NEW: Photo exhibition in ZEF’s lobby (Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn). ZEF senior researcher Asrat Gella takes you on a visual journey to the people of Konso, living in the mountainous highlands of southwestern Ethiopia. The cultural landscape of Konso has been a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2011. The photo exhibition shares impressions and information about the Kara ritual of the Konso. Learn more in the flyer (on display in the lobby too) or in the recording of the ZEF public lecture titled "Sacred Ecologies: The Kara Ritual of the Konso – Enacting Memory, Traditions and Power through the Generations" by Asrat Gella on June 11, 2026. You can watch the recording of the ZEF public lecture on our youtube channel here.

On June 2, 2026 ZEF Junior-Professor Lisa Biber-Freudenberger received the official certificate of appointment from Bonn University's Rector Prof. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch (see photo below). She was accompanied by her husband and son (see the photo at the bottom of the page). Lisa's full professorship in "Biodiversity and Environmental Change" will take effect on July 1, 2026.

What is the best way to shape the future of waterfront cities in the Global South in the face of challenges like climate change? How are conflicts overcome in various different cultures? These key questions are now to be explored by two new Research Training Groups (RTGs) at the University of Bonn. Alongside the University Hospital Bonn as a partner, the proposal was submitted together with the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS). The German Research Foundation (DFG) is providing with millions of euros in funding to train doctoral students. Across Germany, the DFG will be supporting 10 new RTGs in all from fall 2026 onward. 

Whether it’s malnutrition, diet-related diseases, or negative environmental impacts, our food systems are neither sustainable nor sufficiently resilient. A promising approach to changing this is to diversify food systems. 

Bonn University published a press release on the publication by Juliana Minetto Gellert Paris, Ute Nöthlings, Felix Ankomah Asante & Matin Qaim: The sustainability of diets in sub-Saharan Africa: Synergies and tradeoffs between human health and the environment; Sustainable Production and Consumption (see link below).

Albert Allan Dakyie successfully defended his doctoral thesis on “Cross-border Education and its relationship to sociocultural integration and economic development in West African border communities”. His supervisor was Prof. Dr. Eva Youkhana (ZEF CPC)

Anna Brückner defended her doctoral thesis titled 'Blue health’ for healthy aging? Urban blue spaces as potentially therapeutic landscapes for older people in Ahmedabad and Ruhr Metropolis'.  Her first supervisor was Prof. Dr. Thomas Kistemann, University hospital Bonn and her second supervisor: Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers, Department of Geography, University of Bonn. Anna's tutor was PD Dr. Timo Falkenberg, University hospital Bonn.  

Christopher Tobe Okolo defended his doctoral thesis on Identification, Virulence and Ecological Characterization of Indigenous Entomopathogenic Nematodes as Biological Control Agents Against Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) in Nigeria. His doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences, University of Bonn His First Supervisor was Prof. Dr Christian Borgemeister, his Second Supervisor was Prof. Dr Florian Grundler (support with lab facilities at Molecular Phytomedicine MPM- INRES), whereas Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun chaired his examination committee and Prof. Dr. Lisa Biber-Freudenberger was an Expert member of the Examination committee.