News 2022

On August 20 and 21, the second dialogue of the interdisciplinary project BIOCIVIS, which is led by ZIN members Prof. Doris Fuchs and ZIN member Prof. Bodo Philipp, took place in the Botanical Garden of the WWU Münster. This so-called "Biodialog", organized in cooperation with the "Arbeitsstelle Forschungstransfer" (AFO) of the WWU Münster, was attended by 16 citizens* and 9 practice partners* from different sectors of society. Together they discussed opportunities and challenges of the bioeconomy with regard to the transformation towards sustainability. | More information

Religious actors are engaged in the climate policy environment. They participate in meetings and dialogues and thus bring their norms into the climate discourse. Nevertheless, there is currently comparatively little research on religion in EU climate policy discourse. Besides the question which normative aspects are brought into this discourse by faith-based actors, it is also still largely open which other actors perceive religion as a potential or but also as a normative obstacle. This article aims to contribute to filling this research gap. | More information

How can we talk about the climate problem in such a way that people want to continue to deal with it and are motivated to act? It has already become generally known that pure information about the findings of climate science is only helpful to a limited extent. But what role does the fear-inducing evocation of threatening or even apocalyptic future scenarios play? How promising is it to emphasize the ethical side of the problem and to appeal to our responsibility for the future of coming generations? How do we manage to involve large parts of the urban society in the project "Climate Neutrality 2030"? | More infromation

What kind of world do we want to live in in the future? The anthology on Consumption Corridors explores how sustainable well-being can be achieved in our Earth system, including justice and equity. | More information

You have climate-relevant project ideas and want to put them into practice?
The initiative of the European Commission offers students between the ages of 18 and 30 the opportunity to develop innovative ideas for climate protection projects across Europe. All you need is an interest in climate policy and the desire to create a better future. | More information

A sustainable consumption of the resource living space? How is that supposed to work? In an opinion piece on the news portal Euractiv, ZIN members and researchers Sylvia Lorek, Doris Fuchs, Pia Mamut and Nils Blossey comment on the topic of minimum and maximum standards in housing. | More information

The event "The new federal government - fit for the social-ecological transformation?" offers you the opportunity to debate with Bundestag candidates* from Münster about a globally just and sustainable economy on August 25, 2021. | More information

 The project is an interplay of science, art and climate activism, in which scientists* also have their say on stage. Together, possible strategies for action to implement the demands of the Fridays for Future movement will be performed. | More infromation

 For the sixth time, the ZIN Lunch Lectures will take place in the summer semester 2021 under the title "A good life for EVERYONE? - Sustainability beyond the human environment". In five lectures, this semester's Bread Time Colloquium will explore interdisciplinary contributions, as well as perspectives from philosophy, law, theology, and practice. Students from all disciplines as well as interested citizens are cordially invited to attend the lectures, which will take place on five Thursdays from late April through July at lunchtime - again this year digitally via Zoom.

 The next event of the Münster Climate Talks will take place this week (Thursday, 22.04.2021, 19:30) under the title "Münster Climate Talks: Climate policy necessities and democratic majorities - how do they work together?".

As part of a dossier on sustainability at WWU, an article was published about the ZIN blog "Nach(haltig)gedacht". ZIN spokesperson Doris Fuchs and staff member Pia Mamut explain the idea behind the project.

On January 26, 2021, Carolin Bohn and Victoria Hasenkamp, members of the interdisciplinary BIOCIVIS project led by ZIN spokesperson Prof. Doris Fuchs and ZIN member Prof. Bodo Philipp, published a guest article named " Participatory Bioeconomy. How can participatory processes secure the benefits of bioeconomic technologies and strengthen democratic participation?" in the "Practice" section of the Berlin Institute for Participation website.

In early March 2021, ZIN spokesperson Doris Fuchs and a team of seven international authors, including ZIN staff member Tobias Gumbert as well as Marlyne Sahakian, Antonietta Di Giulio, Michael Maniates, Sylvia Lorek and Antonia Graf, published the book "Consumption Corridors: Living a Good Live within Sustainable Limits".
In their work, the authors address the question of how we can live a good life without overstepping planetary boundaries. They explain concepts that should help us live a better life and identify those factors that stand in the way.

In a guest article published today by the Berlin Institute for Participation, ZIN staff member Lena Siepker reports on the goals and interim results of the collaborative project "ENGAGE - Engagement for Sustainable Common Good", which is being conducted at ZIN in cooperation with the Institute for Ecological Economy Research and the Öko-Institut e.V..

Climate crisis, change in transportation, CO2 pricing - sustainability is a much-discussed topic that cannot be neglected even during a global pandemic. Various disciplines of university research can make an immense contribution to sustainable development, but teaching, transfer and operation of a university also play an important role in this regard. Since the end of January, the WWU's Communications and Public Relations Office has therefore been dedicating a six-month dossier to this topic, "Sustainability at the WWU", in the first articles of which three ZIN scientists feature.

 Participation is a central requirement for successful sustainability transformation in democratic contexts - this is the consensus in politics and science and is reflected in many position papers and mission statements as well as countless research projects on the topic. At the same time, however, the large number of related research projects and publications also highlights the challenges of successful participation in the field of sustainability. Since sustainability is an inherently interdisciplinary topic, it is important to bring together perspectives from different disciplines on aspects of participation in the context of sustainability and to shed light on these different facets.