{"id":3797,"date":"2026-09-30T00:21:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stics.sk\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2026-09-30T00:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:21:34","slug":"interview-with-thomas-dillinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stics.sk\/en\/interview-with-thomas-dillinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Thomas Dillinger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thomas Dillinger is an Associate Professor at the Insitute of Spatial Planning of TU Wien.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

What is your role in the consortium, and what does your organisation specifically bring to the STICS project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

As TU Wien, we are Austria\u2019s largest scientific and technical research institution, and our research in the field of spatial planning has a tradition stretching back more than 50 years. We aim to draw on this experience to contribute to the establishment of an innovative ecosystem in Slovakia as part of the STICS project. In particular, we are involved in developing the scientific foundations for innovation and living labs, as well as in the development of smart tools and in supporting the Green Campus pilot project by sharing best-practice examples from our campus. <\/p>\n\n

What have you managed to implement, develop or organise by roughly the midpoint of the STICS project \u2013 and what are you most proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

TU Wien is involved in, or has implemented, several living labs. We were able to contribute five of these living labs as best-practice examples to the academic discourse within Work Package 2. In the Smart Tools area, our focus is on developing a dashboard to visualise land use and soil sealing in Slovakia. We are particularly proud that we were able to present the STICS project at international scientific conferences. We were especially delighted to present STICS at the World Planning Schools Congress 2026 in Helsinki, where we also had the opportunity to meet many colleagues from the project and network with them. <\/p>\n\n

What do you plan to complete and deliver by the end of the project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In particular, we are planning to finalise the dashboard mentioned above on land use and soil sealing in Slovakia. We have already reviewed the data available from government bodies and are now in the process of preparing and processing the data. The dashboard is to be developed as a pilot project for the Tren\u010d\u00edn region, as this is where the data is most comprehensive. <\/p>\n\n

How will these outputs affect the target group, and what innovation do they bring?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The aim of this dashboard is to provide a clear visualisation of all relevant geospatial data relating to land use and soil sealing. In particular, this is intended to give the local population a deeper understanding of developments in their region and to provide local decision-makers with a basis for making planning decisions. <\/p>\n\n

What has the STICS project brought to your organisation \u2013 and to you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The STICS project offers TU Wien a unique opportunity to forge closer links with numerous Slovak partners. Personally, I always find it a great pleasure to exchange experiences with colleagues, learn from one another and, in particular, compare planning strategies between our two countries. <\/p>\n\n

What experience have you gained in the project? What would be worth developing further, and what would you do differently next time? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It is particularly interesting to compare the Austrian and Slovak planning systems. There are many parallels, but also differences. Further research collaboration in the field of spatial planning is certainly of great value. We still have a great deal to learn from one another. <\/p>\n\n

In your view, what is the greatest added value of the STICS project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I believe that building an innovative ecosystem and taking the initiative to bring all stakeholders together will have far-reaching positive consequences for Slovakia. The creation of a network that will continue to drive innovation in the future is undoubtedly the project\u2019s greatest asset. <\/p>\n\n

What should remain and keep working even after the project ends?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Following on from the previous question, I would like to emphasise that continued collaboration between stakeholders from academia, the public sector, industry and civil society is essential for fostering further innovation in Slovakia. However, collaboration with international research partners such as the TU Wien should also be maintained in order to gain an outside perspective and new insights. <\/p>\n\n

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Thomas Dillinger is an Associate Professor at the Insitute of Spatial Planning of TU Wien. What is your role in the consortium, and what does your organisation specifically bring to the STICS project? As TU Wien, we are Austria\u2019s largest scientific and technical research institution, and our research in the field of spatial planning has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t