Conference Week 2022: "We were wrong"

2022-03-03 The opening of the 15th conference week "NEW DEAL: Green and Peaceful" was marked by the war in Ukraine. University President Sascha Spoun spoke of "terrifying and cruel events" and emphasized the importance of university teaching in times of crisis.

Opening of the 15th conference week ©Leuphana/Jannik Sander
Ursula Schröder, academic director of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, spoke about the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the peace and security order in Europe.

In his speech, Sascha Spoun recalled the peace movement of the 1980s: "Back then, we believed that with diplomacy and dialogue, with understanding, trade and disarmament, war in Europe could be prevented forever. We were wrong." The president condemned the "frightening and cruel events in Ukraine" and spoke of the "occurrence of what was not thought possible." Sascha Spoun underscored the importance of university education in times of crisis in his address to the approximately 1,300 first-semester students: "Preparing them for what is to come through differentiated, critical thinking, the now still unthinkable through expertise, reflection and the collective struggle for knowledge, this is and will remain an essential of our goals at Leuphana, because then we will be better able to find the right answers to what is frightening and threatening."

Ursula Schröder, academic director of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, spoke about the consequences of the war in Ukraine for the peace and security order in Europe. She described the current situation as "very risky because we're dealing with a situation where a nuclear power is pushing into a war of invasion against fierce resistance and we don't know exactly how this situation can be quickly transformed into a cease-fire." She warned against an arms buildup spiral: "You have to look very carefully at what forms of solidarity with Ukraine, which are necessary and inevitable, are the most appropriate in order not to escalate this conflict further militarily." However, she viewed the resumption of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine as a "small, good sign"

Freshmen students will have the opportunity to discuss the issue with stakeholders from academia, politics and society until Friday, March 4. Other guests at the conference week include author Navid Kermani, social entrepreneur of the year Henrike Schlottmann, rapper and linguist Reyhan Şahin, migration researcher and inventor of the "EU-Turkey deal" Gerald Knaus, foreign policy expert and feminist Kristina Lunz, and climate and ocean researcher Stefan Rahmstorf.

The conference week marks the end of the Leuphana semester. At the conference week, students present their project work from the first semester of study. In a good 50 different project seminars, the young academics developed more than 300 program points together with the lecturers.

Due to the Corona pandemic, the 2022 conference week will also be held digitally.