The recent changes to our environment caused by human activities are undeniable and have already led to an unprecedented rate of climate change and decline in biodiversity. Furthermore, those changes unproportionally affect vulnerable communities and feed into social injustice. We, therefore, carry a social responsibility to acknowledge the global climate and biodiversity crisis as the currently most crucial threat to the future of our planet.
Guided by the political frame of reference by the United Nations Sustainable Development goals (2015), higher education facilities like the Leibniz Association have to play a significant role in addressing our current climate challenges through their research and through educating and spreading awareness.
Therefore, the Leibniz Association is inclined to develop a “culture of sustainability” that continuously reflects on the environmental impact of our activities and research to promote global social justice.
This road to a “culture of sustainability” is long. To lay the foundations for sustainable developments within the Leibniz Association, the working group Sustainability of the Leibniz PhD and PostDoc Networks is organizing an online seminar series.
We would like to invite you to participate in our first online seminar:
Sustainable Research – What can WE do and where do WE start?
On the 2nd of June, 2021 4.00 – approx. 5.30pm on Zoom.
Here, we want to discuss with you what role sustainability should play in research in general and in the Leibniz Association in particular. To start the discussion and to identify potential fields of action, like implementing grassroot initiatives at individual institutes while also promoting administrative actions and developing new policies, we have invited four experts on sustainability as panelists:
Diana Born, atmosfair gGmbH
“Imagine you wake up in a sustainable world: how does it feel, how do you act? To me, sustainability means to envision such a system, feel the joy it gives me and use this motivation as fuel to pull it closer every day.”
Juliane Schumacher, Leibniz Institute Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)
“For me, Sustainability means working in solidarity for a just, livable and durable future. Sustainability means respect – for other humans, now and in future, and beyond humans, for the planet and all its inhabitants.”
Falk Schmidt, German Science Platform Sustainability 2030
“Sustainability is at its core about providing current and future generations with at least the same if not more options / alternatives for living a decent life in an autonomous way.”
Andreas Otto, Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IÖR) and Leibniz Arbeitskreis Sustainability Management
“We must firmly anchor the guiding principle of sustainable development in all our activities, not only through research topics, but in the entire work process and operational organisation of scientific institutions. To quote the Leibniz Association’s Sustainability Mission Statement, it is therefore important to establish and continuously develop a ‘culture of sustainability’.”
We therefore would like to invite you to take part in our discussion and to play an active role in shaping our working group’s goals towards a sustainable future of the Leibniz Association.
If you are interested in joining the discussion, you can register here.
We look forward to our discussion, to hearing your ideas, and in the long run, to creating a “culture of sustainability” within and outside of the Leibniz Association.
Kind wishes,
Your working group Sustainability of the Leibniz PhD & PostDoc Networks
