Investigating and combining new and existing technologies with Indigenous knowledge systems – that is the aim of ‘iakumama 2050.’ The new research project by the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn (ZEF) pursues the goal of developing scenarios for how humans and nature can live together in regions affected by armed conflicts and raw material extraction. The Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project, which begins in July 2026 and will then be funded for one and a half years.

Tasneem Osman, junior researcher at ZEF, won the Prize for Best Flash Talk at the Conference Women and Girls in Science at the University of Namur in Belgium. Tasneem got the highest ranking for her talk "From invasive plants to disease risk: an overlooked one health perspective", in which she managed to tell her story in four slides.

Valentine Opanga, junior researcher with ZEF’s research group on Cultural and Political Change (ZEF CPC), defended her doctoral thesis on “The Political Ecology and Governance of Green spaces in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements” successfully today. She obtained her doctoral degree from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bonn. Her research was supervised by Professor Detlef Mueller-Mahn (Geography Department, Bonn University) and Professor Eva Youkhana (group leader ZEF CPC).

Gretchen Gonzaga (ZEF's research group on Cultural and Political Change, ZEF CPC) defended her doctoral thesis on “Post-Disaster Recovery in the Philippine Periphery: An Anthropological Approach to the Experiences of Sea-Oriented Indigenous Peoples”. Her doctoral degree was granted by the Faculty of Arts, Bonn University.  Gretchen’s supervisor was Prof. Christoph Antweiler, and her second reviewer was Prof. Kristina Großmann. Prof. Eva Youkhana (ZEF CPC) was head and Prof. Carmen Brandt a member of the examination committee. Gretchen's tutor was Dr. Dennis Lucy Aviles Irahola (associated ZEF senior researcher)

Ana Maria Perez Arredondo, ZEF researcher with ZEF’s Division on Ecology and Natural Resources Management (ECOL) defended her doctoral thesis titled “Holistic Health Approaches in Ghana. Essays on the evolution and institutionalization of the One Health concept, the social and environmental determinants of health, and the determinants of technological change” successfully on January 29, 2026. 

During a three-day workshop from January 21-23, 2026, held in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, ZEF HEALTH presented and discussed three large-scale collaborative research programs on climate change, nutrition and health. Over 30 researchers and 40 stakeholders from Burkina Faso, Kenya, Ghana, Germany, France, Sweden and the United States discussed implementation insights, result interpretations, published conclusions, and knowledge transfer into practice.  The high-level event was hosted by Dr. Ali Sie, Director of Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna (CRSN) and Prof. Dr. Abdramane Soura, Principal Scientist at Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP). It was organized by Prof. Dr. Ina Danquah, Hertz-Chair Innovation for Planetary Health and Director at ZEF, University of Bonn (UoB). 

Philipo Jacob Mtweve (ZEF ECOL) obtained his doctoral degree from the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences of the University of Bonn on January 21, 2026. “The choice is not whether to build roads in Sub-Saharan Africa, but where and how. This endeavor is demanding evidence-based frameworks that integrate biodiversity conservation with rural development imperatives”, says Philipo about his doctoral research, which he concluded today with a successful defense. 

Fernando Rodriguez-Camayo (ZEF ECOL) defended his thesis on “Climate Resilience Actions and Coffee Households’ Food (In)security in Western Honduras” on January 19, 2026, at ZEF.