TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA and URBAN-EU-CHINA at the World Urban Forum 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The successful implementation of the New Urban Agenda depends to a high degree on both, academia and practice, and their close cooperation in research and development. However, such cooperation puts high demands on all concerned parties. Global cooperation, the peer-to-peer exchange of information and experience, and the organisation of urban living labs can be useful tools to support the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

This was the main message of Professor Bernhard Mueller, Director of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) and TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA coordinator, during a networking event at the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF 9) that took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 7^th to 13^th February, 2018. The event was jointly organised by URBAN-EU-CHINA, an EU-funded project and innovation platform on sustainable urbanisation in the EU and in China, and the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe.

Bernhard Mueller presented the main elements of TRANS-URBAN-EU-CHINA Research and Innovation Action and the URBAN-EU-CHINA Innovation Platform for Sustainable Urbanisation. Both actions are funded by the European Commission through the mechanism of the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. In both actions, international cooperation and urban living labs play a decisive role.

In his presentation, Bernhard Mueller highlighted the role of the "quadruple helix", the cooperation between the public and private sectors, the civil society and academia, its challenges and its strengths. "Only if we can make the 'quadruple helix' work we can expect global partnerships to contribute to a common vision on sustainable urban development" was his conclusion at the end of the successful meeting.