Can religion, belief and spiritual ideas in modern and pluralistic societies provide important impulses for a more sustainable life? Where do similarities and differences exist with regard to sustainability? And what is the situation regarding the relationship between individual responsibility and political solutions? These are the questions addressed by the Study Day initiated by ZIN, which will take place on January 10, 2020 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Akademie Franz-Hitze-Haus.

After a welcome and introduction by ZIN spokesperson Prof. Doris Fuchs and conference leader Dr. Christian Müller, Dr. Melanie Barbato (religious scholar and indologist, WWU Münster) Thomas Kamp-Deister (consultant for the preservation of creation, Diocese of Münster) and Rev. Marc Nottelmann-Feil (Japanologist and Shin Buddhist priest, EKO-Haus, Düsseldorf) will discuss religious understandings of nature and the question of whether these represent a resource for environmental protection. The discussion will be moderated by ZIN employee Anica Roßmöller.

Afterwards, ZIN staff member Tobias Gumbert will talk about "Spirituality and Sustainability in Everyday Life" and ask whether religion, nature and everyday objects can provide impulses for sustainability through meaningful relationships.

After a phase of group work and its consolidation and reflection, Manuel Pachurka (sociologist of religion, EMU) will give an impulse contribution on the topic "Asceticism - concepts and cultural comparisons".

The participants are asked to bring an object to the study day "that means a lot to you personally" (conference flyer), for example a souvenir, a lucky charm, a memento or an everyday object.

The study day is part of the event series "Future, Environment and Good Living. Impulses of interdisciplinary sustainability research". To this end, another study day will take place on January 31, 2020, entitled "From the Root to the Crown - Initiatives for Transformation at the Local Level".

Source: Conference flyer