euMOVE 2025

Autonomous driving is one of the big topics in urban mobility. What should autonomous driving look like in the future? Where is it useful, and where might this technology be the wrong solution? What are the politics of this technology: Who benefits from the automation of road transport, and who is left out of the debate? How can Munich’s citizens benefit from autonomous driving?

Future mobility is a wicked problem. We need interdisciplinary collaboration on these societal and technological transformations to find meaningful responses.

euMOVE is an interdisciplinary student project on innovative and sustainable mobility in Europe. The course is coordinated by the Institute of Automotive Technology, the Chair of Urban Structure and Transport Planning, and the Chair of Innovation Research and greatly supported by the Hans Sauer Foundation and the Munich Cluster for the Future of Mobility in Metropolitan Regions (MCube).

This year, we focus on the topic of autonomous driving. The project is based on intense group work over the course of the summer term of 2025. The groups will have the chance to travel to a European city to investigate different approaches to autonomous driving and use these insights to develop a responsible approach for Munich.

Key aspects include:

• Technical prototyping and design
• Politics of autonomous driving: societal consequences and inequalities
• Infrastructural adaption and consequences for urban planning
• Responsible innovation and experimentation with autonomous driving
• Assessment of sustainability impacts

During the course, students will work through a design process guided by the Hans Sauer Stiftung. First, the groups will identify and reflect on current mobility challenges, particularly in Munich, regarding autonomous driving. We will work on how autonomous driving could be a responsible mobility innovation for Munich, who should be involved, and how it affects city planning. Then, the groups will spend about ten days in another city to learn about current approaches, successes, and failures of autonomous driving. In the last phase, the groups develop recommendations for this technology that would benefit Munich. The results can include technical aspects as well as broader frameworks for the use of the technology. Eventually, the results will be presented to a public audience and in a policy paper.

Travel costs will be refunded. This is an intense group work course, commitment should go beyond the official course sessions.