Photo credits: Wiebke Hampel
The Grand Challenges Conference of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA), chaired by Prof. Dr. Petra Knaus (FU Berlin), addressed pressing contemporary societal challenges. Several researchers from IRI THESys joined the conference with various contributions.
Tobias Krüger was the discussant of Margreet Zwarteveen’s keynote talk who championed the notion of care for doing research differently in response to challenges such as changing climate and water cycles. Tobias also chaired a session on Sustainable Water Strategies for Resilient Futures featuring Heidi Kreibich and Dagmar Haase as well as other exciting speakers.
Tobias Sauter gave the keynote talk for the Climate and Water under Change theme of the conference – Rethinking Water under Climate Change.
Peter Feindt co-authored two talks: ‘What Does Responsible Innovation Mean in the Context of Protein Transitions?’ and ‘Alternative Food Proteins in Germany: An Integrated System and Policy Analysis’.
Tobia Lakes chaired two sessions: ‘Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries: Methods and Challenges in Transdisciplinary Research for Responsible Innovation on the example of Urban Mobility Research’ and ‘Beyond the Current Paradigm: Rethinking Responsible Innovation in Times of Transformation’.
Tomás Usón was co-author of the talk ‘Moving from Expansion to Extensions: A Conceptual Critique and Methodological Proposal for Planetary Health’.
Márk Somogyvári showcased the CliWaC Explorer, which integrates climate and water knowledge over disciplines in Berlin-Brandenburg.
Gwen Moiles, a doctoral researcher attended the conference and found it quite inspiring: “I was impressed by the breadth of the program and the tricky conversations that emerged around how to conduct and communicate science in the face of grand challenges, uncertainty, and polarization, as well as the demonstrated commitment to conversation and collaboration, rooted in care, across barriers and boundaries.”
