Concentrated expertise for the sustainable development of the economy, society and health

Strong partners for socio-ecological change: Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) and the Wuppertal Institute are taking their long-standing collaboration to a new level. With the conclusion of a co-operation agreement, the two institutions are reaffirming their goal of jointly providing scientific impetus for the pressing challenges of our time and developing innovative solutions.

To this end, the UW/H and the Wuppertal Institute are focussing on interdisciplinary research projects, sustainability-oriented courses, subject-specific workshops and joint publications. In addition, students have the opportunity to go to the Wuppertal Institute for internships, research work or a working student position. Events in which both partners are involved - such as the Humboldtⁿ Summer School at the beginning of September at the UW/H - underpin the plan to optimally utilise synergies for joint topics. The co-operation will be further strengthened by integrating their respective networks.

"By pooling our complementary strengths and networking our research expertise, we are creating the basis for innovative solutions that can have a lasting impact in practice," explains Prof. Dr Manfred Fischedick, President and Scientific Director of the Wuppertal Institute.

"Our strategic partnership marks an important step towards a climate-friendly orientation of the UW/H and underlines the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation for solving global challenges," adds UW/H President Prof. Dr Martin Butzlaff.
 

Focussed cooperation in key areas

The two partners have identified key areas in which they will cooperate more closely in future. In doing so, they are building on numerous existing projects and thematic overlaps.

One focus, for example, is on health and sustainability: UW/H and the Wuppertal Institute are analysing how the climate crisis is affecting the healthcare system; they are developing scientifically sound strategies to enable the system to adapt to the new challenges arising from heatwaves or new disease patterns attributable to the climate crisis, for example. In addition, the ecological footprint of the healthcare system itself is currently still very high - not least due to the massive consumption of energy and materials by healthcare facilities (hospitals, etc.). The partners develop and promote sustainable solutions to reduce emissions in this area.

They are also focussing on the topics of business, politics and sustainability: How can companies implement their commitment to sustainability in the face of increasing demands from politics and society while remaining economically successful? How can financial systems and investment models be set up for the future? And what can sustainable urban development look like? These and other questions are dealt with in joint projects and addressed in teaching and research.