Julia is a researcher and project lead at the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu), a practice-oriented research institute that deals with a broad range of urban issues to support municipal development. She is particularly interested in the ways cultural facilities and offers shape urban development: as crucial places for interaction and encounter, education and debate, and societal transformation. Further and based on the scientific support and monitoring of various transdisciplinary research projects she gained insight into the value of cooperation between actors from municipalities, science, and civil society to develop and test innovative ideas for urban development. In previous European exchange programs, she investigated creative urban interventions in Amsterdam and explored regional development and European integration in Albania. Julia studied at the Technical University in Berlin and KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning.