Past events
- 2026-03-11T11:00:00+01:00
- 2026-03-11T12:00:00+01:00
11
WednesdayZEF CPC Colloquium: iakumama 2050
This presentation will introduce “Iakumama 2050”, a new ZEF-CPC research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Iakumama 2050 explores how “environmental peace”–a concept that reconciles humans with nature–can be collectively imagined and enacted in the Colombian department of Caquetá, a region profoundly impacted by armed conflict, extractivism, and deforestation. Developed in partnership with an Inga community, the project integrates digital humanities, environmental peace research, and indigenous epistemologies. It combines three experimental components: (1) the co-creation of an AI-based chatbot on environmental futures; (2) a collaborative podcast on local environmental conflicts and long-term imaginaries; and (3) the revitalization of an Inga women’s ritual (Atunpumsha) as a form of eco-political dialogue. This talk will discuss the conceptual foundations, methodological risks, and epistemological implications of this radical transdisciplinary approach.
- 2026-02-26T15:00:00+01:00
- 2026-02-26T16:00:00+01:00
26
ThursdayINTERFACES Colloquium: Integrated Soil Fertility Management
Rainfed cereal production in northern Ghana is highly variable due to rainfall uncertainty, soil constraints, and low-input fertility management. Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) can improve productivity, but outcomes depend on climate and site conditions. Using the SIMPLACE model, this study evaluated interactions among ISFM practices, sowing dates, soil depth, and climate risk at a representative site. Simulations combined four fertility treatments (control, inorganic, organic, combined), contrasting soils, multiple sowing dates, historical climate, and +2.0 °C warming across >300 GCM-based ensembles. Kernel density estimates of yield and biomass showed that control and organic treatments had low yield potential but high stability. Inorganic fertilization maximized yields but was most unstable, while combined organic–inorganic management improved biomass stability and yield distributions, supporting ISFM as a climate-resilient adaptation strategy in northern Ghana.
- 2026-02-26T13:30:00+01:00
- 2026-02-26T14:30:00+01:00
26
ThursdayZEF public lecture: Women’s Water Resources in India
Based on the lessons from the Women’s Water Resources Council in India a women collective in the Trilateral Wadden Sea Research has been planned for 2025-2028. Out of 110 people involved in the ongoing research, there are 40 women researchers: Two (out of 12 ) as Principal Investigators and more women PhD candidates than men. The women collective is intended to build a network; Women of Wadden, aiming to increase the presence and participation of women professionals in the Wadden science, technology, engineering, arts and allied fields. The objective of Women of Wadden is to acknowledge the women’s participation by documenting and disseminating their activities, ideas, and thoughts. The idea is to amplify the role and responsibilities women carry in Wadden Sea science and societal activities in order to create an environment for more acceptance of women leadership among the policy and funding and leaving a legacy for the future women professionals in the Wadden as well as in general.
- 2026-02-11T14:00:00+01:00
- 2026-02-11T15:00:00+01:00
11
WednesdayOnline communication throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia
This dissertation research titled "Online communication and mobilization throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of the Colombian non-governmental sector" examines Colombia as a distinctive case in Latin America and the Caribbean, marked by overlapping economic, social, and political crises and a recent shift toward a progressive government. The escalation of these crises, intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, culminated in mass protests in 2020–2021 that combined street demonstrations with the growing use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
- 2026-02-09T13:00:00+01:00
- 2026-02-09T14:30:00+01:00
9
MondayCANCELLED! Talk by ZEF Model Group has been cancelled
OUR APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE. Resilience broadly describes the capacity of a system to absorb or recover from a shock. The concept is highly relevant in the Earth system, in particular under unprecedented anthropogenic pressures and even more so when taking the whole human-Earth system and its internal feedback interactions into account. Recent efforts to formalize resilience face the challenge of handling an open, complex, non-linear and externally driven system with many compartments, leading to a need to include uncertainty. This talk will give an overview about resilience and what it could mean in the context of the (human-)Earth system, presenting and discussing possible indicators and how to include aleatoric and epistemic uncertainties in this effort. Such indicators could be used to reflect on Earth system stability and thus point out management opportunities.
- 2026-02-05T13:30:00+01:00
- 2026-02-05T14:30:00+01:00
5
ThursdayZEF public lecture: Deforestation in Bolivia's Amazon
Bolivia is among the countries with the highest per-capita deforestation rates globally. This environmental degradation persists despite Bolivia’s internationally recognized frameworks on the rights of Mother Earth and Indigenous Peoples. Understanding the drivers of deforestation in the Bolivian Amazon requires examining a complex interplay of social, political, and ecological factors, many of which have deep historical roots in global extractivist dynamics. This lecture explores the context, dynamics, and impacts of deforestation in Bolivia, as well as resilience strategies that civil society—including Indigenous communities and academic institutions—are advancing to safeguard the forest. You can join online (see link below under additional information)
- 2026-01-29T13:30:00+01:00
- 2026-01-29T14:30:00+01:00
29
ThursdayZEF public lecture: The Kartarpur Corridor
This research examines the Kartarpur Corridor as a transformative model of trans-local and sub-national diplomacy between India and Pakistan. Connecting shared religious and cultural heritage, it fosters peace through people-to-people contact, emotional healing, and spiritual engagement. Despite structural challenges like political volatility, restricted access, and administrative barriers, the Corridor offers a counter-narrative to hostility. With institutional support and integration into broader cultural diplomacy frameworks, it holds the potential to become a lasting symbol and mechanism of cross-border peace, unity, and reconciliation in South Asia.
- 2026-01-21T11:00:00+01:00
- 2026-01-21T12:00:00+01:00
21
WednesdayZEF CPC Colloquium: Statelessness in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Judgment 168-13 retroactively revoked citizenship for over 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent, mainly from bateyes, disregarding jus soli to redefine them as foreigners. Law 169-14 further institutionalized this exclusion by categorizing individuals into groups with restricted rights, ensuring multi-generational statelessness and socioeconomic vulnerability. This presentation examines how citizenship is weaponized as a tool of exclusion, masking xenophobia under national sovereignty. By limiting access to healthcare and legal protections, these laws legitimize discrimination and facilitate labor exploitation, fundamentally altering the social and political landscape for this marginalized population.
- 2025-12-17T11:00:00+01:00
- 2025-12-17T12:00:00+01:00
17
WednesdayCPC Colloquium: Transdisciplinary approach Human-Nature Relations
A transdisciplinary approach to Human-Nature Relations: The Case of Manos a la Cuenca in Colombia As part of the lecture on Human Nature Relationships and Environmental Thinking, this presentation highlights an experience of critical and situated environmental education that has fostered transformations not only in human–nature relationships but also in relations within academia and between academia and local communities, promoting environments of collaboration and knowledge exchange. This is exemplified by the transdisciplinary social laboratory Manos a la Cuenca in Suesca, Colombia. About the Speaker: Carolina Tobón is a senior researcher in the CPC ZEF group and holds a PhD in Geography. She is interested in social metabolism, sustainability, and development from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective.
- 2025-12-11T13:30:00+01:00
- 2025-12-11T14:30:00+01:00
11
ThursdayZEF Public Lecture: Reframing Soil Knowledge
From Extraction to Coexistence for a Sustainable Future Soils have always shaped our (agri)cultural practices and landscaped human life, yet we rarely recognize their agency in shaping our societies and sciences alike. What are soils beyond the matter beneath our feet? Are they only resources, or do they reflect who we are? This talk explores how scientific and cultural perceptions of soil co-evolve, influencing research practices and decision-making. From the methodological challenges of soil complexity to diverse worldviews, I will examine how these perspectives shape the ways we value and manage soils. Drawing on virtual reality communication and my research on soil pollution, I argue for an epistemic renewal: moving from extraction to coexistence, and towards a plural, relational soil science that fosters more just and sustainable futures.