Jun 15, 2022
Together for more sustainability: CIPSEM celebrates 45 years of transformative learning for sustainable development at the TU Dresden
A central topic of the UNEP/UNESCO/BMUV courses is the sustainable development of cities, including sustainable mobility. The participants also explore case studies in Dresden and discuss situations from their home countries.
Assuming joint responsibility for the environment worldwide - this has been the motto of the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management (CIPSEM) at the TU Dresden for 45 years. Today, June 14, 2022, this anniversary will be celebrated with numerous guests from politics, business and science.
Every year since 1977, international experts from the Global South have attended the continuing education courses in environmental management offered by CIPSEM and thus prepare themselves, among other things, to further expand environmental protection in their home country and to represent their countries of origin in international negotiations. For example, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26) in Glasgow in 2021, three former course participants were part of the Armenian delegation. Also among the CIPSEM alumni are a later environment minister of Armenia and the former heads of the national environmental authorities of Panama and Tanzania.
CIPSEM was founded with the help of UNESCO as the contribution of the former Eastern Germany to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as the first English-language course program at the TU Dresden. The idea behind CIPSEM was and still is that sustainability is a global challenge that can only be successfully addressed through international cooperation.
Almost 40 years before it was adopted, CIPSEM represented the ideals of the groundbreaking 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, whose Sustainable Development Goals are now essential for the CIPSEM program, which since reunification has also been supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV). Accordingly, among the guests at the anniversary celebrations are current and former participants and representatives of numerous partner institutions such as the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the Leibnitz Institute for Ecological Spatial Development (IOER) and United Nations University (UNU-FLORES), as well as Stephan Contius, Commissioner for the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in the BMUV.
Prof. Ronald Tetzlaff, Chief Officer Technology Transfer and Internationalization at the TU Dresden, emphasizes the role model effect of CIPSEM: "For 45 years, the successes of CIPSEM have made clear how important international cooperation is on the way to a more sustainable society. Since 2020, the TU Dresden has been pursuing a modern, targeted strategy to internationalize studies, teaching and research and to create concrete framework conditions for internationalized teaching and research in order to take on social responsibility and global challenges within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations for sustainable development. CIPSEM is therefore a role model for all of us and especially for the University of Excellence TU Dresden.”
Wolfram Günther, Environment Minister of the Free State of Saxony, also emphasizes the relevance and ongoing topicality of the principle represented by CIPSEM: “The CIPSEM program promotes vision and interdisciplinarity in environmental management. It strengthens international contacts and approaches. We need all of this in the face of the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pollution crisis – all the more so as some seek to play crises against each other and reverse progress. That's why I'm happy about the continuity and performance of this program at the TU Dresden and wish continued success with many motivated participants from numerous countries".
Media inquiries:
Dr. Anna Görner
Managing Director
CIPSEM
Tel.: +49 351 497-9912
Dr. Katharina Stein
Scientific Associate/course coordinator
CIPSEM
Tel.: +49 351 497-9911
Mobil: 0176 20544289