"Worlds of Raw Materials" Lecture Series | Prof. Dr. Sunhild Kleingärtner: Worlds of Raw Materials: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow

Prof. Dr. Sunhild Kleingärtner, Scientific Director, German Mining Museum, Bochum

Käte Hamburger College Lecture Series: Worlds of Raw Materials | Contours of the Future

The world is in turmoil. International conflicts are increasingly centered on raw materials. In some parts of the world, we are seeing a massive expansion of renewable energy, while elsewhere there is a growing reliance on oil and gas. These are facets of a massive upheaval whose full scale we have yet to fully grasp: We are at the dawn of a post-fossil-fuel era for raw materials. This era poses challenges for sectors such as the economy, politics, technological and urban development, mobility, and agriculture. There will be new winners and losers; cultures of rejection will grow stronger, and uncertainty, disillusionment with democracy, and fear of the future will increase. At the same time, ideas and innovations are sprouting. The Käte-Hamburger Kolleg “Resource Worlds: Cultures in Transition” at the University of Kassel will examine the full picture of this transformation through lectures by selected experts. We will identify problems and discuss how we can work together to overcome today’s challenges for the world of tomorrow.

In cooperation with: SDG+ Lab, Staatstheater Kassel

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space