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UNESCOChair

Annual Meeting of National Network of UNESCO Chairs in Germany: Discussing Impact and Future Directions

Annual Meeting of National Network of UNESCO Chairs in Germany: Discussing Impact and Future Directions
Team of UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development: Prof. Dr. Daniel Fischer, Prof. Dr. Harald Hantke, and Mariia Statkova. ©Photo: Mariia Statkova

On 1–2 October 2024, the annual meeting of the network of the UNESCO Chairs in Germany took place at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden. Every two years, the network of the German UNESCO Chairs comes together for a national meeting, alternating with an international conference, to explore the response of the network to arising complexities of the present times and to foster and strengthen existing collaboration. This year's meeting was hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Historic Urban Landscapes and Heritage Impact Assessments held by Michael Kloos and the coordinator Merve Demiröz Torun. The event brought together representatives, chairholders, coordinators, and student representatives, from twelve UNESCO Chairs, including Leuphana University’s UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, represented by Chairholders Daniel Fischer and Harald Hantke, and Mariia Statkova from the Chair team. 

The meeting served as a platform to exchange updates on ongoing projects, partnerships, and new developments within the German UNESCO Chair network. With sixteen active Chairs and two UNITWIN Networks across the country, the German UNESCO Chair Network brings together a broad range of expertise and engagement, though participants noted the need to further expand the Network and cover additional important themes and underrepresented regions.

Attendees of the Annual Meeting of National Network of UNESCO Chairs in Germany, held in RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Wiesbaden. ©Photo: RheinMain University of Applied Sciences

Building on the legacy of past network meetings, marked by the Heidelberg Declaration (2016), Wuppertal Declaration (2019), and Jena Declaration (2021), the discussions revisited major themes such as the role of UNESCO Chairs as “think tanks” and experimental spaces for sustainable transformations, knowledge exchange, and cooperation. The group also reflected on the outcomes of the 2024 International UNESCO Chairs Conference hosted in Lüneburg, which highlighted the network’s contributions to the SDGs and underscored the importance of collaboration between UNESCO Chairs and young researchers.

Daniel Fischer, Professor of Education for Sustainable Development and Chairholder at Leuphana presenting the outcomes of last year’s conference in Lüneburg. ©Photo: Mariia Statkova

This year’s central theme, “Impact,” invited participants to examine how the activities of the network have made a difference so far, how its impact can be measured more effectively, and lastly, what kind of impact UNESCO Chairs aim to create in the years ahead, particularly in the context of a post-2030 agenda.

Harald Hantke, Professor for Social Science Education and Co-Chairholder at Leuphana presenting the work of UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development during the pitching session. ©Photo: Mariia Statkova

The meeting concluded with an outlook toward next year’s international UNESCO Chairs Conference, which will take place in Dortmund in 2026.

We thank the team of the UNESCO Chair on Historic Urban Landscapes and Heritage Impact Assessments, Chairholder Michael Kloos, and coordinator Merve Demiröz Torun for organising the meeting and are looking forward to next year's conference!

More information about the activities of the UNESCO Chair at Leuphana University can be found on our website and the network of the UNESCO Chairs in Germany at this link: Chairs - German Commission for UNESCO.

For any further information about the work of the UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, please write to [email protected]