Plural Sustainabilities

Roundtable Discussion Discussants Dr. Suraya Afiff (University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia) Dr. Constance Akurugu (University of Business and Integrated Development Studies, Wa, Ghana) Dr. Estela Herbas (Bolivian Catholic University, Cochabamba, Bolivia) Dr. Stephen Nkansah Morgan (College of Humanities, Accra, Ghana) Prof. Mangku Purnomo (Brawijaya University, Indonesia) Dr. Fernanda Wanderley (Bolivian Catholic University, La Paz, Bolivia) Sustainability science aims to provide solutions to the multiple socio-ecological crises by working beyond ‘modern’ disciplinary boundaries. At this Roundtable, we will first discuss how sustainability science is conceptualized and organized in Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, and Germany. Second, we will discuss how we can interlink the interdisciplinary field of sustainability science on a global scale.

Today, there is no place on earth that has not been touched by humans. Man-made change goes far beyond climate change. It also affects soils, oceans, plants, animals, and geochemical cycles. In short, we humans have become a significant geological factor. We humans have an impact as powerful as that of natural forces such as volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. Our actions today will have repercussions far into the geological future. That is why we talk about a new geological epoch, the “Anthropocene.” According to current research, this new epoch began in the middle of the twentieth century. In this photographic exhibition, ethnologist and geologist Christoph Antweiler from our university's Institute for Oriental and Asian Studies (IOA) shows the causes and consequences of this problematic development.