Sustainability Report 2023
Sustainable research projects
The Anthropocene as multiple crisis
As part of the Maria Sybilla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) Bielefeld/Guadalajara, the research team, research unit, research group "Coping with Environmental Crises" is working on the topic of "The Anthropocene as a Multiple Crisis: Latin American Perspectives". The project aims to define and contribute new methodological and analytical foci to the understanding of the Anthropocene in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as in the social sciences and humanities. One of the main outcomes of this interdisciplinary and transatlantic project group is a 6-volume bilingual handbook on the history of the Anthropocene in Latin America. Although the start date of the Anthropocene is not uncontroversial, it is now widely accepted that it began in 1950, under the term "Great Acceleration", due to the rapid increase in polluting activities that made up the crisis of the Anthropocene that began at that time. However, if there is a "Great Acceleration", this also implies a preceding phase of slower condensation of these "Anthropocene" processes. Precisely because so many of the extractivist-capitalist practices that are part of the Western "enlightened" energy model and cultural construction have their origins in Latin America and the Caribbean, the project looks at the prehistory of the Anthropocene since 1492.
YaBiNaPA - Yaoundé-Bielefeld Graduate School
Traditional African medicine is still scientifically unexplored, although a large proportion of the population (up to 90%) uses it as their primary healthcare. Experts in therapy based on ethnopharmaceutical principles are urgently needed. YaBiNaPA aims to overcome this problem by providing doctoral students with interdisciplinary and translational training and by creating a communication platform between the disciplines of biology, chemistry and pharmacology, including traditional healers. YaBiNaPA is funded by the DAAD [German Academic Exchange Service] with funds from the BMZ. Among the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, YaBiNaPA focuses in particular on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 4 (Quality Education).
From insight to action - thoughtfulness, everyday living and socio-ecological transformation
In terms of transformative research, the conditions of the genesis of action-oriented knowledge for anchoring action - in this case biodiversity-related action - in everyday practice are investigated.
The focus in Bielefeld is on experiences of nature and their reflection - based on the assumption that a change in attitudes and practices with regard to biodiversity only has a chance if people reflexively relate their experiential, intuitive images and fantasies, their latent images of the world and people on the one hand to concrete experiences and rational ecological, political, social or cultural arguments on the other. In addition, the political self-image will be analysed, as participation is particularly important for a socio-ecological transformation. The aim of the research is 1) a qualitative reconstruction of latent ideas and fantasies or narratives about the concept of biodiversity and 2) a quantitative pre-post survey of the effect of our intervention with regard to the aforementioned socio-ecological transformation.
We see the attempt at an inner transformation of the individual as a possible leverage point to achieve a social paradigm shift starting from the individual.
Project & practical guide "Raising awareness and implementing climate (protection) measures and health impact aspects as cross-cutting topics in medical and medicine-related degree programmes"
The aim of the MedKlimaGesund project is to raise awareness of the topic of "health and climate" in the university context and to create incentives for its implementation in the education of students, especially in human medicine and other health professions. As part of the project ending date, an interdisciplinary online symposium was held with researchers and experts from the fields of climate change, sustainability and health. The findings will be used to develop a practical guide for lecturers on the topic of "Raising awareness and implementing climate (protection) measures and health impact aspects as cross-cutting topics in medical and medicine-related degree programmes".
Bio-inspired oxidation catalysis with iron complexes (BioOxCat)
The decarbonisation of energy production and the sustainable use of non-renewable hydrocarbon resources from oil, gas and coal are necessary to achieve global climate targets. In this respect, the selective functionalisation of hydrocarbons through catalytic oxidation reactions is a key technology for the production of both basic and fine chemicals from natural oil and gas resources as well as new active ingredients, e.g. pharmaceutical products. Nature often uses enzymes with iron ions in the active centres for the selective oxidation of organic substrates. The aim of this research team, research unit, research group is to develop bio-inspired catalysts for os with environmentally friendly oxidising agents such as O₂ and H₂O₂.
Smart Water Futures: Designing the Next Generation of Urban Drinking Water Systems
As a result of global climate change, almost 80% of the world's population will be exposed to a high threat in terms of a safe water supply; the sixth Sustainable Development Goal formulated by the United Nations accordingly formulates the demand for clean water and sanitation. The WaterFutures project addresses the drinking water supply in cities as a highly relevant aspect of this demand against the background that 70% of the world's population is expected to live in urban regions from 2050. An interdisciplinary team is analysing the spectrum from the short-term control of drinking water networks and their medium-term planning through to long-term maintenance. The team from Bielefeld University's Machine Learning working group is contributing methods from the field of explainable AI that make it possible to make the processes manageable in the context of limited sensor technology and high computational complexity, while at the same time integrating all stakeholders involved in decision-making processes through cognitively compatible interfaces.
DIGIRAS
Sustainable aquaculture systems are one of the strongest pillars for achieving the key UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SGD 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption & Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). The most important advantages of land-based recirculating aquaculture systems are the improved possibilities for optimising fish health and yield as well as improved waste management. The DIGIRAS project aims to explore these benefits systematically and at all levels in order to achieve concrete improvements in such aquaculture systems.
Labour and Welfare in the Global South: "Welfare for Migrant Factory Workers: Moral Struggles and Politics of Care under Market Socialism" (Welfare Struggles)
How do welfare systems provide for workers in market economies ruled by communist party states? To answer this question, the EU-funded WelfareStruggles project turned to China and Vietnam. These are countries that have transformed themselves from former centrally planned economies into market economies and introduced a system that is now referred to as "market socialism". This transformation has been driven by the labour of millions of migrant workers from rural areas, many of whom are employed in global factories in urban and industrial centres. In this context, the project focuses on the provision of social services to migrant workers and their families. With the support of an ethnographic approach and comparative social policy analysis, it will shed light on the politics of care that underlies the provision of social benefits to workers in these so-called factories of the world.
OPTI-TRIALS
The researchers involved in the OPTI-TRIALS joint project between Bielefeld University, Helmholtz Munich and the Helmholtz Centre Hereon want to find ways to reduce the number of animals used in medical tests and at the same time gain more knowledge. To this end, methods are to be developed that manage with fewer measuring points and still provide meaningful data. In addition to mathematical models, estimation methods and hypothesis tests, the centre is also developing software and training courses.