On April 20, 2012, the management team of the U.S.-German Bilateral Working Group met in Cincinnati, Ohio to discuss the future research focus of the collaboration. The overall objective of the bilateral working group is to deepen and broaden the application of land use revitalization tools. With this in mind, the group agreed that Phase 5 research will be to:

Develop, evaluate, and refine tools and models for using portfolios of land so as to increase the resilience of environmental, social, and economic systems; and expand the capacity of these systems to provide goods and services that sustain human life.

Achieving this research goal will be accomplished by evaluating real world applications of community revitalization and land use methods, approaches, and tools to determine their effectiveness in enhancing environmental and community sustainability. Initially, these demonstrations will be conducted at military installations and brownfield sites and their associated communities. Our initial focus is on green infrastructure, energy management, climate impact, contaminated site revitalization, and renewable energy.