The community around the Global Centres of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), funded by the Federal Foreign Office, met in Berlin from September 10 to 12, 2024 for their 2^nd conference. The four centres in each of the thematic areas "Health and Pandemic Preparedness" and "Climate and Environment" demonstrate the necessary and lived inter- and transdisciplinarity for an effective contribution to overcoming global challenges. The Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre - ABCD-Centre of TU Dresden and its partners, as one of the projects focusing on climate and the environment, discussed an "Imaginary Climate Future - Cross-Regional Insights to Move from Knowledge to Action" - which is also the title of the event.

© DAAD

Christina Gehlsen (Head of the International Science Policy Division, Federal Foreign Office) and Dr. Kai Sicks (Secretary General DAAD) emphasized the role of the Global Centres for a culture of science-based political decision-making, with Dr. Sicks explicitly referring to the impact already achieved by the joint international Master's degree course in Water Security and Global Change successfully established by the ABCD-Centre.

The Federal Foreign Office and the DAAD consider science diplomacy to be a core task. In a time of global challenges, multilateral cooperation between nations through scientific dialog and joint research is essential. Science diplomacy fosters mutual understanding, builds trust and enables the kind of collaboration that drives progress and innovation. This fact and relevant activities of the ABCD-Centre were also emphasized by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Stamm as project leader in his opening remarks at the conference.

© DAAD

The following video gives an impression of the work of the ABCD Center: