Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät - Geographisches Institut

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Reinhard Hüttl

„Der Planet Erde – unser Human Habitat“

Wer sich mit dem Planeten Erde beschäftigt, lernt sehr schnell, dass es sich um ein hochkomplexes Gebilde handelt. Lineare Vorgänge sind eher die Ausnahme, Ursache und Wirkung stehen meistens in enger, nichtlinearer Wechselwirkung. Der Vortrag macht deutlich, in welcher Weise unser Lebensraum – das Human Habitat – in das Gesamtsystem Erde eingebettet ist. Wie aktuelle Untersuchungen zu Klimaänderungen, Ressourcenverbrauch und Landnutzung zeigen, ist der Mensch selbst zu einem global wirkenden Faktor in diesem System geworden. Angesichts eines prognostizierten Anwachsens der Weltbevölkerung auf neun Milliarden Menschen bis zum Jahr 2050 und den damit zwangsläufig einhergehenden Eingriffen in das System Erde erweisen sich die Geowissenschaften als Leitdisziplinen für die kommenden Dekaden. Moderation: Prof. Dr. Christoph Schneider

Prof. Dr. Jennifer Hyndman

Waiting for What? The Geopolitics of Refugees in Protracted Exile

The vast majority of the world's refugees are stuck in conditions of extended exile. They lack the political valence of refugees fleeing East to West (or West to East) during the Cold War, and have been called the 'Remnants' of globalization (Agier 2008), the flotsam and jetsam of states, and the 'rightless, scum of the earth' (Arendt, 1951). The 'three durable solutions' outlined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are simply not working in the 21st century. In 2011, refugees spent upwards of 17 years in limbo before their legal status was regularized. What are the geopolitics of asylum at this juncture? What are the consequences of lifetimes spent in camps that are designed as temporary? How has the 'war on terror' recalibrated meanings of asylum and subjectivity? This paper traces the absence of meaningful protection for millions of refugees, and the dilemma it poses for people 'here' and 'there.'   Moderation: Prof. Dr. Ilse Helbrecht

Prof. Dr. Lambert

Powerful Disciplinary Knowledge and the Future 3 Curriculum

In the context of contemporary change in schools and the intense (and beguiling) pressure to give students 'twenty first century skills' I am interested in the idea of the pedagogic rights of young people. I would like to explore the possibility that it is an essential right that young people are exposed a diverse range of knowledge that has its origins in disciplines, including geography. My lecture draws from the book Knowledge and the Future School: curriculum, leadership and social justice (co-authored by Michael Young and David Lambert and published in 2014). The book is aimed school leaders and policy makers. It introduces Young's concept of 'powerful knowledge' and what we call the 'Future 3' framework for a knowledge-led curriculum.

Prof. Dr. Tamar Mayer

The Role of Place in Formation and Deformation of National Identities

It is well known that place is textured and structured as it reflects the experiences of people who have inhabited it over the years. It is also known that homeland participates in the (re)construction of national identity. But what happens when a nation does not have access to the homeland or cannot control its own affairs? In this presentation, I analyze three examples of ethnic nations (Chechens, Uighurs, and Palestinians) who have limited access to or control over their homelands. I discuss the ways in which territory has figured in the formation of their national identities and examine what happens to these identities as nations are marginalized in their homelands. I will suggest 3 things: 1) that in response to state pressures nations exhibit greater attachment to their homeland, 2) markers such as religion become ever more important to national identity, 3) globalized Islam appropriates localized national identities.   Moderation: Prof. Dr. Ilse Helbrecht

Prof. Dr. Alison Mountz

Islands within Islands: border enforcement, detention, and the erosion of asylum

Border enforcement now sets the border in constant motion. The border itself is recast as proliferating spaces of confinement. Human migration routes involve increasingly extended periods of waiting and confinement. Islands emerge therein as sites of detention; at the same time, islands within islands and islands beyond islands proliferate in association with the erosion of political asylum. This talk will explore these struggles over entry, exclusion, asylum-seeking, and detention on islands. The islands are located along peripheral edges of sovereign territory where migrants try to land, seek asylum, and work. Far from peripheral, migration-related activities offshore prove central to understanding dynamic configurations of sovereignty in the interplay between geography, law, and jurisdiction. Their location is significant for border enforcement authorities, raising complex issues surrounding legality and legal status, precarity, governance, and the contemporary landscape of asylum.   Moderation: Prof. Dr. Ilse Helbrecht

Prof. Dr. Joop van der Schee

Thinking Through Geography revisited

Thinking Through Geography is a method about geography with a difference.  This method consists of  strategies to help geography teachers to ensure that pupils do not become bored or demotivated and to help pupils to become independent learners. Thinking Through Geography has been developed in and for the United Kingdom but is nowadays also successful  in other countries. In Germany  ‘Denken lernen mit Geographie’ (Vankan et al., 2007) and ‘Mehr denken lernen mit Geographie’ (Schuler et al., 2013) received many positive reactions. However, many questions can be asked.  How can we explain the popularity of this method? What do we know about the use and effects of Thinking Through Geography lessons?  What kind of geography do we find in Thinking Through Geography?

Prof. Dr. Klement Tockner

Domestizierte Ökosysteme und neuartige Lebensgemeinschaften

Der Mensch hat Ökosysteme weltweit, großflächig und langfristig domestiziert. Domestizierung bedeutet das „Herauszüchten“ weniger Leistungen, die für den Menschen von vorrangigem Nutzen sind – meist zulasten anderer Funktionen und Werte. Das gilt ganz besonders für die Binnengewässer, die seit Jahrtausenden bevorzugte Siedlungsplätze darstellen. Der Druck auf die Ressource Wasser nimmt durch die rapide demographische und ökonomische Entwicklung sowie zunehmend durch den Klimawandel massiv zu. Schon jetzt sind weltweit knapp ein Drittel aller Süßwasserarten ausgestorben oder vom Aussterben bedroht. Der Bestand der Wirbeltiere, wie der Fische, hat seit dem Jahr 1970 um 73% abgenommen. Zugleich werden unsere Gewässer vermehrt von neuartigen Lebensgemeinschaften, die keine gemeinsame evolutionäre Geschichte aufweisen, besiedelt. Wie formen sich diese neuartigen Lebensgemeinschaften, was sind deren ökologischen und evolutionären Konsequenzen? Stimuliert die Durchmischung der Fauna und Flora die lokale Artbildung und wird dadurch das adaptive Potenzial von Lebensgemeinschaften sogar erhöht? Welche Lebensgemeinschaften können wir in 20 oder 50 Jahren in unseren Gewässern erwarten, und wie können wir deren Entstehung beeinflussen? Die fortschreitende Domestizierung unserer Gewässer und die rapide Erosion der biologischen Vielfalt erfordern ein grundlegendes Umdenken im zukünftigen Management der Gewässer. Ein rein konservatorischer Ansatz, wie er im Natur- und Artenschutz häufig praktiziert wird, greift in den Zeiten eines rapiden Umweltwandels viel zu kurz und wird eine nachhaltige Sicherung der biologischen Vielfalt und der Ökosystemleistungen nicht gewährleisten können. Für die zukünftige Entwicklung von Managementstrategien ist es daher unerlässlich, stärker als bisher den kurzfristigen Nutzen der Domestizierung gegen die langfristigen Folgen abzuwägen. Ein Ansatz, der menschlichem Handeln nicht unbedingt nahe steht. Moderation: Prof. Dr. Wilfried Endlicher

Prof. Dr. Gill Valentine

Mapping the meaning of 'difference' in Europe: a social topography of prejudice

This paper draws on original empirical research to investigate popular understandings of prejudice in two national contexts: Poland and the UK. The paper demonstrates how common-sense meanings of prejudice are inflected by the specific histories and geographies of each place: framed in terms of 'distance' (Poland) and 'proximity' (UK) respectively. Yet, by treating these national contexts as nodes and linking them analytically the paper also exposes a connectedness in these definitions which brings into relief the common processes that produce prejudice. The paper then explores how inter-linkages between the UK and Poland within the wider context of the European Union are producing - and circulating through the emerging international currency of 'political correctness' - a common critique of equality legislation and a belief that popular concerns about the way national contexts are perceived to be changing as a consequence of super mobility and super diversity are being silenced. This raises a real risk that in the context of European austerity and associated levels of socio-economic insecurity, negative attitudes and conservative values may begin to be represented as popular normative standards which transcend national contexts to justify harsher political responses towards minorities. As such, the paper concludes by making a case for prejudice reduction strategies to receive much greater priority in both national and  European contexts. Moderation: Dr. Peter Dirksmeier

Prof. Dr. Johannes Vogel, PhD

Living with Biodiversity

The Grande Challenges of the 21st century like climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water security, and social justice demand multi-layered responses that call upon science and society. Especially biodiversity loss is a central issue for science and policy in the anthropocene. The natural sciences and natural history museums have worked for centuries on understanding, describing and preserving nature. Natural history museums are hybrid institutions, combining research, global science infrastructures and communication platforms. They thus address multifaceted dimensions of nature-human relationships, creating opportunity for transdisciplinary science, experiments with knowledge and novel relationships between science and society. Flourishing of species is threatened if we continue Innovation without participation and ignore the co-constitution between nature and culture.  Moderation: Prof. Dr. Christoph Schneider