**Childcare will be provided

The impacts of climate change are distributed unequally, with countries in the Global South among the hardest hit and often facing limited resources for adaptation and resilient infrastructure. This seminar explores the scientific foundations of climate change, its historical development and regional impacts in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. It discusses political, technological and societal strategies for strengthening climate resilience, as well as questions of global responsibility, international cooperation and climate justice. Linked to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), the seminar provides opportunities for critical discussion, interactive workshops and the development of practical ideas for action. 

Healthy Minds, Just Futures – Education and Mental Health Worldwide

*event will be held in English

**Childcare will be provided

Education is often considered separately from mental health and global future challenges. Yet young people spend a large part of their daily lives in educational institutions, places that not only provide knowledge, but can also play a crucial role in emotional well-being, participation, and future prospects.

How can education, mental health, and sustainable development be thought together? What role do digitalization, global educational inequalities, and international cooperation play in this context?

Together with experts, students, and practitioners, we will focus in particular on people who are disadvantaged due to poverty, discrimination, or forced displacement, and explore how education can create spaces that empower, stabilize, and open up future opportunities.

Green Beauty? Unmasking the Dark Side of the Cosmetic Industry

According to Euromonitor, sales of premium beauty products were expected to reach 151 billion US dollars in 2023, compared to 100 billion in 2021. The beauty industry is booming like never before. While awareness of the precarious production conditions in the textile sector seems to be steadily increasing, there are hardly any reports on the working conditions and production processes in the cosmetics and beauty sector. Yet cosmetic products are constant companions in our daily lives, often packaged in plastics. However, plastic frequently ends up in the wrong bin, which means it is not recycled and can take up to 500 years to decompose. It finds its way into forests, rivers, agricultural land, and even into food as microplastics – and ultimately into the human body. According to Zero Waste Europe, 120 billion packaging units are produced annually for the global cosmetics industry.
In this seminar, we want to explore the opportunities that Fairtrade-certified raw materials in cosmetics and personal care products can offer – for example, helping producers to increase their Fairtrade sales and access new markets. Many of the Fairtrade raw materials already available could also be used in beauty products, such as shea butter, honey, or sugar. Working conditions, particularly regarding health protection, are significantly better on Fairtrade-certified plantations than on non-certified ones.
 

Global Food Systems – Sovereignty or Trade Rules –or Both

*event will be held in English

The seminar focuses on food security (SDG 2) and examines the global causes of nutritional inequalities. Despite sufficient food production, climate change, corruption, conflicts, and unstable markets lead to hunger and food shortages. A key approach is food sovereignty – the right to shape one's own agricultural and food policies independently of in- ternational trade rules.

To illustrate this, quinoa cultivation in Ecuador can be seen as an example, demonstrating how rising demand can lead to monocultures and negative consequences for growing regions. In contrast, solutions like the "La Via Campesina" initiative promote the independence of small-scale farmers, fair trade, and traditional farming methods. 

The seminar invites participants to reflect on their responsibilities as consumers. Topics such as foodwaste in the Global North, post-harvest losses in the Global South, and resilient agricultural methods to increase productivity while preserving ecosystems will be the focus of discussions.