News

On February 21, the University of Münster published the interview "Ways of decomposing chemicals may be developed in just a few decades of time" with the microbiologist and ZIN member Prof. Bodo Philipp. | Read more

On Wednesday, May 20th at 5 pm, ZIN scholar and political scientist Benedikt Lennartz is going to give a lecture on AI and sustainability at the City Library in Münster.| Read more

On May 19, the podcast “hr-iNFO Himmel und Erde“ (produced by the German radio station Hessischer Rundfunk) focused on the “ambivalent relationship between humans and animals”. Theologian and ZIN member Professor Anne Käfer participated as a guest. | Read more

Enabling citizens to enjoy a good quality of life while reducing the use of resources - the European Union must also face up to this enormous challenge. A study in five EU countries with the participation of ZIN scientists Prof. Dr. Doris Fuchs and Dr. Pia Mamut comes to the central conclusion that the satisfaction of needs and not economic growth should serve as the guiding principle for a redesign of provisioning systems. | Read more

The concept sufficiency is becoming increasingly important in societal discourse — for political actors, researchers and civil society actors alike. However, Dr. Pia Mamut shows that sufficiency has become mainstream in a way that weakens its transformative potential in her new book "Sufficiency - an Emerging Discourse? At the Crossroads of Mainstreaming and Transformation". Starting from this diagnosis she develops proposals to unleash its untapped transformative potential. I Read more 
 

On Friday, November 8, the University of Münster will host its 3rd Sustainability Day, featuring a variety of transfer events centered around the theme "On a way to a sustainable future with AI". From 1 pm to 8 pm, numerous activities will take place in the city centre, the Geological Museum, the Bible Museum and the Fürstenberghaus - many of which are organised by or involve ZIN scientists.

During the summer term 2024, the Center for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research organises its annual public interdisciplinary lecture series. This year, it is dedicated to the overarching theme "Digging for Diversity", asking various scientific disciplines for their perspective on the role of diversity within socio-ecological transformations. The lecture series, formerly known as "ZIN-Brotzeitkolloquium", will be held in English this year as the "ZIN Brown Bag Lectures". As an "open class", it will also be possible for students from partner universities of the Ulysseus European University Alliance to attend virtually. | Continue

ZIN member Prof. Doris Fuchs, Director at the Research Institute for Sustainability - Helmholtz Zentrum Potsdam and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Münster, was a guest in the first episode of the RIFS podcast #WuPiG (Wissenschaft und Politik im Gespräch) together with Andreas Jung (climate and energy policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag and deputy chairman of the CDU). | Read more

Communication scientist and ZIN member Prof Sigrid Kannengiesser takes part in the annual conference “Visions for a Better Life. Media and communication in the society of tomorrow” with a total of three lectures. The event will take place in Erfurt from March 13th to 15th, 2024.

All information about the conference can be found here.

The Centre of Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research (ZIN) is looking for two student assistants as soon as possible. Students of all subjects at the University of Münster can apply for both positions.

The "Farbe der Forschung 2024" conference will take place in Berlin from 15-16 March 2024. ZIN spokesperson and landscape ecologist Prof Tillmann Buttschardt will give a lecture on the topic of "Diversity - Synergy - Resilience: What are the advantages of new approaches such as syntropic agriculture and agroforestry systems?". | Read more

On 17.09.2024 from 6 to 8 pm, the LATERNE project is organizing an introductory workshop on the topic of “Slow Science”.

Academic work is increasingly dominated by pressure to accelerate, growth logic and a high density of tasks and requirements. This not only promotes conformism, competitive thinking and opportunism, but also affects the mental health of researchers and the quality of research.

In the workshop, we will look at the concept of “slow science” as a radical alternative and open up a safe space for researchers at the University of Münster to encourage an discussion on the current conditions of scientific work and possible alternatives. | Read more

On 20 January 2024 at 8pm the third episode of the “BADDABÄM! Show for parapolitische Abendunterhaltung”, dedicated to the topic of “H20” will take place at SpecOps. | Read more

On Monday, March 27, ZIN spokeswoman Doris Fuchs gives a lecture with the title „Klimakrise, Energiekrise, Artenverlust – Suffizienz als gesellschaftliche Strategie“ ("Climate crisis, energy crisis, loss of species - sufficiency as a social strategy").  | Read More

Amazon Week takes place from September 11-15 in Berlin and online

The Brazilian Embassy in Berlin is hosting the "Amazon Week" from September 11 to 15 with numerous cross-sector events. ZIN members Dr. Rebecca Froese and Dr. Karen Siegel will be participating as speakers on the panel "The Amazon Complex - More than a Rainforest: Scientific & Transdisciplinary Approximations".

Rebecca Froese, who joined the ZIN in January, defended her dissertation on January 16th, 2023 with a presentation on the question of how state and non-state institutions deal with the social-ecological consequences of land use and climate change and contribute to the avoidance of so-called tipping points. | Read more

ZIN Junior Scholar Anica Roßmöller gave a lecture on "The local implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: empirical insights from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu" at the IR section meeting of the German Political Science Association (Deutschen Vereinigung für Politische Wissenschaft, DVPW) on June 16. | Read More

On Friday, October 13, the University of Münster will host its 2nd Sustainability Day, featuring a variety of transfer events centered around the theme "Sustainability at the Intersection of Democracy and Social Justice". From 1 pm to 8 pm, numerous activities will take place in the city centre, the Fürstenberghaus, and the Geological Museum - many of which are organised by or involve ZIN members.

The Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) has announced the winner of this year's prestigious Young Researcher Award. The award goes to Dr. Halliki Kreinin, who completed her PhD last year at the Institute of Ecological Economics at the University of Economics in Vienna on the topic of sustainable work and production in relation to the 1.5 C target. She will officially receive the award on April 13 during the CCCA Austria Climate Day in Austria. | Read more

At the end of March, the EU decided that from 2035 onwards, only cars powered by electricity or e-fuels may be newly registered. There will be no more new registrations of cars with combustion engines. Against this background, a feature broadcasted on June 20 by Radio Q (a radio station run by students of the University of Muenster) takes a critical look at the topic of e-fuels. ZIN-member Prof. Tillmann Buttschardt participates as an expert. | Read more
 

On September 12, starting at 9:30 a.m., the "1st Conference on Sustainability and Data", co-organized by ZIN member Dr. Lea Püchel, will take place online. The 1st Conference on Sustainability and Data brings together sustainability and IT researchers, managers, and policymakers to share their experiences and challenges in working with sustainability data.  | Continue

As part of the joint project SUNRISE LAB, involving ZIN members Prof. Doris Fuchs and Dr. Rebecca Froese, a survey on sustainability at the University of Münster is currently being conducted among all university status groups.

On 18 and 19 January 2024, the Akademie Franz Hitze Haus (Münster) will host the symposium "Just Democracy? Socio-ecological transformation and resource distribution", which is being jointly organised by ZIN and the Academy.

You can register for the event by now.

On February 23, a guest commentary under the title "Beim Konsum ansetzen" by Professor Fuchs appeared in the German newspaper taz. The ZIN spokesperson explains why the issues of time, justice and democracy, in her view, receive too little attention in the debate on energy efficiency in transformation, among others. | Read more

The teams from the SUNRISE LAB and LATERNE projects (both involving ZIN members) cordially invite you to the event "Craving for the Academic Donut". This event will be held on October 13 from 2 pm to 5:30 pm. It is part of the 2nd Sustainability Day at the University of Münster.

The annual conference of the Centre for Bioethics of the WWU will take place on July 7 from 3pm to 6pm in the lecture theatre at Badestr. 9/10 in Muenster. The conference is dedicated to the topic  “Vom Protest zum Widerstand: das letzte Mittel der letzten Generation?” (can be translated as: "From protest to resistance: The last resort of the last generation?". In addition to Prof. Bernd Ladwig (FU Berlin), ZIN member Prof Michael Quante will also give a lecture on this conference theme.

In the 5th lecture of the “ZIN-Brown Bag Lecture Series 2023” on June 29, starting at 12:15 p.m., Dr. Rebecca Froese will talk about conflicts surrounding species protection and biodiversity. The lecture will take place in room JO 1 (Johannisstraße 4) and online.

The current issue of the university newspaper “wissen/leben” (December 2023) recently published the profile of ZIN member Professor Asmaa El Maaroufi. The article entitled "Sustainability with God's blessing” illustrates the academic career of the theologian and philosopher Professor El Maaroufi.

On January 31st 2024, the Centre for Religion and Modernity, the Seminary for Reformed Theology and the ZIN invite you to a book launch on the occasion of the publication of the book "Gottes Werk und Fleisches Lust" by theologist and ZIN member Prof Anne Käfer. The event will take place from 18:15 in JO 101 (Johannisstr. 4, 48143 Münster).

In times of multiple crises, socio-technical innovations for sustainability and a growing awareness for "green" issues, there are many developments and changes with regard to environmental and climate policy. In this situation, various actors are advocating for more ambitious climate policies in a different ways. In an  open panel discussion we would like to discuss about these developments with older and newer climate policy actors. Activists from Greenpeace, Scientists for Future, and the Last Generation will join the discussion. We also welcome representatives from BUNDjugendNRW, Students for Future and Ende Gelände on the panel. | Read more