
Program „Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future”
Vision
With the program “Changing Earth – Sustaining our Future" we will lay the path towards a future Earth that can sustain human society and the biosphere as a whole.
Mission
• Gain a holistic understanding of the changing Earth system, the dynamics, feedbacks and interactions of its compartments
• Provide actionable knowledge that can be used for a transformation towards a sustainable management of planet Earth
Grand Challenges
The Program will conduct solution-oriented, systemic research within the context of five overarching grand challenges
• climate change with an emphasis on the drivers as well as the impacts it will have on natural and human systems, including regional manifestations and extreme events,
• risks for human habitats and activities arising from Solid Earth dynamics,
• threatened ecosystems, biodiversity and biogeochemical cycles as foundations of vital ecosystem services,
• dwindling natural resources as the limiting factor for societal development globally,
• the need to preserve or achieve a good quality of the human environment with an emphasis on air quality, reduced pollutants exposure and livable, sustainable cities.
Ten Program Objectives 2022
The ten Program Objectives constitute the scientific mission of the program and serve both to integrate our scientific activities and as a measuring stick for their impact with regard to societal benefits.
In their entirety, these objectives set out to lay the path towards a future Earth that can sustain human society and the biosphere as a whole.
Program Structure
Nine research Topics and their project-type Subtopics form the structural backbone of the Program. Topics are designed for high thematic coherence, communicable missions, multidisciplinarity and complementarity across centers.
Cross-Cutting Activities build the bridge to other Research Fields and promote thematic profiling and networking between topics
The research data management is consolidated in the DataHub which provides: overarching data portal, digitalization for scientific workflows including data flows, thematic viewers for different stake-holders, support of science-to-science networks
Innopool projects serves to strengthen the cooperation between the centers by funding of new innovative ideas in 3-year projects
SynCom is designed as an overarching synthesis and communication platform for the Earth and Environment Research Field where scientists study our planet comprehensively within nine topics
AWI, GEOMAR and GFZ are responsible for the operation of seven large user facilities infrastructures: research stations, aircraft, research vessels, and a Modular Earth Science Infrastructure (MESI).
Topics | CCA | DataHub | Innopool | SynCom | User Facilities
General Assembly 2023 - in Karlsruhe (15.-16. May)
Two days with an engaging program, interesting research presented during the talks, poster and breakout sessions and a new format of an Ideas Market with insightful discussions - with a very positive atmosphere and collaborative spirit. Presentations by Early Career Researchers and their work, learning more about the InnoPool-projects and the progress of SynCom. Back-to-back with the meeting of the Strategic Advisory Board.
©Jan Pauls Fotografie