Engaging in fieldwork is multifaceted, fraught with unique challenges and rewarding insights. I conducted my field research in Nairobi’s informal settlements Korogocho and Pumwani-Majengo because I wanted to understand the everyday dynamics around green space governance. My field study in Kenya’s capital was split up in two phases: The first phase took place from August …

This blog post takes you to the Konso Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Ethiopia. When we started our trip to visit our partner university in Dilla, southern Ethiopia, on July 23, 2024, we had no idea that the largest landslide ever recorded in Ethiopia had just taken place just a few kilometers …

ZEF’s Doctoral Studies Support Program ran a second edition of its Traveling School at the National University of Colombia’s La Paz Campus. ZEF’s German-Colombian Doctoral Studies Support Program (DSSP) and the West African Center for Sustainable Rural Transformation (WAC-SRT) recently concluded the second edition of the DSSP Traveling School, solidifying their collaborative efforts with the …

A delegation of the bilateral ZEF-led project Doctoral Studies Support Program (DSSP) paid a visit to their partners in Argentina from March 18-25, 2024. DSSP is based at ZEF and funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as part of their SDG Graduate School Program. First stop was the conference “The challenges of the …

On November 2, 2023 the One Health and Urban Transformation Graduate School at ZEF organized a (hybrid) One Health Research Symposium in commemoration of the annual World  One Health Day (celebrated on November 3). This year’s symposium centered on “Blue Health,” emphasizing the significance of urban water systems and their impact on health and well-being. …

The land she grows: from land access to changing practices for more gender justice. This is the second part about the event Women’s Land Rights and Gender Transformative Practices organized by the ZEF Gender Group and the Feminist Land Platform with panelists from Africa, Asia and Latin America in June 2023. This blog takes stock …

The ZEF-Gender Group and the Feminist Land Platform As scholars, we often become part of activist movements within the realms of high-level education. This can be through, for example, writing evidence-based articles show-casing social-economic or environmental injustices, signing protest letters, or, indeed, blogs. But what about talking and discussing with activists about how we could …

Part 3: Berlin excursion: Museum stop (July 21) Five doctoral researchers from the Doctoral Studies Support Program reflect on their 2023 Summer School in Germany (June-July 2023) organized by ZEF. From July 18-22, the five doctoral researchers María Camila Montalvo, Diego Quijano, Maria Marcela Lozano, Pablo González and Michael Weidemann, accompanied by ZEF-researchers Carolina Tóbon …

Part 2: Berlin excursion. Berlin stops 1-4 Five doctoral researchers from the Doctoral Studies Support Program reflect on their 2023 Summer School in Germany (June-July 2023) organized by ZEF. Impressions, insights and take-aways From July 18-22, the five doctoral researchers María Camila Montalvo Senior, Diego Quijano, Maria Marcela Lozano, Pablo González and Michael Weidemann, accompanied …

Part 1: Impressions from our stay in Bonn Five doctoral researchers from the Doctoral Studies Support Program reflect on their 2023 Summer School in Germany (June-July 2023) organized by ZEF. At ZEF, the five researchers, all based in South America, namely María Camila Montalvo Senior, Diego Quijano, Maria Marcela Lozano, Pablo González and Michael Weidemann, …

BLOG 5-6. June 23-24, 2023. Returning to and wrapping up in Tokyo. The faculty and students of ZEF (University of Bonn), IPADS and GSSP-GLI (both institutes are part of the University of Tokyo, more info below*) participating in this excursion together represented 17 nationalities. As our excursion in Japan draws to a close, we gathered …

BLOG 4. June 22, 2023. Visiting some of Hokkaido’s cultural heritage sites. Our stay in Mashike on the Isle of Hokkaido comes to an end after two days of intensive fieldwork. So we want to highlight two aspects that we think have stood out in our short time in Mashike, namely: hospitality (in Japanese: Omotenachi) …

BLOG 3. June 21, 2023. Exploring seaweed-bed restauration sites in Mashike city, isle of Hokkaido. On the third day of our excursion, together with a group of IPADS students, we visited two of the three seaweed-bed restauration sites which are run by Prof. Mitsuo Yamamoto and his team from UTokyo in Mashike (Hokkaido). A vital …

BLOG 2: June 20, 2023. Traveling by plane from Tokyo to Sapporo on the isle of Hokkaido (1,140 km). Continuing by bus, with a stop in Ishikari (visit to windpark) and arriving at Mashike. The big fish: Megacity Tokyo As the sun rose, the city of Tokyo was already in motion at 6.15am, with thousands …

BLOG 1: June 19, 2023. Tokyo. The Power of Community and Collaboration ZEF researchers blog about their research excursion to Japan (June 17-25, 2023). Find general info and excursion’s program on our website here. Visiting Tokyo and ZEF’s research partner, the University of Tokyo After a 13-hour flight from Germany to Japan on Saturday, June …

By Eva Youkhana and Francisco Preiti* Rosario, February 2023. We return from Cordoba, the second largest city in the center of Argentina where we paid a visit to one of the nine global Right Livelihood Campuses. We also met with Raul Montenegro, an RLC – laureate who won the “Alternative Nobel Prize” (Right Livelihood Award) …

This week, June 5, was World Environment Day. It was initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1974 and has grown to be the largest global platform for environmental outreach. World Environment Day 2022 was dedicated to the theme “Only One Earth”, whereas World Environment Day 2023 focuses on solutions to plastic pollution …

This blog post was written by ZEF senior research Isimemen Osemwegie*, who attended the Global Biodiversity Summit in Montreal in December 2022. Osemwegie is an expert on climate change and biodiversity and a member of the UNCBD Women Caucus. Montreal, Canada’s second-most populous city, welcomed parties and different stakeholders from all over the world to …

This blog post was written by Abraham Kidane, Public Health Veterinarian and Jaqueline Hildebrandt, Public Health Scientist. Both researchers belong to the One Health & Urban Transformation Graduate School at ZEF (BIGS-DR batch 2021) and conduct research on One Health issues in Ghana. In this blog post they share their experiences and insights from their …

PART 2 As part of the partnership-program between ZEF and the International Program in Agricultural Development Studies (IPADS) of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo, two groups of doctoral students went on simultaneous field trips to look into the “Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems – Linkages between Agriculture and Marine Environment” in August …

PART 1 As part of the partnership-program between ZEF and the International Program in Agricultural Development Studies (IPADS) of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo, two groups of doctoral students went on simultaneous field trips to look into the “Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems – Linkages between Agriculture and …

Sara Velander is a junior researcher with the LANUSYNCON project at ZEF. In this blog post she shares her experiences and insights from her research trip to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, May 9-20, 2022. Land Degradation …

Reflections and impressions from the ICLEI World Conference in Malmö, Sweden, in May 2022. By Niklas Wagner, junior researcher at the One Health and Urban Transformation Graduate School of ZEF/ University of Bonn. Niklas’s research focuses on institutions that connect knowledge and policy in the context of urban climate resilience. He participated in the World …

Blog post by Ahmed Abdalla, a doctoral researcher at ZEF and the Right Livelihood Campus Bonn. Egypt is the third most populated country in Africa, with a current population of 104 million people. The majority of Egypt’s inhabitants live on only 7% of the country’s land surface, mainly along the Nile River stretching from south …

By Fuad Hassan* Trends of agricultural mechanization have taken on a new significance in developing countries in recent years. These trends have been triggered by the shrinking availability of hired labor and rising labor wages, as more non-farm income opportunities for farmers have arisen over the past 20 years. Whereas crop cultivation used to be …

Written by Tina Beuchelt, Dennis Aviles, and Emily Brown* Despite decades of campaigns and action against Gender-based violence by feminist groups and movements worldwide, women and girls’ experiences of domestic, intimate partner and sexual violence remain stubbornly high: One in three women worldwide experience sexual or physical violence during her lifetime, most often perpetrated by …

In December 2021, the students of the Climate and Sustainable Development Actions Club (CSDAC) were awarded another grant by Plan International West and Central Africa. The new project plans to build human capacities in advocacy and digital campaigning: Seventeen Nigerien girl-leaders will receive training on how to best disseminate and promote the 17 SDGs on social media …

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 6 targets: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. But what are the challenges on the ground in rural West Africa? Lémonla Armel Otekpo, a master student in the DAAD-funded and ZEF-run project «West African Center for Sustainable Rural Transformation» (WAC-SRT) and Segbedji …

In this blog post, ZEF- and Right Livelihood College (RLC) junior researcher Irene Awino Ojuok from Kenya relates about her impressions, experiences and insights of her participation in the COP 26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom (October 31-November 13, 2021). She was invited by the Global EverGreening Alliance (GEA) whom she represented as an Ambassador. Irene …