On Sunday, the 31st of October, governments, industries, NGOs, and other stakeholders, come together in Glasgow for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP). Expectations for this year’s COP are high, some voices even say too high, preparing for a failure because they believe that the countries will not be able to deliver. Why are expectations so high? Since Paris, Glasgow is the […]
This August, an interdisciplinary science meeting on biodiversity research took place on the Isle of Vilm. It was not just the meeting but also the isle itself that helped the participants to understand biodiversity better. On Monday, the 2nd of August, 2021, my alarm clock rang early in the morning. It took me around 9 […]
At the end of a week full of informative and fun events for the new GCE cohort, all GCE students were invited to go on an excursion with Prof. Carl Beierkuhnlein. We visited various places in and around the Fichtelgebirge, and learned a lot about the area’s geology, flora and history. When the excursion started […]
When we shop for new clothes, a factor that most of us consider is how much we spend. However, while seeking out the best deals, many of us aren’t thinking about what the tag leaves out: a hidden, but steep, environmental and social cost. In fact, the price of your new outfit is probably higher […]
As it has been made clear in some of our previous blog posts, food insecurity is a great concern. Additionally, conventional farming harbors issues in itself. One approach to increase local food security and to move away from conventional agriculture and the corporate-driven global food production is community-supported agriculture. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) originated in Japan […]
Wicked problems are issues with many interdependent factors, which make them seem impossible to be solved. Since the factors are often incomplete, in flux, and/or difficult to define, a deep understanding of the stakeholders involved, and innovative solution-oriented approaches are required to solve wicked problems. For instance, climate change is a wicked problem. And that’s […]
Sandy beaches, large tides, a hotspot for biodiversity … sounds like a beautiful, faraway place? In fact, it is not far from home at all. On the north coast of Germany lies the largest tidal flat system in the world: the Wadden Sea. Given that millions of tourists head there every year – and you […]
Education is the foundation upon which a prosperous and well-functioning society is built. On an individual basis, a quality education allows a person to cultivate the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to be engaged, productive, and self-governing citizens. This translates to enhanced socioeconomic status and empowerment, as well as reduced poverty and crime [1, 2, […]
In the words of American anthropologist Loren Eiseley, “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” Without water, there would not be life on this planet – that means no trees, nor fruits, no vast oceans, nor stunning waterfalls, no us… Simply put, there wouldn’t be Earth. Water is a […]
Current malnutrition As malnutrition has been identified as a serious health-related problem affecting developed and developing countries around the world alike, the United Nations (UN) has named the time between 2016 and 2025 the Decade of Action on Nutrition [1]. With the aim of reducing global malnutrition as well as diet-related non-communicable diseases by 2025, […]
