Past events
- 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.
- 2025-12-10T11:00:00+01:00
- 2025-12-10T12:00:00+01:00
10
WednesdayCPC Colloquium: Ghana's Urban Informal Sector
Care Work, Gendered Time Poverty & Livelihood Outcomes in Ghana's Urban Informal Sector: Panel Evidence & Lived Narratives This proposal investigates, across four panel waves tracking the same households, how unpaid care and gendered time poverty constrain livelihoods in Ghana's urban informal sector. Using the ISSER–Yale longitudinal dataset with interviews and focus groups in Accra and Kumasi, it will analyse effects on income, working hours, assets and mobility, and inform debates on urban labour markets, social protection and economic constraints shaped by unpaid care. About the Speaker: Adlai Gardesey is a DAAD-funded Junior Visiting Researcher at ZEF CPC from ISSER, University of Ghana. He is a development economist & has worked with GIZ, Amnesty International & Ministry of Finance.
- 2025-12-03T11:00:00+01:00
- 2025-12-03T12:00:00+01:00
3
WednesdayCPC Colloquium: Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage Sites
Conservation in Practice: Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage Sites - Insights from the Michael Succow Foundation The session will present the work of the Succow Foundation, an internationally active sustainable development and conservation organization. In 1999, Prof. Michael Succow founded the Succow Foundation with the prize money of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize". Ever since, the Succow Foundation is internationally active with its guiding principles "Preserve, sustain, value". Initially, the Succow Foundation was involved in the development and management of national parks and biosphere reserves in Europe and Asia. Now 25 years after its inauguration, it runs a variety of projects on four continents on sustainable land use, climate protection, protected areas, and sustainable livelihoods with a huge network of partners, nationally and locally worldwide.
- 2025-11-27T13:30:00+01:00
- 2025-11-27T14:30:00+01:00
27
ThursdayZEF Public Lecture: Housing crisis in Latin America
Some causes and consequences Housing is a basic need and a human right, and as such it has also been enshrined in Article 11 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN Social Covenant). At the 12th World Urban Forum, organized by UN-Habitat every two years and held from November 4, 2024, in Cairo, Egypt, the biggest setback was discussed once again: SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) is the sustainable development goal that has suffered the greatest setback. Today, 2.8 billion people live in inadequate housing or spend more than 50% of their net income on housing (UN-Habitat). However, housing has increasingly become a commodity and an object of speculation in the real estate market. This was particularly evident in Spain, where a real estate bubble was artificially created with the construction of hundreds of thousands of apartments and single-family homes.