Workshops
Tuesday, 25 March 2025 – Thursday 27 March 2025 in InformatiKOM 1 & 2, Adenauerring 12, 76131 Karlsruhe (Buildings 50.19 & 50.28)
These are the available workshops for a less extensive version of the project week in English. You can still earn between 2-4 credits (LP) for participating. If you have sufficient German skills to actively take part in a seminar in German you may look at the German version of this website. In this case you will be able to choose between a wider variety of workshops and excursions (in English and German)
Here you find the link to the main registration for the Spring Academy Sustainability and here you can register for the Foundation Workshop on Tuesday.
You must register for the main registration, three different workshops and two different excursions in order to complete the Spring Academy Sustainability and receive credit points.
All participants will attend a Foundation Workshop on 25 March 2025 to prepare for the in-depth engagement with the complex issues in the Thematic Workshops. The focus of the Foundation Workshops are different scientific perspectives in the debate on sustainable development. Basic theories and working methods from various areas of research and action will be presented. The aim is to sharpen argumentation skills, reflect on prejudices and practise dealing with complex information. The key questions are:
- How can reliable scientific knowledge be created?
- How do social expectations and demands influence scientific research?
- How is scientific knowledge taken up, discussed and utilised by society?
Foundation Workshops: Tuesday, 25 March 2025, 8:45 am - 12:45 pm
 |
Title: | Engineers – saviours or culprits? |
| Lecturers: | Prof. Dr. Kai Furmans, Prof. Dr. Payam Dehdari | |
| Institution: | Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart | |
| Description: |
The rising CO2 concentration caused by industrialization and increasing living standards presents complex challenges for engineers. Technological progress alone is often not enough to reduce CO2 emissions and ensure sustainable development. In our workshop we examine how engineers can contribute to solving global issues such as energy supply and climate protection while critically questioning whether they are part of the solution—or part of the problem. It reflects on the responsibility of engineering disciplines and discusses why existing technical solutions have not always been successfully implemented.
Attention: Interactive workshop, please bring Laptops or Tablets |
|
| Workshop Days: | Tuesday, 25 March 2025, 8:45 am - 12:45 pm |
Here you find the link to the main registration for the Spring Academy Sustainability and here you can register for the Thematic Workshop on Wednesday.
You must register for the main registration, three different workshops and two different excursions in order to complete the Spring Academy Sustainability and receive credit points.
All Thematic Workshops deal with one or more of the four focal points education system, Education Politics, Access to Education and Teaching, Learning and Digitalisation. All participants attend two Thematic Workshops during the course of the project week (one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, 3.5 hours each).
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Education Politics
Political decisions influence all areas of our education system. From education in kindergartens, school and university to further education opportunities in later working life. What types of school are there and which key points are decisive for educational pathways? How can socially disadvantaged children, young people and adults be supported in order to maintain educational opportunities? |
Education System
How has our current education system developed historically and how can it be reformed? An observation of the German education system includes the question of necessary structural changes and a look at school types and reforms in other countries. What can our education system learn from international comparisons? And what are the limits of these comparisons? |
Access to Education
Access to education and educational success is still strongly impacted by social status and one's own background. This is not only evident with regard to the type of school attended and a possible subsequent degree or doctorate. The subject studied, opportunities for qualified part-time jobs or the likelihood of founding a company are also affected. Educational opportunities are not only dependent on socio-economic background, but also on - sometimes correlating – factors like migration or gender. But where exactly are the sources of social inequality? And how can they be counteracted? |
Teaching, Learning and Digitalisation
Digitalisation is also playing an increasingly important role in education - be it in institutionalised school education or through more digital public educational resources. Does increasing digitalisation and the use of AI in education promote equal opportunities? Additionally, we take a look at the practical applications of digital resources to promote inclusion and (individual) knowledge transfer. |
Thematic Workshops 1: Wednesday 26 March 2025, 8:45 am - 12:45 pm
 |
Title: | Mind the (educational) gap! Understanding and addressing students' individual differences and needs |
| Lecturers: | Katharina Bach | |
| Institution: | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) | |
| Description: | The workshop is divided into an informative and an interactive session. In the first part, participants will gain an overview of the project, its methodological approach, and key findings. The interactive session invites participants to engage directly with selected research data and exchange ideas on the complex relationships between digital technologies, education, and social inequality. | |
| Category: | Teaching, Learning and Digitalization | |
| Workshop Days: |
|
Here you find the link to the main registration for the Spring Academy Sustainability and here you can register for the Thematic Workshop on Thursday.
You must register for the main registration, three different workshops and two different excursions in order to complete the Spring Academy Sustainability and receive credit points.
All Thematic Workshops deal with one or more of the four focal points education system, Education Politics, Access to Education and Teaching, Learning and Digitalisation. All participants attend two Thematic Workshops during the course of the project week (one on Wednesday and one on Thursday, 3.5 hours each).
|
|
|
|
|
Education Politics
Political decisions influence all areas of our education system. From education in kindergartens, school and university to further education opportunities in later working life. What types of school are there and which key points are decisive for educational pathways? How can socially disadvantaged children, young people and adults be supported in order to maintain educational opportunities? |
Education System
How has our current education system developed historically and how can it be reformed? An observation of the German education system includes the question of necessary structural changes and a look at school types and reforms in other countries. What can our education system learn from international comparisons? And what are the limits of these comparisons? |
Access to Education
Access to education and educational success is still strongly impacted by social status and one's own background. This is not only evident with regard to the type of school attended and a possible subsequent degree or doctorate. The subject studied, opportunities for qualified part-time jobs or the likelihood of founding a company are also affected. Educational opportunities are not only dependent on socio-economic background, but also on - sometimes correlating – factors like migration or gender. But where exactly are the sources of social inequality? And how can they be counteracted? |
Teaching, Learning and Digitalisation
Digitalisation is also playing an increasingly important role in education - be it in institutionalised school education or through more digital public educational resources. Does increasing digitalisation and the use of AI in education promote equal opportunities? Additionally, we take a look at the practical applications of digital resources to promote inclusion and (individual) knowledge transfer. |
Thematic Workshops 2: Thursday, 27 March 2025, 8:45 am - 12:45 pm
 |
Title: | Educational Inequalities in a Digital World |
| Lecturers: | Felix Büchner | |
| Institution: | Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg | |
| Description: | The workshop offers insights into the international research project RED. Over the past four years, research teams from Germany, Sweden, Argentina, Mexico, and South Africa have explored how digital technologies shape everyday school life and impact educational inequalities. With a qualitative research approach they visited a diverse range of secondary schools to develop a nuanced perspective on the evolving role of technology in education. | |
| Category: | Education Politics | |
| Workshop Days: |
|