News

Marking the tenth anniversary of the Center for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Studies (ZIN), the anniversary symposium „wissen(schafft)zukunft“ – 10 Jahre interdisziplinäre Forschung zu Nachhaltigkeit“ [“knowledge(creates)future – 10 years of interdisciplinary research on sustainability”] will take place on April 15, 2026. With the participation of numerous ZIN researchers, the event will feature an inspiring keynote and seven inter- and/or transdisciplinary panel discussions, offering a multifaceted panorama of key topics in sustainability transformation. Alongside the anniversary symposium, an interview with political scientist Prof. Doris Fuchs is featured on the ZIN-Blog „nach(haltig)gedacht“. | Read more
 

This year’s Digital Cleanup Week will take place from March 16 to March 20. A well-organized digital environment not only enables energy and emissions savings but also contributes to a more pleasant work environment and enhanced productivity. The ZIN research group FORUM and the Sustainability Office invite all students and employees of the university to participate in the digital clean-up campaign and establish new routines for a more sustainable digital environment. | Read more

In the summer term 2026, ZIN members and staff will once again be offering a variety of exciting sustainability-related courses in various disciplines. These include, for example,  seminars on topics such as „Geomedien und Desinformation“ or „Die Macht des Weniger? - Eine politikfeldanalytische Diskussion der Suffizienzpolitik“, a reading course „Der vergessene Körper: „Embodied democracy“ verstehen und erleben“ and also lectures, for example on „Zellbiologie und Physiologie der Tiere“ or „Umweltmikrobiologie“. | Read more

The ZIN Newsletter 02|2025 is now available online. This comprehensive newsletter provides information about the numerous sustainability-related publications by ZIN scientists from the second half of 2025. | Read more

From 20 to 24 October 2025, the team from the University of Münster's Innovation Hub for Social and Environmental Sustainability took part in Ulysseus Košice Week in Slovakia. The event took place at the Technical University of Košice (TUKE) and combined three sub-events: the Research & Innovation (R&I) Conference, the presentation of the TUKE Innovation Hub, and the Ulysseus Annual Summit. | Read more

On November 14, 2025, the University of Münster will open the doors of the GeoMuseum for the fourth Sustainability Day. Under the theme “Creating a Healthy Future,” experts from the University of Münster, among them many members of the ZIN, will address the public. In addition, information booths and workshops from both the scientific and operational-technical fields invite everyone to join the discussion. | Read more

On October 29 2025, the ZIN held its general meeting, at which the election of a new board was also on the agenda. While ZIN spokesperson Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt and executive board members Prof. Anne Käfer  and Prof. Bodo Phillip were elected for another term, Prof. Doris Fuchs did not stand for re-election. Her place on the executive board will be taken by Prof. Sigrid Kannengießer. | Read more

The ZIN-colloquium ‘Food’ will take place on October 27 2025 from 2 to 5 p.m. The topic of the meeting is ‘From consumer behaviour to food safety to sustainable agricultural food systems’. The event will begin with short presentations from ZIN members and practice partners from the region. We will also look back on past ZIN collaborations in the field of food in the form of approved and currently reviewed research projects. The interdisciplinary networking meeting serves primarily as a forum for exchanging research priorities and ideas for future collaborations. | Read more

On October 10 2025, the town of Tecklenburg launched the real-world laboratory project “Zukunft schmackhaft machen” (translatable as “Making the future tasty!’”) with the play “Angerichtet! – 10 Diskurshäppchen zur Ernährungswende” (translatable as “Served! – 10 discourse bites on the food transition”). The DBU-funded project aims to accompany the region on its path to a sustainable future and is based at ZIN, where it is led by Dr. Daniela Pastoors, Prof. Dr. Asmaa El Maaroufi and Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt. Additionally, other ZIN members are participating in the project. | Read more

In the winter term 2025/26, ZIN members and staff will once again be offering a variety of exciting sustainability-related courses in various disciplines. These include, for example,  seminars on topics such as „Mehr Krise = mehr Antifeminismus? – Ursprüngen und Gründen auf der Spur“ or „Nachhaltigkeit und Buddhismus: Einführung in die religiöse Landschaft Japans und Methoden der Digital Humanities“ and also lectures, for example on „Umweltrecht“ or „Lebensader Wasser“. | Read more

The city of Tecklenburg and its partners invite you to a special theatre evening, featuring the play “Angerichtet! – 10 Diskurshäppchen zur Ernährungswende” (translatable as “Served! – 10 discourse bites on the food transition”). The performance will take place on Friday, October 10 2025, at the Hotel Drei Kronen (Landrat-Schultz-Straße 15, Tecklenburg). Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the performance begins at 7:00 p.m. | Read more

On September 10 2025, a new edition of ‘REACH for Sustainability’, hosted by the University of Münster’s Start-up Centre and Münster University of Applied Sciences, will take place. Under the theme ‘REACH for Sustainability: Growth vs. Responsibility – Scaling at Any Cost?’, experts from academia and practice will share insights into their experiences and discuss ways in which start-ups and founders can navigate the tension between scaling and sustainability. | Read more

The ZIN Newsletter 01|2025 is now available online. This comprehensive newsletter provides information about the numerous sustainability-related publications by ZIN scientists from the first half of 2025. | Read more

Over the past few months, four interesting blog articles have been published on the ZIN blog “nach(haltig)gedacht”. The blog is dedicated to the question of how we want to live – in our society, on this planet. What makes for a good life? What is sustainable in terms of the environment, but also in terms of social cohesion and democracy? It deals with social and environmental aspects, as well as political and economic aspects and developments that affect us. The common denominator is concern for the quality of life in the present and future. | Read more

The Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung (ZIN) at the University of Münster has one or two student assistant positions (4 to 9 hours per week) available as soon as possible for the “Setting Sails for ULYSSEUS” project. | Read more

On Thursday, May 22, at 12:15 p.m., landscape ecologist Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt will give a lecture as part of the ZIN-Brown Bag lectures on the topic “What kind of agriculture feeds the growing human population and conserves common goods?”. | Read more

From September 3–5, 2025, the HumboldtN School “Sustainability and its Communication: Strategies between Science and Politics” will take place at the Technical University of Dortmund. In interactive workshops, keynotes by leading experts, and a poster walk, participants will discuss interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches for effectively communicating sustainability and develop perspectives, boundaries, and methods: How can scientific findings be incorporated into political processes convincingly? | Read more

On Thursday, June 5, at 12:15 p.m., educational scientists Dr. Markus Kohnen and Dr. David Rott will give a lecture on “Transformative Education and Participation versus Educational Economics and Growth” as part of the ZIN-Brown Bag Lectures. | Read more

On May 13, 2025, the dissertation “Transformation durch Tugend? ‚Grüne politische Urteilsbildung‘ als Schlüssel zu nachhaltigkeitsförderlichen Deliberationsverfahren“ (German for: Transformation through Virtue? ‘Green Political Judgment Formation’ as the Key to Deliberation Processes promoting Sustainability) by ZIN Managing Director Dr’in Carolin Bohn was published in the University of Münster's Scientific Writings series.
In her work, the political scientist focuses on sustainability-oriented deliberation processes, which she sees as a necessary building block for successful sustainability transformation in liberal democracies. | Read more

The energy transition in heating and the current municipal heat planning are central building blocks for a sustainable and climate-friendly future. But how can they be designed in such a way that they are both ecologically effective and socially just? What measures are necessary to ensure a comprehensive, affordable, and climate-neutral heat supply? In the Münsteraner Klimagespräch titled “Making the heat transition socially just – the responsibility of municipalities and consumers” on Thursday, June 5, 7 p.m. at the VHS Forum, Aegidiistr. 70, the Climate Department of the City of Münster will provide information about the heat plan until 2026. | Read more

On Thursday, May 22, at 12:15 p.m., economist Dr. Andrea Beccarini will give a lecture on “Growth, Environment, and Peace through Innovation and Strong Institutions” as part of the ZIN-Brown Bag Lectures. | Read more

What opportunities are there for combining investment and sustainability? What is behind the “impact investing” approach? Victor de la Rey (sustainability research analyst, GLSInvestments Bochum) and Christoph Bickmann (CEO, DKM-Darlehenskasse Münster eG) will discuss these and other questions on Monday evening. The open evening panel will be moderated by Dr. Tobias Gumbert from the ZIN and is open to all interested parties. | Read more

Next Monday and Tuesday, May 12 and 13, the ZIN, in cooperation with the Akademie Franz Hitze Haus, is hosting an interdisciplinary conference at the Franz Hitze Haus in Münster. Under the title “Multidisciplinary perspectives on growth in the context of sustainability,” scientists from various disciplines will meet to discuss current challenges and future prospects. | Read more

On Thursday, May 8, at 12:15 p.m., biochemist Prof. Dr. Michael Meisterernst will give a lecture on “When tumor cells grow uncontrollably and how medicine is tackling it” as part of the ZIN-Brown Bag Lectures. | Read more

Growth—a term we often associate with progress and prosperity. But how does it fit in with the idea of sustainability? Does our economy really have to keep growing? Or are there other ways to make societies successful and environmentally sustainable at the same time? These exciting questions will be explored at an interdisciplinary conference on May 12 and 13, 2025, at the Franz Hitze Haus in Münster. | Read more

On Thursday, April 24, at 12:15 p.m., the ZIN brown bag lecture series 2025 will beging with a lecture by molecular biologist Prof. Dr. Christoph Schäfers  on the topic of “Alternatives to growth: Climax-economy based on an ecological model?”. | Read more

The ZIN Salon “Water” will take place on April 10, 2025, from 2 to 5 pm. The theme of the interdisciplinary networking meeting is “Water as a resource - from habitat to critical infrastructure to distributive justice”. ZIN scientists Prof. Dr. Bodo Philipp and Dr. Tobias Gumbert and other experts will be giving talks on the topic of water. | Read more

Shortly before the turn of the year 2025, a ZIN consortium received a funding commitment from the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt  (DBU) for the project "Making the future tasty! - Utopias for an inclusive implementation of the sustainability strategy in the Tecklenburg living lab". Over the next three years, the team of 15 people will put together various so-called future building blocks that will help to implement the Tecklenburg municipality's sustainability strategy inclusively and strengthen the region's transformative resilience. | Read more

Growth - a term with many facets. While it is often seen as a criterion for success in business, environmental scientists warn of the ecological limits of our planet. What can sustainable growth look like? What alternatives are there? And what can we learn from different disciplines? | Read more

What does growth mean in different disciplines and how can these perspectives enrich each other? Under the title “Growth from an interdisciplinary perspective”, students and interested citizens are invited to an exciting series of lectures in which experts from the fields of economics, landscape ecology, educational science, biology and medicine will present their findings and perspectives. | Read more

On Thursday, March 27, 2025, the Münsteraner Klimagespräche will enter the next round. On the topic of “Transport and climate: a difficult relationship. The opportunities of climate-friendly mobility in the Münsterland region”, ZIN scientist Prof. Dr. Antonia Graf will discuss the topic with two other experts. The climate talk starts at 7 p.m. in the vhs-Forum, Aegidiimarkt 2. Admission is free. Registration is not required. | Read more

How can we make our diet more sustainable and fit for the future? This question was addressed by a national citizens' council, which was first launched by the German Bundestag in 2023. This has triggered extensive media coverage but has also gained traction in the scientific debate. | Read more

As part of the Innovation Hub on socio-ecological sustainability based at the ZIN, the various sustainability activities at the University of Münster are to be interlinked with each other and with other European universities in the Ulysseus network. The InnoHub team has now carried out a real-life experiment in which it tested the so-called TheWEEK format to explore how it can be used in teaching and in the context of Ulysseus. | Read more

On Thursday, 23 January 2025, the Münsteraner Klimagespräche will enter the next round. On the topic of ‘Will oil and gas become unaffordable? Emissions trading from 2027 and its social consequences’, a discussion with impulse speeches will take place, moderated by ZIN scientist Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt. The climate discussion starts at 7 pm in the vhs-Forum, Aegidiimarkt 2. Admission is free.
| Read more

On 27 December 2024, a new episode of the podcast ‘Focus on Peace’ was released with ZIN member Prof. Dr. Anne Käfer as a guest. The podcast episode is dedicated to the topic ‘Peace on a plate? Diet between ethics and ecology’. | Read more

As part of this year's award ceremony for the best doctoral thesis (graduating with ‘summa cum laude’) at the University of Münster, ZIN Managing Director and political scientist Dr Carolin Bohn received the doctoral thesis award 2024 for work submitted to the Department of Education and Social Sciences at the University of Münster. | Read more

How can we deal with the major crises of our time? ‘Humboldt N’, the sustainability initiative of universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, is organising a lecture series this winter semester on the topic of ‘Resilience & Active Hope: Dealing with the climate crisis’. The lecture series will end next Monday, 16 December 2024, at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research (ZIN) in Münster. | Read more

From 28 to 30 October 2024, the 'Ulysseus Days' took place in Münster under the title ‘Navigating Pathways to a Sustainable Future’. The Ulysseus Days started with the official kick-off of the Münster Innovation Hub within the Ulysseus University Alliance on 28 and 29 October 2024 with the event ‘Explore and Connect: Meet the Innovation Hub of Socio-Ecological Sustainability’. On the 30th October the Research & Innovation (R&I) conference ‘Sustainable Innovations’ took place. Many current ZIN members were involved in various formats on all three days. | Read more

As part of the event series “Climate stress and climate justice”, a lecture on the topic “Who bears the costs of prosperity? - Climate justice in court”. A consortium of organizers from the Together for future association, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Sustainability Research (ZIN) at the University of Münster and the Münsteraner Klimagespräche sponsoring group invite to this small series of events, which began on 29.10.24 with the lecture “And we carry on regardless. Hoping and fighting in times of crisis” by Carla Reemtsma. | Read more

Once again this year, ZIN scientists are participating in the program of the CAMPUS EARTH Sustainability Day on 8 November 2024. A wide range of events on the topic of “On the way to a sustainable future with AI” will take place in the Fürstenberghaus, the Geomuseum and the Bibelmuseum in the city center of Münster. Anyone who is interested is invited to the diverse program. | Read more