UDE4future Lecture Series
Sustainable Change in the Ruhr Region?
- von Dr. Alexandra Nießen
- 05.05.2026
The world is constantly changing – and so is the Ruhr region. Whether its residents perceive this as a shared potential for shaping the future is being discussed by researchers from the University of Duisburg-Essen in the lecture series “Resonance Spaces for Transformation – Shaping Opportunities for the Ruhr Region”. The series, organised by the climate initiative UDE4future, will open on 21 May with a public panel discussion on changes in the city of Duisburg.
Does change represent an opportunity for Duisburg? And why? These questions will be debated on Thursday, 21 May, at 4 pm by representatives of the city, the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The panel event will take place at the Philharmonie Duisburg and marks the launch of the UDE4future lecture series “Resonance Spaces for Transformation – Shaping Opportunities for the Ruhr Region”.
Six further lectures will be held online until mid-July. Topics include the Campus Street Lab, which transforms a section of Universitätsstraße in Essen into a temporary experimental space. There will also be discussions on climate policy in Japan and the impact of climate change on drinking water.
Anyone interested in the UDE4future action group, which has been active since its founding year in 2020, should make a note of Saturday, 25 June. Jörg Miller, Dr. Tobias Teckentrup, and Dr. Nicolas Wöhrl, as initiators of the initiative, will reflect on the history of the project and explore how climate and sustainability have developed since then between aspiration, knowledge, and reality.
The UDE4future lecture series is aimed at an interested public as well as members of the University of Duisburg-Essen. Students can have the lecture series reco
The language of the lecture series is German, albeit some titles are English.
Programme:
Panel discussion
Thursday, 21 May 2026, 4 pm
Free admission, no registration required
Resonance Spaces for Transformation as an Opportunity for Duisburg – How can we shape them together?
Soukaina Errafay, AStA of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Officer for Higher Education Policy
Kai Lipsius, Climate Protection Unit of the City of Duisburg
Prof. Karen Shire (PhD), UDE, Vice-Rector for University Culture, Diversity & International Affairs
Nils Szczepanski, Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Change
Venue:
Philharmonie Mercatorhalle, König-Heinrich-Platz, 47051 Duisburg
Following on 21 May at 7:30 pm:
10th Philharmonic Concert of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra (tickets from €10, concessions from €5)
Online lectures (registration required):
Thursday, 28 May 2026, 4 pm
“Campus – Street – Lab” – a new real-world laboratory in Essen
Dr Björn Ahaus (City of Essen)
David Huber, MSc, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dirk Wittowsky (both UDE, Institute of Transport and Urban Planning)
Thursday, 11 June 2026, 4 pm
Sex and Gender in Governance: Transformation, Megatrends and Public Health
PD Dr Dr Ricarda Schmithausen (Lower Saxony State Health Authority, Hygiene and Environmental Medicine), in cooperation with the lecture series “Sex and Gender in the Life Sciences”
Saturday, 27 June 2026, evening (time to be announced)
Climate and Sustainability between Aspiration, Knowledge and Reality –
6 Years of the UDE4future Lecture Series
Jörg Miller, Dr Tobias Teckentrup, Dr Nicolas Wöhrl (UDE, UDE4future)
As part of the Extraschicht at the Duisburg Campus, Audimax LX (not online)
Thursday, 2 July 2026, 4 pm
From Reservoir to Tap: How Climate Change is Affecting the Quality of Our Drinking Water
Dr Julia Nuy (UDE, Environmental Metagenomics)
Thursday, 9 July 2026, 4 pm
Climate and the Environment in Japan’s Politics
Prof. Dr Axel Klein (UDE, Modern East Asian Studies in the Social Sciences)
Thursday, 16 July 2026, 4 pm
One Health or Planetary Health? Planetary Boundaries as a Basis for the Sustainable Transformation of Global Health
Dr Cornelia Ulbert (UDE, Institute for Development and Peace)
Thursday, 23 July 2026
From Knowledge to Action
Barcamp with local initiatives
Programme and registration:
https://www.uni-due.de/ude4future/ringvorlesung#vorlesungen_online
Contact: ude4future-ringvorlesung@uni-due.de
Editorial: Dr Alexandra Nießen, Tel. +49 203 37-91487, alexandra.niessen@uni-due.de