News 2020

Current sustainability research makes it unmistakably clear that ecological limits must be observed if irreversible negative consequences for human survival and life are to be prevented. Adherence to these limits does not seem feasible without restrictions, e.g. on consumer behavior. At the same time, in public debates about such restrictions in terms of sustainability - a particularly well-known example is the discussion about a speed limit - it is often argued that freedom is a central value of liberal democracy and as such should not be restricted. "But is this juxtaposition of freedom and limits at all justified, especially from a liberal perspective?" This is the question that ZIN staff members Carolin Bohn and Tobias Gumbert address in a new publication. I Continue

"Ready for Change", an association of representatives from science and administration, has launched a call for action entitled "For a socially just way of life and economy that is compatible with the climate and nature: Drastically reducing energy and resource consumption", which can be supported on the website https://www.bereit-zum-wandel.de/. On August 31, Prof. Dr. Stefan Heiland, TU Berlin, and Danny Püschel, Naturschutzbund Deutschland, NABU, handed over the appeal to Sylvia Kotting-Uhl MdB, Chairwoman of the Committee for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the German Bundestag. I Continue

The oekom Verlag recently published the anthology "Sozial-ökologische Utopien. This Side or Beyond Growth and Capitalism", edited by Benjamin Görgen and Björn Wendt. The volume introduces the significance of utopian thinking for a social-ecological transformation and provides an overview of current utopias that strive for a good life for all people. I Continue

Under the title "Above the clouds ... air travel, our individual freedom and the responsibility of politics" the Münster Climate Talks will start on September 24, at 7:30 pm in the assembly hall of the KSHG (Frauenstraße 3-6) from the corona-related break.I Continue

ZIN employee Berenike Feldhoff could be heard on August 17, 2020 in the WDR 5 radio program "Quarks - Science and more". Katja Bothe's contribution took a bicycle demo of the "Kidical Mass" Münster and the handing over of a petition for safe bicycle traffic in Münster as an opportunity to look into initiatives for safe bicycle traffic. The "Kidical Mass", under the motto "Children on Bicycles", is committed to ensuring that children can ride through the city independently and without fear. They therefore call for a safer bicycle infrastructure for children, including in Münster, e.g. a 30 km/h speed limit throughout the city, wider bicycle paths and no more cars on the sidewalks. I Continue

Before the beginning of the Corona crisis, the so-called European Green Deal was the central issue in EU politics. Now the question is whether the pandemic threatens the far-reaching measures to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050 or whether it might even represent a unique opportunity for more climate protection. I Continue

ZIN staff members Tobias Gumbert and Carolin Bohn and ZIN spokesperson Prof'in Doris Fuchs will present two papers in the panel "Community Collective Action" at the SCORAI International Conference 2020, this year's international conference of the "Sustainable Consumption Research and Action Initiative", which will be held online from 10 to 12 June 2020. I Continue

The German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU) has just submitted its latest environmental report to the German government, reminding it that urgent ecological threats such as climate change and biodiversity loss will not disappear even in times of corona. In addition to the discussion of a number of topics with a particular need for action, such as recycling management, water pollution control and urban mobility, one statement in particular has moved into the focus of attention: The German Council of Economic Experts recommends that the government base its climate policy on a CO2 budget in order to actually bring political measures into line with its climate goals.I Continue

What does sustainability mean, what distinguishes a life in their sense, and how can it be implemented socially? ZIN spokeswoman Prof. Doris Fuchs talks about these and other questions in the 7th WWU Podcast (recorded in early February, published on 17.04.2020). Here is a brief overview of the contents of the podcast. I Continue

For the fifth time already, the ZIN Breadtime Colloquium will take place in the summer semester 2020 under the title "The future is now". In five lectures this semester, the breadtime colloquium will deal with sustainability perspectives from sociology, philosophy, political science, theology and chemistry. Students of all disciplines as well as interested citizens* are cordially invited to attend the lectures, which will take place at lunchtime on five Thursdays from the end of April to July - this year, due to contact restrictions, digitally via Zoom. I Continue

The ZIN Newsletter 02|2019 is now available online. It first provides information on the numerous sustainability-related publications of ZIN members and junior-scholars from the second half of 2019, and also refers to a wide range of events (e.g. workshops or lectures), current research projects and public and media contributions relating to sustainability. | Continue

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is focusing on the bio-economy in the Science Year 2020. On the occasion of the start of the Year of Science, the newspaper "wissen.leben" of the WWU Münster dedicates a major article to this topic in its current issue for February/March, which also introduces the BIOCIVIS project. I Continue

How should climate protection measures be justified? Are there limits to purely rational arguments for complex and costly climate protection, which may also encroach on the individual's rights of freedom? Can there be a social consensus for ambitious climate protection and on what is it based? What values and sense of responsibility for the life chances of future generations does the individual and society have? Questions like these are the subject of the second evening of the "Münster Climate Talks". I Continue