Activities

Aktivitäten

The SRL is closely interconnected with already existing research activities on sustainability at the KU (please see https://www.ku.de/ unileben/nachhaltige-ku/handlungsfelder/handlungsfeld-forschung).

Conferences held at the KU (Laudato Si' project team) on "Integral Ecology" in June 2019 and February 2020 served as an intersection for this interweaving.

Further specific steps

Specific steps will be fundamentally characterized by the intention of bringing together existing research activities in the field of sustainability and increasing their visibility. The lab will define research fields in which the contributors can cooperate comprehensively. An overall research agenda and a correlated agenda for each field of research will be defined.

In this context, the lab also has the aim of generating new projects and approaching new research questions based on existing content, for example in the form of research workshops.

Further envisaged core measures and formats include:

  • Lecture series, symposia/conferences on networking topics
  • Rounds of talks (internal/external networking) with a thematic focus, e.g. reflection on science, sustainable development, sustainability research, education for sustainable development 
  • Acquisition of suitable third-party funded projects
  • Exchange of researchers within the framework of the above-mentioned networks; strong internationalization goal
  • Scientific continuing education and professional training

Future activities:

  • We will continue to engage in research discussions on "Integral Ecology/Enlightenment 2.0" with the Pontifical Gregorian University and others to initiate a long-term research collaboration. A joint conference at the Gregorian University in Rome will also serve the purpose of initiating a long-term research collaboration between the participating institutions.
  • We plan to intensify cooperative sustainability research activities with the University of Passau and VDW.
  • Furthermore, we want to expand our cooperation with national and international partners; especially with sustainability research institutions
Research on sustainability at the KU

Comprehensive research activity in the field of sustainability has been ongoing at the KU for decades. An overview of past research accomplishments in the field of sustainability is available here: https://www.ku.de/unileben/nachhaltige-ku/handlungsfelder/handlungsfeld-forschung

The field of research is one of the action areas of the integrated whole institution approach applied at the KU: Since 2010, the KU has been following a whole institution approach for sustainability. This effort makes it one of the first universities in Germany and worldwide to anchor the topic of sustainability in its overall structure. In some areas, such as the sustainability reporting and EMAS Plus, the KU has worked its way to the top in Germany. Since the KU as a University essentially defines itself through its research performance, existing skills in the field of research on sustainable development are currently being strengthened and used in a profile-building way, to which the KU.SRL seeks to contribute significantly.