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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

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

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 
 

Every year, the publisher Routledge presents the "Routledge Area Studies Awards" in the categories "Impact" and "Interdisciplinarity". This year, the research project "Transformation and Sustainability Governance in South American Bioeconomies", which political scientist and ZIN member Dr Karen Siegel is conducting with other researchers, has also made it onto the shortlist in the "Impact" category.

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

On June 21, parts of the broadcast "Umwelt und Verbraucher" (in English: Environment and Consumers) of the German radio program Deutschlandfunk were dedicated to the topic of climate-friendly lifestyles. In this context, ZIN spokesperson Professor Doris Fuchs presented findings from the EU project 1.5° Lifestyles. The international research project is investigating what climate-compatible lifestyles could look like and how they could be implemented. | 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
 

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

One of today's challenges is the shift toward sustainability - also for universities. Münster's three major universities are therefore joining forces as part of the research project "Sustainable University Landscape Münster" and establishing the SUNRISE LAB, a superordinate "living lab" to research five other living labs in the project. At the ZIN, Dr. Rebecca Froese and Prof. Doris Fuchs will organize the living lab on biodiversity. | Read more

 

On Saturday, June 17 from 5 to 9.30 p.m., the " Kreislauf-Dinner”, an event jointly organized by StadtLabor, ZIN, vhs and fairteilbar, " will take place at the VHS Münster. The experimental event format aims at bringing scientists, practitioners and interested citizens into an exchange about different aspects of the circular economy in four discussion rounds.  | Read More

The Claussen-Simon Stiftung’s Participatory Award recognizes and supports scholarship holders and alumni:ae who engage in interdisciplinary collaboration on questions and challenges that society faces. With their project "Passierschein A39", the pianist and performer Daniel Bucurescu and the scientist Rebecca Froese create a publicly accessible participatory dialogue format building on artistic self-awareness to bring people of different generations and origins together and to develop and artistically articulate their visions and ideas of sustainable futures. 

Students and interested citizens are cordially invited to attend the ZIN’s open lecture series “Brotzeitkolloquium” in the summer term of 2023. This semester, the speakers will address various "Conflicts about Sustainability" by talking about insect extinction, digitalization and species protection – just to name a few examples. | Read More
 

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

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

ZIN Junior Scholar Anica Roßmöller talked about "The local implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: empirical insights from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu" at the annual conference of the International Studies Association (ISA) on March 15.  | Read more

On March 31, the kick-off event for the Citizen Science project "KompoBioPlast@Home?" will take place. In this project, citizens can contribute to research on plastic-degrading microorganisms. | Read more

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

On February 22 and 23, the international conference "Bioeconomy Policies, Actors, and Transformations: Achievements, Challenges, and Recommendations" took place in Berlin. ZIN junior scholars Victoria Hasenkamp and Wiebke Walleck presented results from the research project BIOCIVIS to an international audience in their lecture "Participation in the bioeconomy: How to involve citizens in the discussion on complex technological issues?".| Read more

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
 

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

On December 6, the initiative “bioökonomie.de” of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research published an interview with ZIN spokesperson Prof. Doris Fuchs focusing on opportunities for citizen participation in the transformation towards a sustainable bioeconomy. | Read more

Dr. Johannes Holert, a junior scientist in the group of ZIN member Prof. Bodo Philipp, published the article "Biogas digestate as a sustainable phytosterol source for biotechnological cascade valorization" in the journal Microbial Biotechnology together with other authors. | Read More
 

On September 15th 2022, three students from the University of Münster co-organised a “Student Thinking Lab” dealing with 1.5° lifestyles, as part of their studies. The Thinking Lab was organised as part of the EU project 1.5-Lifestyles, led by ZIN spokesperson Prof. Doris Fuchs. | Read more

The volume ‘Democracy and Sustainability’ brings together current perspectives on a complex relationship: How can democracy become an instrument in the fight against the global environmental and climate crisis instead of standing in the way of necessary changes? Can democratic decision-making processes, often perceived as painfully slow and inflexible, assist in finding viable solutions to the current challenges in this respect? | More information