TU Dresden as guest of the Federal President at the "Environment Week"

Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and environmental pollution - these global challenges, often described as a triple crisis, were also the subject of Federal President Franz-Walter Steinmeier's speech at the opening of "Woche der Umwelt" (Environment Week), which took place on June 4^th and 5^th in Bellevue Palace Gardens under the organization of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU). He also warned that these existentially threatening problems must not be allowed to get out of focus of government work as a result of further social crises and was impressed by the innovative strength demonstrated by the exhibition at Bellevue Palace.

Other members of the German government discussed pressing sustainability issues with experts, including the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Dr. Robert Habeck, on a panel entitled "Hydrogen - Hype or Hope?" and the Federal Minister of Housing, Urban Development, and Building, Klara Geywitz, in a specialist forum on "Sustainable Building".

These examples already show the overlaps with major topics that are also being worked on at the TUD Dresden University of Technology, whether in hydrogen research or through climate-neutral and resource-efficient construction in the upcoming "Living Art of Building - LAB" research center. Information on environmental and sustainability-related activities in teaching, research, and transfer, in particular the continuing education program for environmental experts from the Global South, which is implemented by the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management - CIPSEM, could be found at the TU Dresden stand at the exhibition. In addition, the sustainability strategy, environmental and sustainability degree programs, and international cooperation within the framework of the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre - ABCD-Centre and with the Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources of the United Nations University (UNU-FLORES) were also presented and explained to the interested public.

The Dresden-concept family was also represented with a stand of the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), where joint projects on the visualization of floods and heavy rainfall events(FloodVis) - currently more topical than ever in Germany - were shown.

The TU Dresden's exhibition portfolio was rounded off by a soil profile from the Great Garden in Dresden, which was created as part of a project to adapt parks and develop a concept for future park management. This soil profile was vividly used as part of the expert forum "Soil health - soil functions - climate change: What should/do we want to protect?".

Many interested visitors were welcomed and informed at the TUD stand, including international guests from Ukraine, China, Peru, Ghana, Spain, and Singapore.

With its representation at Environment Week, TU Dresden repeatedly underlined its claim to be a locally anchored and globally oriented University of Excellence with societal responsibility.