Regeneration of urban ecosystems

Urbanization constitutes a major environmental issue of the 21st century, which requires a rethinking of urban planning and structuring. Together with architects and urban planners we develop strategies to increase microbial diversity in cities and to avoid the invasion of detrimental microbiota on the level of complete townships, individual buildings as well as in the indoor environment. An important point that is often given too little attention in this context is the propagation of resistance genes. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is growing into one of the world's leading health challenges. As more people live in urban areas, bacteria in these environments frequently carry resistance genes, making it harder to treat infections that used to be easily controlled with antibiotics. Within the project ECOLOPES we want to address these crucial points to improve public health.

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