Transfer and Outreach

For TRA Sustainable Futures, the areas of transfer and outreach are of great importance in pursuing its goals.

The area of transfer is concerned with how scientific findings can be transferred into practice. Together with various partner organizations such as the United Nations, the enaCom Transfer Center at the University of Bonn or the bio innovation park Rheinland, TRA Sustainable Futures works to find solutions for a sustainable future.

Outreach involves sharing knowledge about research results or inventions with a broad audience. With this goal in mind, TRA Sustainable Futures participates in events such as the Bonn Science Night, the Night of Technology or the University's Science Festival to raise awareness of science-based solutions to global challenges in sustainable development, to attract young talent in sustainability research and to inspire the next generation of researchers.

Transfer and Innovation

By transferring scientific findings and innovative technologies from research into practice, solutions can be found for the most pressing global challenges - including climate change, the loss of biodiversity and the sustainable use of resources. Innovations for a sustainable future are particularly effective when they can be integrated into economic projects or put into practice by policymakers.

Klein-Altendorf
Sustainability Campus

At the Klein-Altendorf Sustainability Campus, great efforts are being made to research sustainable horticultural and plant cultivation topics. The focus is on the development of products and processes that contribute to the conservation of resources and are also sustainable in practice. The campus is the university's interface to partners in business, science and administration.

NRW Minister of Agriculture Silke Gorißen at the Klein-Altendorf Sustainability Campus (in German)

Minister on visit

Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Protection Silke Gorißen visited the University of Bonn's Sustainability Campus, Campus Klein-Altendorf (CKA). The talks focused on the University of Excellence's successes in researching renewable raw materials and the transdisciplinary focus of its research projects. In addition to sustainable and recyclable building materials and resource-conserving vegetable and fruit cultivation without peat, the PhenoRob Cluster of Excellence also presented its developments at the interface between agriculture and robotics.

bio innovation park

The bio innovation park Rheinland e. V. is a network of business and science to promote innovative solutions for a green future. The University of Bonn, Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Alanus University of Applied Sciences and companies from various sectors work together directly, searching for joint theoretical and practical solutions.


Partnership with the United Nations

   

Joint Master's Program with UNU

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© Barbara Frommann (symbolic photo)

The English-language Master's program “Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security” is a joint course offered by the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn and the Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University (UNU). The program examines the complex interrelationships between environmental risks and human security and their impact on the interactions between people and their environment (vulnerability, resilience, adaptation).

Chair of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit

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© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun from the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn and founding speaker of TRA Sustainable Futures took over the chairmanship of the scientific group for the UN Food Systems Summit in 2021. As chair, Prof. von Braun led a committee of twenty-five internationally recognized experts who prepared the summit.

Projekt CABES
   

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© ZEF/Jan Henning Sommer

The CABES (Capacities on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) project, which is based at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), strengthens the interfaces between science, policy and practice in Africa and supports networking with the international activities of the World Biodiversity Council.

Sustainability: The Importance of the Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainability: The Importance of the Sustainable Development Goals (video in German, English subtitles available)

Prof. Dr. Joachim von Braun, founding speaker of TRA Sustainable Futures, explains the importance of the global sustainability goals for global development.

UNESCO Education Award

The University of Bonn received the “National Award - Education for Sustainable Development” in 2023. The prize is awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Commission for UNESCO.

Honorary Professorship

Prof. Dr. Zita Sebesvari, Deputy Director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), has been an honorary professor at the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bonn since February 2023.

UNESCO Professorship

UNESCO has established the UNESCO Professorship on Human-Water Systems together with the University of Bonn in 2021. It is held by geographer Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers and contributes to the Global Sustainability Agenda.

Transfer Center enaCom

The Transfer Center enaCom supports the members of the University of Bonn from the start-up project to the transfer project in cooperation with business, society and politics.

enaCom and the TRA Sustainable Futures work side by side in the area of transfer. In addition, enaCom supports the members of the TRA in selecting and applying for public funding programs for start-up or transfer projects.

Funding and Support

Prototyping grants promote sustainability projects

The university awards prototyping grants to promote science-based and innovative start-up ideas from the University of Bonn.

Among other things, the grants have already supported the start-up idea for an intelligent weed control robot.

Co-working labs for founders

The co-working labs at the University of Bonn offer laboratory space equipped with state-of-the-art technology for scientists or graduates who want to put their research project into practice.

Among other things, a sweet-tasting dietary fiber that can be consumed as an alternative sweetener has already been developed here.

Patent: Oil removal from water surfaces

A research team at the University of Bonn, led by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Barthlott, has developed a floating bionic oil adsorber. Oil from water surfaces adheres to its surface and is thus separated from the water.

With the support of the Transfer Center enaCom and PROvendis GmbH, a patent application has been filed for the invention.


Events

green bonn hackathon
© enaCom/Uni Bonn

GreenBonn Hackathon

At the two GreenBonn Hackathons 2024 and 2023, students from the University of Bonn and other universities in the region worked on creative solutions for implementing the climate targets in Bonn. For three days each, the students worked in teams to tackle the acceptance problem of grid expansion and the shortage of skilled workers in climate-related professions.

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© Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

ideas competition

In the Transfer Center enaCom's ideas competition, various applicants compete and try to convince a jury with their pitches. In 2022, the competition focused on sustainability and awarded, among other things, a project to reduce food waste in juice production and a healthier sugar alternative.

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© enaCom

Sustainability Day

The Transfer Center enaCom presented itself at the University of Bonn's first Sustainability Day in May 2022 on the Poppelsdorf campus. Together with the founding team of “Project Count” and the student group Enactus, enaCom provided information about opportunities for start-ups and transfer projects at the University of Bonn with a focus on sustainability issues.

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© Marion Caspar-Tartero/Bundesstadt Bonn

Sustainability Hub Bonn Region

Under the motto “Transforming the Economy!”, the Sustainability Hub, in which the University of Bonn is also involved, aims to help the Bonn economic region move towards climate neutrality and achieve the sustainability goals. The Transfer Center enaCom was also represented at the kick-off event in Bonn in November 2022.

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© enaCom/Uni Bonn

Networking with bio innovation park Rheinland

The bio innovation park Rheinland visited the University of Bonn and its researchers for a cooperation exchange. Organized by the Transfer Center enaCom, members of the network were given specialist insights into some areas of research and a tour of the Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional and Engineering Sciences' greenhouses in February 2024.

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© enaCom/Uni Bonn

Hannover Messe
   

In 2022, enaCom was represented at the world's most important industrial trade fair with three start-ups from the University of Bonn. The spin-off Midel Photonics, which develops new solutions for machining processes that can be used in the field of climate-neutral mobility solutions, among other things, also received an award.

Outreach

Communicating research findings and innovative technologies in the context of sustainable development to a broad audience is important in order to raise awareness of sustainable solutions to global challenges such as climate change, resource use and environmental protection. The TRA Sustainable Futures has been involved in events such as the Bonn Science Night, the Night of Technology and the University's Science Festival and has used these opportunities to initiate an exchange between sustainability research actors at the University of Bonn and the public. These initiatives not only serve to communicate science, but also to promote talent in the field of sustainability research and inspire the next generation of researchers.

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© VOLKER LANNERT / Universität Bonn

In dialog with society

Science communication is increasingly taking place outside the science system and at the interfaces between science, politics and (civil) society.

One of the TRA's goals is to engage citizens in a dialog with science and research in a variety of formats and thus increase the public's interest in science. Research and the associated knowledge acquisition processes should be communicated in a comprehensible and understandable way in order to increase the public's trust in science and scientific literacy.

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© Volker Lannert

Science Festival

TRA Sustainable Futures has been represented at the University of Bonn's Science Festival for the last two years. Visitors were able to get to know the university's various transdisciplinary research areas as part of the TRAllye, a science rally for young and old.

Podcast von oben
© Foto Thiele-Eich: Manfred H. Vogel

Podcast Series "Hypothese"

Dr. Insa Thiele-Eich and Prof. Dr. Jan Börner on the subject of: "Climate change seen from above: What the view from space tells us"

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© Volker Lannert / Uni Bonn

Night of Technology

More than 2,500 people were out and about in Bonn and the Rhein-Sieg district on 20 October 2023 at the 3rd Night of Technology to see unique technologies from 6 p.m. to midnight and ask questions to the experts on site. Under the motto “See, understand, and experience technology”, 49 stations opened their doors and welcomed young and old interested in technology. The University of Bonn also took part in the event initiated by VDI/VDE and inspired its visitors with robotics, geodesy and astronomy.

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© VOLKER LANNERT / Universität Bonn

Bonn Science Night

The Bonn Science Night, a joint project of the Science Region Bonn, has been offering exciting hands-on science since 2000. In addition to the University of Bonn, other universities, research institutes and scientific institutions from the Science Region Bonn are also involved.

Lecture Series "Innovation Pathways to Sustainability"
© Christina Schiegl

Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series "Innovation Pathways to Sustainability"

With the lecture series, the TRA Sustainable Futures aims to initiate an exchange with high-calibre and internationally visible scientists working in academia or at the interface between science and politics.

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© 221861 on Colourbox

PILS - Public Interdisciplinary Lecture Series

The Public Interdisciplinary Lecture Series (PILS) is a joint Lecture Series of the Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob and the TRA Sustainable Futures. It has an explicit focus on teaching. It is a series of lectures of up to 30 minutes explaining key concepts to people from other fields.


Press review

Members of TRA Sustainable Futures in the media (in German)


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