring City concept on the map of the Zamalek neighborhood.

The discussions concluded with a vision of how caring neighborhoods could collectively transform Cairo into a Caring City. Participants emphasised the need for policies that prioritize care in urban design, highlighting its role in fostering social equity and resilience. The workshop also underscored the critical intersection of architecture, urban planning, and social justice, aiming to inspire future projects. Dr ElZein highlighted how students can apply these learnings to their urban projects in the future, supporting caring cities through their roles as designers.