Heavy rainfall in Berlin, falling water levels in the lakes of Brandenburg and changes in ecosystem services. These are the central topics of the Einstein Research Unit Climate and Water under Change (CliWaC), which focuses on Berlin-Brandenburg as a model region for research on the risks and solutions of altered water resources under climate change.…
THESys Member Dieter Gerten was recently interviewed by Artur Krutsch for the HU news portal. In this interview, he describes the biggest water wasters and explains what influence our consumption has on local and global water crises. He looks both at the Brandenburg region, which is increasingly affected by droughts, and at California in the…
A new paper by THESys member Ina Säumel and her colleague Simone Sanft (FU Berlin) shows how the pandemic exacerbates existing inequities and negative impacts in urban neighborhoods. Changing use and perception of residential greenery in multistory housing in Berlin The pandemic exacerbates existing inequities and negative impacts in urban neighborhoods. Environmentally and socioeconomically disadvantaged…
In the 3sat science magazine NANO, THESys Director Jörg Niewöhner explains what the climate crisis teaches us: As democratic societies, we have to decide how we want to live in the future. The social anthropologist argues that the climate crisis should not be limited to reducing CO2 emissions, but should also take social aspects into…
The two KOSMOS-Lesungen taking place this summer semester are all about water. In their lectures, Naho Mirumachi (King’s College London) and Dieter Gerten (PIK, HU Berlin) emphasise that we urgently need a new way of dealing with water. Naho Mirumachi focuses on the relationship between water and society and calls for a new water agenda…
Together with colleagues from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), THESys Member Hermann Lotze-Campen co-authored a paper that was recently published in Nature finds. The authors analyse the environmental benefits of microbial protein, a market-ready meat alternative produced in fermentation tanks, and show that substituting just a fifth of meat from cattle with…
Students of the Humboldt-Themenklasse “Sustainability & Global Justice” have published a policy brief on how to reduce CO2 emissions produced by business travel at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. The policy brief can now be accessed as a THESys Discussion Paper on the university’s edoc server. Prevention is better than compensation! Through business travel, science and research…
Together with Paola Pozo Inofuentes, THESys member Ina Säumel has published a study demonstrating the importance of park forest trees to the promotion of forest regeneration and recovery in grazed forests in agricultural landscapes in Uruguay. Nurse species facilitate persistence of dry forests in agricultural landscapes in Uruguay Park forests form cultural landscapes of South…
Extreme rainfall, flash flooding, prolonged droughts and increasing pollution… These are just some of the water-related challenges facing the Berlin-Brandenburg region under the impacts of climate change. And while these prognoses require urgent adaptation and mitigation, developing these measures cannot rely solely on technical or scientific advancements. Social and cultural aspects must be integrated into…
*EXTENDED APPLICATION DEADLINE* Until May 25, bachelor’s and master’s students can apply for the University of Girona Summer School on WATER RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (June 20th – July 1st 2022), organized in collaboration with the Edible Cities Network Project. Participants will be part of an interdisciplinary and international team exploring nature-based solutions and their…
