German Brazilian Symposium

The 11th edition of the German-Brazilian Symposium for Sustainable Development has the motto "Towards a Resilient and Safe Future". The primary aim of the event, which is held alternately in Brazil and Germany, is to provide a platform for inter- and transdisciplinary exchange. In this edition, the focus is particularly on issues of resilience, value creation, food security and equitable access to water. The 11th Symposium was held in Germany at the University of Tübingen (Baden-Württemberg Center for Brazil and Latin America) from March 20 to 23, 2024. The event is being organized by the Baden-Württemberg Center for Brazil and Latin America, assisted by the University of Hohenheim and the Leuphana University (Lüneburg). The program encompasses plenary lectures, thematic sessions, a poster session, and interactive workshops and open debates. The four main topics of the event were:

A: Resilience and Adaptation for Sustainable Agri-Food Systems, organized by Marcus Giese, Thomas Hilger, Georg Cadisch (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute, Hohenheim Tropics) and Birgit Hoinle (Institute of Social Sciences)

B: Strengthening Resilience by Drug Development and Innovative Medical Treatments

C: Green Innovation and Circular Economy for Life and Food

D: Human Resilience and Climate Justice

Great interest in the 9th German-Brazilian Symposium 

230 participants at the University of Hohenheim discussed bi-national and global progress towards sustainable development

The 9th German–Brazilian Symposium on Sustainable Development was successfully held from 15-17 September 2019 at the University of Hohenheim. Under the topic “Integrating Systems for Sustainable Development - Linking Human and Natural Components” more than 230 participants from science, politics, economy and society participated at this interdisciplinary bi-national event. 

The Symposium was opened by Georg Cadisch (Director of the Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute for Tropical Agriculture at the University of Hohenheim), Andreas Pyka (Vice President, University of Hohenheim), Peter Grathwohl (Vice President, University of Tübingen, Hans-Georg Wolf (State Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg, and the General Consul of Brazil in Munich, José Mauro da Fonseca Costa Couto. All speakers emphasized the importance of this Symposium for both countries to continue the bi-national dialog for sustainable development. Following the opening ceremony the two keynote presentations by Ulrich Glasmacher (University of Heidelberg) and Folkard Asch (University of Hohenheim) provided important impulses for in-depth discussions about challenges related to global climate change and food security. 

The Symposium organization presented a well selected scientific program with pre-conference excursions and social evening events intending to provide an open and pleasant atmosphere for exchange and discussions. With more than 150 contributions in 15 oral and 3 poster sessions the Symposium was offering a great variety of topics focusing on natural sciences and biodiversity, agriculture and forestry as well as economical, social and environmental aspects. It was consensus that most challenges towards sustainable development are interlinked and therefore demand holistic and cross cutting solution approaches. Improving our understanding of how natural and human components interact in complex environments will be essential for moving forward towards sustainable systems integration. The participants agreed that this event greatly contributed to the development of new concepts and research questions for joint activities which will translate into exciting future partnerships in research or educational projects.

In the section on binational programs and cooperation Heloísa Hollnagel and Pablo Gabriel Ferreira (CAPES, Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education, Brasil), Jochen Hellmann (DAAD, German Academic Exchange Service, Rio de Janeiro), Dietrich Halm (DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), Marcio Weichert (DWIH-SP, German Centre for Research and Innovation São Paulo), Sonja Dube (bw-i, Baden-Württemberg International) and Maria do Carmo Martins Sobral (the Brazilian-German network Rebralink) presented different funding options and exchange programs to support the international cooperation between Brazil and Germany for the coming years.

The closing session was chaired by Rainer Radtke (Brazil Center of the State of Baden-Württemberg, University of Tübingen) and Marcus Giese (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute, University of Hohenheim). Vitoria Da Riva from the Ecological Foundation Cristalino, presented her pioneer activity in combining nature conservation and eco-tourism in Brazil. Eckhard Kupfer from the Martius-Staden-Institute São Paulo, reported interesting details on occasion of the 200 year jubilee of the famous Spix and Martius expedition. Josef Settele from the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmantal Research - UFZ, Leipzig shared his experiences as a leading scientist compiling the Global Assessment for the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Finally Georg Cadisch closed the 9th German-Brazilian Symposium and handed over to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), which together with the Federal University of Niteroí (UFF) will be the host of the upcoming 10thGerman-Brazilian Symposium on Sustainable Development in 2021.

Acknowledgement: The 9th Symposium was jointly organized by the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics (Hans-Ruthenberg-Institute) at the University of Hohenheim, the Baden-Württembergischen Brasilien-Zentrum in Tübingen, and Baden-Württemberg International (bw-i). We thank CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil), DWIH-SP (Deutsches Wissenschafts- und Innovationshaus, São Paulo) und bw-i (Baden-Württemberg International), and Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG for their financial support.