Contact
The contact address for all, external and internal, who want to get in touch with Scientists 4 Future group Lüneburg:
Further information
Our faculty is working actively in many areas for a sustainable development. More information and latest events you will find on the faculty's homepage and on the faculty's facebook page.
Who we are, what we do and why we do it.
News & Activities
Who we are
The Scientists for Future (SF4) Group Lüneburg was founded in March 2019 at Leuphana University and brings together scientists from various scientific institutions in the region. As part of the Scientists for Future group, we operate according to the Scientists for Future Charta. We have signed the Scientists for Future statement to show our support for the scientific demands of the students (see scientific article and factsheet).
At Leuphana University, sustainability is at the heart of teaching and research, and so our group is also colourful - but united by the goal of supporting the students of the Fridays for Future movement. Among us are sustainability, social and natural scientists. While some of us explore the social and natural science basis of our changing environment, others focus on the development and analysis of appropriate sustainability management approaches or deal with educational approaches that contribute to the development of skills for sustainable development. Some of us are experts in transdisciplinary research. We work together to integrate science and practice and to cooperate with decision-makers and practitioners to develop solutions for sustainability challenges such as climate change.
This also means that we do not have the answer to all challenges, but we can combine knowledge and skills from different areas to come closer to possible solutions.
What we do
Our goal is to network those committed and interested in the region with experts in order to support scientifically based actions and measures that ensure that we in the Lüneburg region do our part to achieve global and local climate, environmental protection and sustainability goals. This is our form of support for the pupils here in Lüneburg and beyond in their commitment to a sustainable future (see the pupils' statements of the FFF movement).
In accordance with the S4F charter, we develop, name, explain and evaluate the need for action and options for action to achieve the climate, environmental protection and sustainability goals. We also raise our voice when proposed options for action appear unreasonable or counterproductive on the basis of scientific findings and draw attention to ethical aspects and consequences of options for action.
Our activities currently focus on offering workshops and information events to promote skills that enable us to better understand climate change and sustainability issues and to deal with them in a solution-oriented manner. We address this to the students, but also to parents and other interested parties in the region. In this way, we want to contribute to a better understanding of the current climate and sustainability challenges so that we can all develop and support meaningful regional and local measures.
In doing so, it is also important for us as Scientists for Future to remain non-partisan. We do not form political interest or campaign groups and will not participate in the formulation of specific catalogues of demands or political programmes. What we can offer is to subject them to a scientific evaluation of their impact.
Why we do it
The Fridays for Future movement and the school strikes have given us hope as a group of scientists. For decades, scientists have been reporting on the negative effects of humans on the environment. We have already developed alternatives for our current destructive system and tools and techniques for a sustainable future or are implementing sustainability in the educational system. However, it often felt as if nobody was listening. The climate strikes have now fundamentally changed the discourse and motivated people to listen and join climate protection measures. We therefore want to get together with students and participate in this dialogue to share our knowledge and skills in sustainability science. In this way we want to show the students that they are not alone in taking responsibility for this - we stand behind them. Together we can make a difference.
Climate protection is health protection // 09.11.2020
Online-Event organised by S4F
On November 9, 2020, we as the Lüneburg Regional Group organized the digital online event "Climate Protection is Health Protection". The event focused on the question of how climate change and health are linked and what options for action exist for us as a society and for each individual. Around 40 participants were given insights into their work by exciting speakers who dealt with these topics from different perspectives and then discussed them together afterwards.
Dr. Alina Herrmann (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Allgemeinmedizin und Familienmedizin, AG Klimawandel und Gesundheit und Institute of Global Health, Universität Heidelberg) was able to give us an overview of the consequences of climate change for health in Germany and worldwide, and the health benefits of climate protection measures. In addition, we were able to show for doctors how a professional group can make a contribution to social transformation.
Peter von Philipsborn (Institut für Medizinische Informationsverarbeitung Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) addressed in his contribution a balanced diet and active mobility on foot or by bicycle, which not only protects the climate, but also contributes to better health and quality of life. However, implementing such a lifestyle in everyday life is often difficult. Therefore, the focus was also on how healthy and sustainable nutrition and mobility can be made possible, simple and attractive for everyone.
Finally, Sara Reimann (Hansestadt Lüneburg) gave us a brief overview of the project "Zukunftsstadt Lüneburg 2030" and explained, on the basis of two so-called "real experiments", how climate protection and health protection can be implemented together.
After the presentations, there was time for questions from the participants and an interesting exchange on the topics presented. Many thanks to all speakers and interested guests.
Guest at the Social Change Hub of Leuphana - Climate Movements in Times of Corona // 09.06.20
S4F participation in the event series 'Digital Social Change' of the Social Change Hub of Leuphana
Until shortly before the beginning of the Corona crisis, thousands of people followed the call of 'Fridays for Future' and protested loudly for a better climate policy. Numerous support organisations such as Entrepreneurs-, Parents-, Students- and Scientists for Future were formed worldwide. In the meantime, despite a few online actions, the movement has supposedly become quieter. Therefore, after a keynote lecture by S4F in the context of the 'Digital Social Change' event series of the Social Change Hub at the Leuphana, the participants discussed the question of how the big future network can continue in the time of Corona and what the biggest challenges but also opportunities are. At the end of the discussion there was a positive conclusion: That the FFF movement is already successful now (e.g. founding of numerous other For Future groups) and that it will continue to be very likely to be so in the future, look at the results of current protest and movement research on FFF. The participants discussed activities for the Corona transition period, such as podcasts, other online actions, networking with regional climate protection projects (e.g. Lüneburg 2030), cooperation with actors such as the city, think tanks, companies, legislators and administrations. It was also emphasised that the change towards sustainability needs opportunity windows and roadmaps - and these can now be well designed together.
A Friday for local climate // 07.02.20
Workshop of the regional group Scientists for Future Lüneburg
On 07.02.2020, more than 30 pupils and students took part in the workshop 'A Friday for the local climate' at Leuphana University. Together with Prof. Dr. Markus Quante, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schomerus and Philip Gallmeister from the Klimaschutzleitstelle, the participants had the opportunity to exchange views on current climate change developments worldwide and in Lüneburg as well as on corresponding legislation in Germany. In addition to the two keynote speeches by Prof. Dr. Markus Quante, who described climate change and its effects on a global and regional level, but also suggested possible solutions, and Prof. Dr. Thomas Schomerus, who addressed the current legal situation against the background of the energy situation in Germany, exciting World Café discussions were held on various questions: 'What is already happening in Lüneburg?', 'Where can the Fridays for Future movement start?', 'In which areas is too little happening in Lüneburg? The result was exciting solutions and ideas that already exist or can be developed further, such as 'Lebendiges Lüneburg', the possibilities of participation in the city and district councils or the possibility of expanding the city school students' council in Lüneburg.
Organised by the regional group Scientists for Future Lüneburg with Maike Buhr, Harald Hantke, Dr. Lydia Kater-Wettstädt, Prof. Dr. Julia Leventon, Steffen Pabst, Hanna Weber and Dr. Annika Weiser, the workshop was aimed at all interested pupils and students who would like to get more involved in climate protection in Lüneburg or simply want to learn more about it.
On Thursday, 30.01.2020, about 100 pupils in grades 5, 6, 9 and 11 of the Wilhelm-Raabe-Schule Lüneburg visited Leuphana University in order to perhaps get answers to their question about the development of climate change and global events. The students had previously applied in classes to participate in the workshop on "Climate Change and Sustainable Development", for which they made a film, built a big house of dilemmas or developed an app for future. The concept of the competition in the school as well as the workshop at Leuphana itself was developed by Steffen Pabst (Leuphana, Institute for Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, committed to S4F), Silke Menzel-Bizi (teacher at the Wilhelm Raabe Schule and committed to Parents For Future) and Dr. Lydia Kater-Wettstädt (Leuphana, Institute for Integrative Studies, engaged with S4F) together: the students should have the opportunity to question the self-evident and to develop their own answers to their questions in the discussion of different sustainability initiatives. They were also supported by their respective class teachers: Helena Pleß, Irene Grossmann and Philipp Lang. The UNESCO coordinator of the school, Matthias Hörig, as well as the headmaster Thomas Wetzel did not miss the opportunity to come. Scenarios like "What would a world look like without governments" or "without cars" or "without internet" should help the students to take a new perspective on challenges and their solutions. In a creative debate, the cross-class groups created collages that took up numerous ideas such as underwater trains, direct democracy or a culture of giving.
At 29.11.19 we took part at the global Climate Strike in Lüneburg, to publicly support our local students and their political demands.
Climate Literacy Workshop // 29.09.19
On 29th September 2019, Scientists 4 Furture Lueneburg hosted a climate literacy workshop. The workshop was aimed at parents, teachers and interested adults, to help them support the school strikers and understand the science that is behind the Fridays 4 Future movement. When Greta Thunberg implores us to 'listen to the scientists', who are the scientists, and what are they saying? To answer these questions, we provided three short presentations, with time for questions and discussion. Our presentations were:
- Climate change: Science and impact - Dr. Holger Brix, Institute for coastal rsearch, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht
- From science to politics: The IPCC – Prof. Dr. Julia Leventon, und Herr Steffen Pabst, Faculty of sustainability, Leuphana University Lüneburg.
- Local actions for sustainability - Lüneburg 2030+ - Dr. Annika Weiser, Faculty of sustainability, Leuphana University Lüneburg.
The workshop was attended by approx. 20 people, and was a productive evening of discussion. If you would be interested to attend a repeat of this event, please let us know by email.
Pop-up Seminar // 24.05.19
At the global climate strike on 24th May 2019, we hosted short pop-up seminars on the Market Square in Lüneburg. Our scientists joined the demonstrators, and then hosted short discussions on a range of topics related to the Fridays for Future demands. Each discussion was hosted by an expert in that topic, and related to research being done at Leuphana. These included:
- The city as experiment: Zukunftsstadt Lüneburg 2030+ (future city Lüneburg 2030+)
- Regional climate models, the climate in Lüneburg in 2050
- Contributing to the future: why local projects can influence the future
- Biodiversity and climate change
- Energy transitions