Ulysseus Days at the University of Münster
From 28 to 30 October 2024, the Ulysseus Days took place in Münster under the title ‘Navigating Pathways to a Sustainable Future’. On October 28 and 29, the Münster Innovation Hub officially launched within the Ulysseus University Alliance with the event “Explore and Connect: Meet the Innovation Hub of Socio-Ecological Sustainability.” Additionally, the Research & Innovation (R&I) conference “Sustainable Innovations” was held on October 30, focusing on promoting sustainable ideas and solutions.
After the official welcome on Monday morning by Rector Johannes Wessels, the Chief Scientific Officers Doris Fuchs and Tillmann Buttschardt introduced the content of the event with a joint keynote in which they presented challenges and approaches to solutions in the field of ‘socio-ecological sustainability’ from a natural and social science perspective. In a subsequent panel discussion moderated by Daniela Pastoors, Vice-Rector Michael Quante presented the University of Münster’s sustainability strategy. Along with ZIN members Bodo Philipp, Rebecca Froese, and Sigrid Kannengießer, he provided insights into the associated action areas of education, research, transfer, and governance. In this way, the Ulysseus partner universities were able to gain a comprehensive first impression of the University of Münster as a whole and of its endeavours in the field of sustainability.
On Monday afternoon, Cornelia Steinhäuser focussed on the central cross-sectional element of the Innovation Hub's three fields of action - education, research and transfer - by leading a workshop on real-world laboratories and living labs. In the first part, she highlighted these two transdisciplinary approaches, before presenting examples of real-world lab projects from Münster in the second part. Julia Wiethüchter and Rebecca Froese presented the Sunrise and Laterne projects, while Samuel Mössner contributed a concluding lecture on the critical categorisation of this research approach.
In the final session on Monday, which was moderated by Tobias Gumbert, the question of how the Innovation Hub's research network should be organised and developed in more concrete terms was discussed. To this end, he invited Karen Siegel and European Research Services GmbH (ERS) as guests: in her presentation on ‘Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Sustainability Transitions: interdisciplinary and international dimensions’, Karen Siegel shared exciting insights into research in an international context, while ERS, represented by Silke Krol, gave practical advice on how to deal with EU funding formats and application strategies.
Tuesday began with a session on the intersection of education and sustainability, led by Daniela Pastoors. With contributions from Lea Püchel and Annariikka Rosendahl, the session explored dimensions of sustainability as a topic, a social and ecological principle, and a transformative goal in education. Later, Constantina Rokos (with input from Antonia Graf, Lea Kipper, and Daniela Pastoors) facilitated a World Café session emphasizing transfer as an action area, discussing various contexts for collaboration.
These thematic impulses were followed by “lab visits” to MEET, the ‘City Lab’, the Botanical Garden and the university's REACH-EUREGIO Start-Up Centre. These visits demonstrated how sustainability is actively practiced and integrated into the University of Münster’s scientific projects and initiatives.
In the afternoon, an SDG city tour concluded the day’s programme: Shifting from an academic focus, the tour explored sustainable projects in Münster. Highlights included sampling Fairtrade chocolate at the Weltladen and gaining historical insights into Münster's food distribution at the Kiepenkerl statue. At the same time, the Münster IH Local Steering Committee & Scientific Board Meeting took place to strengthen the structural Ulysseus collaboration for the Münster Innovation Hub.
On the third day, Ulysseus hosted its R&I conference at the Center for Soft Nanoscience (SoN). Approximately 60 participants attended the dynamic conference, which began with a keynote by Michael Quante reflecting on the moral rights of future generations. This was followed by presentations offering diverse perspectives on socio-ecological sustainability. Throughout the day, three parallel sessions delved into Environmental Ecosystems, Sustainable Education, and Tech and Sustainability Synergies, discussing topics such as maritime tourism, innovative educational approaches, and recycled materials. The aim was to promote and implement innovative ideas in these fields.
With 100 participants in total, the three-day event was well attended. The Ulysseus Münster team expressed gratitude for the active participation of many guests from partner universities and valued the exchange and contributions during the event.
