Daniel Fischer takes over the UNESCO-Chair
2024-02-27 Sustainable development is the central guiding principle for addressing humanity's major future challenges. Since 2005, the UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development at Leuphana University has pursued the goal of embedding this principle in university research and teaching and advancing it through international cooperation with universities worldwide. Professor Dr. Daniel Fischer is now taking over this chair from Prof. Dr. Daniel Lang.
Since its establishment, the work of the UNESCO Chair has concentrated on how the principles of sustainable development can be integrated into sustainability-related research and education. Specifically, the Chair has initiated these transformative processes with the "Science and Responsibility Module" within Leuphana Semester, an interdisciplinary first semester for all first-year students at the university. In interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary project seminars, students independently explore relevant research questions and present their findings during a "Conference Week."
Professor Fischer describes the future focus of his work as follows: "At a time when the search for sustainability solutions is of crucial importance, our emphasis lies on prioritizing learning processes. Sustainability should evolve into a competition of ideas and not a battleground for ideological conflicts." The primary objective in higher education and through collaboration with international partner universities is to mitigate the growing tendency towards overloading students with studies, and, instead, to further empower and motivate students to actively engage in the exchange of ideas for sustainable solutions.
Together with the ceremonial takeover of the UNESCO Chair, the farewell and felicitations of the first chairholder, Prof. Dr. Gerd Michelsen, will take place. Professor Michelsen took over the chair in 2005 and held it until his retirement in 2022. He played a key role in the development of a sustainable university in Lüneburg.
NOTE FOR EDITORS:
We extend a warm invitation to you to join us for the UNESCO Chair Ceremony. Guests will include Mark Manns from UNESCO headquarters in Paris and Marleen Meissner from the German UNESCO Commission. The event will begin on February 28 at 3.30 pm in room 704 of the university's central building.
To facilitate our planning, we kindly request that you register at henning.zuehlsdorff@leuphana.de. Should you require additional materials for your coverage or wish to arrange interviews with participants ahead of time, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Background Information:
More than 850 professorships and over 45 UNITWIN (University Twinning and Networking Programme) networks in over 110 countries are currently cooperating in the UNESCO Chairs network to anchor the goals of UNESCO in science and education. There are currently 17 UNESCO Chairs in Germany.
UNESCO Chairs are distinguished by outstanding research and teaching in UNESCO's fields of work. The principles of their work include international networking, especially with the countries of the Global South, as well as the promotion of intercultural dialogue. UNESCO Chairs and networks contribute to the more balanced creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge to foster sustainable development worldwide.