"The world as we knew it" no longer seems to exist. Europe is facing a winter that has many citizens at least unsettled, if not fearful. It is not only the rising electricity and gas prices that are causing concern. The media are preparing people for the worst-case scenario: Cold houses because the gas has stopped flowing. A power failure, a "blackout", because the electricity grid collapses. For a long time now, Germany has wanted to finally move away from nuclear and coal-fired power plants and implement the energy transition that is urgently needed in view of climate change. But can we really provide a secure energy supply exclusively with renewables in the near future?  
The topic of energy transition now has an urgency that directly affects our everyday lives. When, if not now, should we develop and demand new, integrated approaches to solutions that combine climate protection and security of supply? 

Against this background, we would like to invite you to the second Urban Innovation Forum of the Joint Centre Urban Systems (JUS) of the University of Duisburg-Essen on 15 November, 18:30, as part of the Seasonal School on Green Business and Sustainability. Together with our guests on stage and in the audience, we will discuss the roles and responsibilities of politics, industry, the press and citizens in the crisis. How do we react to the change and how do we want to narrate the future?

The panel will be preceded by a keynote by Jens Martin Gurr (UDE, professor of literary and cultural studies) on the topic of "Communicating Crisis and Shaping the Future". He is a researcher in the field of "Climate Change Literacy" and has been dealing with narratives of change for a long time. Other speakers include Viktor Haase, State Secretary of the Ministry for the Environment, Environmental Protection and Transport of North Rhine-Westphalia, Frederik Ahlemann, a business information scientist who has been critically examining technology management/IT strategies of change, also in the field of sustainable development, e.g. in recent smart city concepts press, Tim Loppe, spokesperson and head of the media and politics division of the established green electricity provider naturstrom AG and a representative of the Students for Future Duisburg group. The panel will be moderated by Klaus Krumme (UDE, Joint Centre Urban Systems).

Location:

Folkwang University, Campus Welterbe Zollverein, Quartier Nord

Martin-Kremmer-Str. 21, 45327 Essen, Germany

All current information on the programme of the Seasonal School NRW and on registration can be found here .

Informal registrations for the panel discussion are accepted at the following address:
urbane-systeme@uni-due.de
(Participants of the entire Seasonal School do not need to register again).