Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung

What Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung does

Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung (IOER) is a non-university research institute founded in 1992 in Dresden, Germany, operating under the Leibniz Association and structured as a registered association (e.V.). The institute conducts interdisciplinary research on the sustainable transformation of cities and regions, with four research areas covering transformative capacities, landscape/ecosystems/biodiversity, the built environment and environmental risks, and spatial information and modelling. IOER is jointly funded by the German federal and state governments through the Leibniz Association's institutional programme, with additional third-party grants from EU programmes (Interreg Central Europe, Horizon Europe), federal ministries (BMWSB, BMBF, BMDV), and bilateral collaborations; the institute does not sell commercial products and provides all outputs free of charge.

The institute operates a portfolio of open-access research tools and data services: the IÖR-Monitor (a national land use and settlement monitoring platform with multi-decade longitudinal data), the IÖR-Informationssystem Gebaute Umwelt (ISBE) for built-environment data, the Stadtklimadashboard (a federal commission covering all German cities 10,000+), the IOER Research Data Centre (IOER RDC), FLOOD.Bi for flood risk, the HRC-Hitzetool for heat adaptation, the meinGrün urban green-space navigation app, the Colouring Dresden citizen science platform, the Material Cadastre of Buildings in Germany, the ioerDATA research data repository, and the SITES.AI research area. Underlying technology is geospatial information systems, remote sensing, GIS-based spatial analysis, urban climate modelling, and AI-assisted spatial analytics, with web-based delivery and open data. Outputs are distributed via direct advisory to federal, state, and municipal governments, the annual IOER Conference, Denksalon events, the IOER Forum webinar series, the DLGS graduate school with TU Dresden, and active social media and newsletter channels.

IOER serves government agencies (federal ministries BMWSB/BMBF, federal research institute BBSR, Saxon state authorities), municipal administrations (City of Dresden, City of Görlitz, Dresden Umweltamt), and the academic research community. The institute maintains a branch in Görlitz operating the Interdisciplinary Centre for Transformative Urban Regeneration (IZS) as a German-Polish cross-border urban laboratory, and participates in international collaborations with CEPT University (India), Concordia University (Canada), Arizona State University, and the University of Manchester. Director since 2019 is Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marc Wolfram, who also holds a professorship for Spatial Development and Transformation at TU Dresden.

Name

Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung

Legal name

Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung e. V.

Website

https://ioer.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung (IOER) is a German Leibniz Association research institute in Dresden that conducts interdisciplinary research on sustainable urban and regional development, operating open-access spatial monitoring tools and data services for federal, state, and municipal governments and the academic community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ecological Spatial Research and Sustainable Urban/Regional Development

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (924)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Data Management Platforms (EHS/EMS, LIMS, ELN, Compliance Data Hubs) (EUAHAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Continuous/Remote Monitoring Systems (IoT Sensors, Telemetry, Networks) (EUAHACAL), Satellite Imagery & Monitoring Platforms (AFAAAFAI)

Keywords

• Ecological spatial research
• Urban climate adaptation tools
• Land use monitoring
• Sustainable spatial planning
• Geospatial research data

Headquarters

HQ city

Dresden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Core Funding (Bund-Länder joint funding): The institute's primary funding comes from the joint German federal and state government programme for Leibniz Association institutions. Funding is based on regular evaluations by the Leibniz Association Senate, with the most recent positive evaluation in December 2025 confirming continued funding.
2. Third-Party Research Project Funding: Competitive grants from EU programmes (e.g., Interreg Central Europe, Horizon Europe), German federal ministries (BMWSB, BMBF, BMVI), state governments, and international organisations fund specific research projects and consortium work.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

IOER conducts interdisciplinary research and develops open-access data tools, monitoring platforms, and decision-support dashboards for sustainable urban and regional development. Its deliverables include land-use and settlement monitoring (IÖR-Monitor), urban climate adaptation indicators (Stadtklimadashboard), built-environment information systems (ISBE), and the IOER Research Data Centre providing cross-scale spatial data infrastructure, serving government agencies, municipalities, and the research community.

Product overview

The Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR) operates a suite of research tools and data services focused on sustainable urban and regional transformation. The core offerings include the IÖR-Monitor for land use and settlement monitoring, the ISBE information system for built environment resources, and the IOER Research Data Centre providing data infrastructure. Notable specialized tools include the Stadtklimadashboard for climate adaptation indicators, FLOOD.Bi for flood risk assessment, HRC-Hitzetool for heat adaptation evaluation, meinGrün app for urban green navigation, and Colouring Dresden for citizen science building data. The institute also maintains ioerDATA research repository and operates the Interdisciplinary Centre for Transformative Urban Regeneration (IZS) in Görlitz as a cross-border urban laboratory.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• IÖR-Monitor: Monitors and visualizes land use change in Germany
• IÖR-Forschungsdatenzentrum (IOER RDC)
• IÖR-Informationssystem Gebaute Umwelt (ISBE)
• IZS (Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für transformativen Stadtumbau)

Products and services

• IÖR-Monitor Open-access monitoring platform providing indicators and data on land-use change, settlement development, and environmental quality for cities and regions across Germany. For researchers, government agencies and practitioners.
• IÖR-Informationssystem Gebaute Umwelt (ISBE) Open-access information system providing data and analyses on the built environment, resources, and environmental risks in Germany, supporting circular-economy and urban-mining research.
• IOER Research Data Centre (IOER RDC) Open research data centre providing spatial data infrastructure, analyses, simulations, and tools for cross-scale spatial data interpretation, including reproducible analysis training materials using Python and JupyterLab. For the spatial-science research community and practitioners.
• Stadtklimadashboard (Urban Climate Dashboard) Web application providing climate-adaptation indicators for German cities (10,000+ inhabitants), including accessibility of cooling green spaces, permeable surfaces, and EU Restoration Regulation indicators. Developed for BMWSB and BBSR for use by municipalities and federal agencies.
• HRC-Hitzetool (Heat Resilience Tool) Online tool for evaluating the effectiveness of heat-adaptation measures in and around buildings. Used by municipalities, housing companies, and individuals.
• FLOOD.Bi Planning Tool Online information tool for assessing and minimising flood damage risk to buildings. Developed jointly with the Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology (LfULG) for use by building owners, municipalities, and planners.
• meinGrün App Mobile application for discovering and navigating to urban green spaces in the pilot cities Dresden and Heidelberg, funded by the BMVI mFUND innovation initiative.
• Colouring Dresden Platform Citizen-science platform enabling citizens to contribute data on building characteristics, materials, and renovation status in Dresden, creating an open urban building dataset.
• Material Cadastre of Buildings in Germany National database providing an essential baseline for sustainable use of building materials and circular-economy research in the German construction sector, supporting urban-mining analyses.
• ioerDATA Research Data Repository Open research-data repository providing easy access to selected IOER research datasets on urban and regional transformation for science and practice.
• Interdisciplinary Centre for Transformative Urban Regeneration (IZS) IOER's Görlitz-based branch operating as a cross-border urban laboratory for transformative urban regeneration research, urban experiments, and planning labs in the Europastadt Görlitz/Zgorzelec.

Quantifiable outcome

• Urban agriculture in European cities could supply approximately 28% of Europe's vegetable demand (~20 million tons annually), based on systematic analysis of 840 cities across 30 countries.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability5 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CEPT University, Ahmedabad, IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026IOER and CEPT University signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen their strategic partnership in research, academic education, and knowledge transfer, focusing on joint activities addressing transformative change of cities and regions.
• Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen (BMWSB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2024BMWSB is the commissioning federal ministry for the Stadtklimadashboard project, jointly funded with BBSR. IOER developed the web application providing climate adaptation indicators for German cities in this government-commissioned research project running from July 2024 to July 2027.
• Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2024BBSR co-commissions the Stadtklimadashboard project alongside BMWSB. IOER works with BBSR to aggregate and present urban climate adaptation indicators for German municipalities and the federal government.
• Stadt Dresden (City of Dresden)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 December 2021IOER and the City of Dresden signed a cooperation agreement on 6 December 2021 to collaborate more closely on sustainable urban and regional development issues. The partners jointly explore new ways of local collaboration between science and practice.
• Plan4Better GmbHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the consortium that developed the Stadtklimadashboard alongside IOER, LUP, and Universität Kassel. Plan4Better contributes expertise in urban and mobility planning tools.
• LUP – Luftbild Umwelt Planung GmbH PotsdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the Stadtklimadashboard consortium, providing aerial survey and environmental planning expertise alongside IOER, Plan4Better, and Universität Kassel.
• Universität KasselcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic consortium partner in the Stadtklimadashboard project, contributing research expertise in urban climate adaptation alongside IOER, Plan4Better, and LUP.
• Landeshauptstadt Dresden (Umweltamt)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Environmental Office of Dresden developed and produced the 'Bachbettgeschichten' animation film as part of the EU ReBioClim project coordinated by IOER. Dresden is implementing renaturation of two sections of the Geberbach in Prohlis and Nickern under the project.
• Technische Universität Dresden (TUD)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIOER and TUD jointly operate the Dresden Leibniz Graduate School (DLGS) for doctoral education, share the Chair of Spatial Development and Transformation held by Director Marc Wolfram, and collaborate in multiple research projects (e.g., HeatResilientCity, NEXtra/DAAD).
• IHI Zittau/Görlitz (TU Dresden)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner of the IZS (Interdisciplinary Centre for Transformative Urban Regeneration) in Görlitz, contributing to the Denksalon event series.
• Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie (LfULG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIOER and LfULG jointly developed the FLOOD.Bi information tool for assessing flood damage risk to buildings, within the EU STRIMA II project. Both institutions presented the tool at construction fairs.
• Vereinigung Deutscher Architekten (BDA) / SLUB Dresden / ZfBKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners in the citizen science competition project 'Architectural heritage and climate-friendly construction in Dresden', together winning the 'Auf die Plätze! Citizen science in your city' competition with €50,000 in BMBF funding.
• Concordia University, Montréal, CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research collaboration with IOER on global urban sprawl study (1990–2014), published in PLOS Sustainability and Transformation. First author Martin Behnisch at IOER, co-author Jochen A.G. Jaeger at Concordia University.
• Leibniz Research Network BiodiversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIOER is a member of the Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity, collaborating with over 10 Leibniz institutes and external institutions on biodiversity science, publishing joint reports including '10 Must Knows from Biodiversity Science' and '10 Must Dos from Biodiversity Science'.
• Leibniz Research Network 'Spatial Knowledge for Society and Environment' (Leibniz R)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIOER is the speaker institution of the Leibniz R network, coordinating seven spatial science institutions (six from the Leibniz Association). Activities include the annual Spatial Science Colloquium and the Journalist in Residence fellowship programme.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/IOERDD
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/leibniz-ioer

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Leibniz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung