News

Discussion paper out: Rethinking academic travel

Students of the Humboldt-Scholarship spent a whole year investigating academic travel at Humboldt-University zu Berlin. The results of their research have just been published in a THESys Discussion Paper. How to travel more sustainably? In their research, the students of the Humboldt-Scholarship ‘Sustainability and Global Justice’ 2020/21 analyzed academic travel as substantial source of CO2-emissions at…

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Film screening: Gold in the metro station

Based on her PhD on artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Tanzania, IRI THESys researcher Anna Frohn Pedersen has directed the 60-second film ‘Gold’, which is currently being screened in the metro stations of Seoul (South Korea). Watching the search for gold The experimental film was made in 2018 in the Geita Region of Tanzania,…

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Gold mining in Orlovka

New paper: Constructing consent for gold extractivism

How does a gold mine become an exemplary case of ‘cooperation’? THESys researchers Beril Ocaklı and Tobias Krüger, together with co-authors Marco Janssen and Ulan Kasymov, pursue this question in their new article published in Ecological Economics. Taking the discourse seriously: Rational self-interest and resistance to mining in Kyrgyzstan Focusing on Kyrgyzstan’s third largest gold deposit…

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Humboldt Labor: 25 meters of dialogue

With an opening ceremony, the Humboldt Forum opened its doors to the public on July 20, 2021. One of six inaugural exhibitions is the show of the Humboldt Labor “After Nature”, to which also a number of THESys researchers have contributed. The exhibition “After Nature” addresses the interactions between climate change and biodiversity loss, as…

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New Discussion Paper: How activist should scientists be?

At the THESys Summer School ‘Transformative Human-Environment Research & Participatory Methods’ in September 2019, doctoral researchers, faculty, as well as a handful of members of the public gathered in a final ‘fishbowl’ discussion to discuss the preceding week’s lectures, discussions, and practicums on the democratization of knowledge production. This Discussion Paper ‘How activist should scientists…

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THESys Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Decolonizing Academia

Our interdisciplinary dialogue occurred online on Friday, 11 June, organised by our decolonial research group. We explored how coloniality influences knowledge production within academia and what alternatives exist to break the dynamics of reproducing social injustice within our research practices. Two key experts, Dr Noa K. Ha and Dr Antony Pattathu, highlighted examples of their…

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THESys Event: Women in Transformation (Research)

The event saw the THESys community come together and open an explorative dialogue on the past, current and future role of women in transformation research. THESys Members Bettina König, Ina Säumel & Gretchen Bakke discussed   themes ranging from career trajectory, to the role of family to the challenges and opportunities for women within the emerging…

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IRI THESys Visits Humboldt Labor

On April 22nd, a small group from IRI THESys was able to preview the inaugural exhibition of the Humboldt Labor within the newly renovated Humboldt Forum titled ‘Nach der Natur’ (After Nature). Adhering to all current COVID-19 regulations, THESys researchers and colleagues had the chance to see their own work featured in the exhibition which addresses climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as global challenges to democracy.

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