News — Geography

December 2024 – Freiburg Geography now has an Instagram account!

Since the beginning of December, Freiburg Geography has also been represented on Instagram under @geographie_freiburg. In addition to the email newsletter and the website, we are offering another channel to share current dates, content and developments. We look forward to meeting you there and giving you exciting insights into Freiburg Geography!
For further enquiries, please contact the social media team at socialmedia@geographie.uni-freiburg.de. Follow the account ...

e November 2024 - The MUTUAL website is now live!

How can cities lessen their dependence on economic growth? What institutional and cultural challenges do they face in this process? At the Chair of Geography of Global Change, the MUTUAL project – Municipal Transformative Communities for Local Economies Beyond Growth – launched earlier this year. Through two case studies in Freiburg and Grenoble, the project team is examining local opportunities for sustainable economic models that do not rely on growth. more...

October 2024 - New member at the Chair of Physical Geography

Fritz Haider joins the Physical Geography team as a research associate since October. As part of the INTERREG project Clim'Ability Care - Transformation of business parks and industrial clusters in the face of climate change: For a new transnational business culture in the Upper Rhine region, he will be responsible for mapping critical infrastructures, vulnerabilities and associated risks.

October2024 - Visit to the Strasbourg harbour pilot site as part of Clim'Ability Care

On 18th October 2024, Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Glaser, Sarah Gruner, Fritz Haider, Svenja Wittpoth, Dr. Klaus Braun and Michael Kahle visit the port of Strasbourg. Manfred Rausch, project manager for EU projects at the port of Strasbourg, gives a tour of the pilot area and explains the status of biodiversity and climate change adaptation in the neighbouring industrial area. Furthermore, the local company SOPREMA presents its sealing systems, insulation materials as well as PV and green roof solutions. The event concludes with a heat walk through the Coop district, organised in collaboration with project partners Muriel Temme, Agence du Climat, and Brice Van Haaren, ADEUS.

October 2024 – Lecture “Is your company well equipped for climate change? More climate resilience through Clim'Abiltiy Care“

Prof. Dr Rüdiger Glaser gives a lecture on climate resilience in companies at the Unimog Museum in Gaggenau on 9th October. In this context, he will present the INTERREG project Clim'Ability Care, which analyses climate adaptation in SMEs. Fabienne Körner, Managing Director of Energieagentur Mittelbaden, and Kerstin Brückner, Head of Heavy Rain Risk Management at the district of Rastatt, will also be presenting their areas of responsibility. The aim of the event is to sensitise companies in the Murg Valley to the climate risks in their region. In particular, the focus will be on the information options with regard to counselling as well as preparation/self-care.

September 2024 - New member of the Physical Geography team assistant

We welcome Kateřina Strodel, who will support the Physical Geography team since September. She will be responsible for various administrative tasks, ranging from organizing conferences and providing administrative support for team members to answering inquiries from students. A warm welcome.

September 2024 - Rüdiger Glaser gives a lecture on regional and local climate change at the 2nd Intercommunal Water Dialogue in Tunsell on September 14, 2024.

The aim of the “Netzwerk Wasser Südlicher Breisgau” is to develop a perspective in which the irrigation needs of agriculture are approached from a holistic, ecological, participatory perspective.

September 2024 - New Staff Member at the Chair of Climate Geography (CliG)

We are pleased to welcome Amruta Vurakaranam, our new Research Associate at CliG. Her previous work includes research on snow cover in High Mountain Asia, as well as involvement in maintaining and processing datasets related to tropical clouds. Currently, Amruta has been focused on developing a hail climatology in collaboration with the German Weather Service (DWD). We look forward to her insights and contributions to our projects and wish her a successful start in Freiburg.

June 2024 – Invitation to summer colloquium

You are invited to the summer colloquium organized by geography staff members from the University of Freiburg. The „opening lecture“ will be held by Professor Christian Steiner on Thursday, July 4 at 5:30 p.m. (Rundbau Lecture Hall, Albertstraße 21), followed by a reception. On Friday, July 8, starting at 9 a.m. (Aula, KG1), several „short lectures“ by Freiburg geographers from the various working groups will follow, providing insights into current research and dissertation projects as well as planned research activities. Students, staff members, project partners and all other interested parties are cordially invited to the summer colloquium!

June 2024 – Panel discussion "Klimax event for more climate protection and climate adaptation in the business park"

Prof. Dr Rüdiger Glaser takes part in the panel discussion "Hot or ice age - measures for the climate in business parks" on 14th June 2024 at the Breisgau business park. He presents the INTERREG project Clim'Ability Care in this context, which is investigating climate adaptation in SMEs. Afterwards, representatives from companies, administration and research discuss climate protection and climate change adaptation measures in industrial estates. Blue-green infrastructures, sustainable (employee) mobility, species and landscape protection and other innovative approaches are the focus of the Breisgau business park and form best-practice measures for other business and industrial parks.

June 2024 – Clim'Ability Care Meeting in the Murg Valley

On 7th and 8th June, Prof. Dr Rüdiger Glaser, Sarah Gruner and Svenja Wittpoth will lead an excursion to the Murg Valley industrial corridor as part of the INTERREG Clim'Ability Care project. Mario Mohr, Head of the Rastatt Regional Council, and Fabienne Körner, Managing Director of the Mittelbaden Energy Agency, will introduce their tasks and objectives. Aspects of the urban climate will also be discussed by Martin Schursch, climate protection manager for the city of Rastatt. Other topics include flood protection and renaturalisation of the River Murg, which will be presented in Gernsbach by Mayor Julian Christ. Energy generation, biodiversity, the transformation of winter tourism and the pollution of watercourses and succession along the Lothar Trail round off the spectrum. On the following day, the project partners will present the status of their work.

April 2024 – Blog with student reflections on post-colonial resource geographies regarding Ghana field trip 2023

The blog on the Ghana field trip of the graduate program is finally accessible online. The field trip had been collaboratively organized and implemented by the geography departments of both UFR and University of Ghana. A group of 18 German and 13 Ghanaian students spent two weeks in the southern part of Ghana and explored questions of post-colonial resource geographies. UFR students prepared critical reflections on the field trip as a student task which can be found on the website, apart from further information on the field trip, too. More ...

April 2024 – Presentation of the INTERREG project Clim'Ability Care to mayors in the Murg Valley

Two meetings take place in the Murg Valley as part of the Clim'Ability Care project. Prof Rüdiger Glaser, project team member Sarah Gruner and Master's student Julie Weisser present the project in Bischweier. Two days later, Mayor Julian Christ receives them in Gernsbach. After a very informative exchange on the status of climate protection and climate adaptation in the municipality, they take a tour of the newly built flood protection facilities along the Wörthgarten and Katz'scher Garten.

March 2024 - Workshop and exchange meetings INTERREG-project Clim'Ability Care

In the past two weeks, three exchange meetings were organised by Prof. Rüdiger Glaser, Sarah Gruner and Svenja Wittpoth. In close cooperation with the Rastatt District Office and the Mittelbaden Energy Agency, we took a closer look at the governance structures with regard to climate adaptation and their future orientation in the district. A workshop was held to involve a wide range of specialist departments - from the health department and heavy rain risk management to the forestry and building authorities - as well as the important local company Daimler Truck. In addition to an exciting initial exchange with the local stakeholders in focus, these events lead the way for the establishment of a climate-resilient corporate culture in the Murg Valley!

February 2024 – Lecture as part of the Clim'Ability Care project on 15.02.2024

Rüdiger Glaser and Sarah Gruner give a presentation on "From climate criticality, consequences and impact pathways to new care in Clim'Ability Care - Adaptations, communication, governance, "being ready" and personal responsibility" at the Clim' Ability Care Kick-Off Meeting Corporate Network in Landau.