Prof. Reza Ardakanian, founding director of the United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) in Dresden, has been appointed energy minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

There is a close strategic partnership between UNU-FLORES and TU Dresden, and TUD was instrumental in the founding of the institute in 2012. Prof. Reza Ardakanian, a water management engineer by profession, is also a member of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at TUD. Since the founding of the new United Nations institute, the cooperation with TU Dresden has continuously expanded, which now includes an international doctoral program, a series of joint seminars and research projects, and the organization of the internationally acclaimed ‘Dresden NEXUS Conference’. Reza Ardakanian was also actively involved in TUD’s interdisciplinary ‘Center for Sustainability Assessment and Policy - PRISMA’ from its inception.

The Rector of the TU Dresden, Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, and the Dean of Environmental Sciences, Prof. Karl-Heinz Feger, congratulate Prof. Ardakanian on his new appointment to this important position in his home country. Under his leadership, UNU-FLORES has become a pioneer and engine in the field of integrated environmental resource management with a specific focus on the nexus between water, soil, and waste. Together with the TUD, these efforts have helped advance the agenda of improving global environmental sustainability.