The Future Proof Cities graduate school focusses on sustainable urban development and is based on a dialog on the challenges that medium sized towns are faced with. Högskolan i Gävle leads the graduates school that is financed by the Knowledge Foundation, participating companies and the two other universities in the school: Högskolan Dalarna and Mälardalens högskola. 12 industrial PhD are employed at 12 different companies, the majority owned by municipalities, but also work at their host universities part of the time. Four PhD students are hosted at Högskolan Dalarna: Sara Svensson at Borlänges kommunförvaltning AB; Johanna Mattsson at Tunabyggen; Maria Sandström at Borlänge energi; and Thomas Ljungell at Kopparstaden.
Future Proof Cities has four main and interconnecting research areas that bound the PhD projects that are part of the graduate school. All projects cover one or more of these areas but have different focus depending on the needs of the employing company. The research areas are:
1. Social sustainability aspects from the inhabitants perspective.
2. Digital and technical climate solutions for resilience within critical infrastructure for food supply, water and energy.
3. Management and planning for urban resilience.
4. Methods and tools for co-creation.