BMBF project moreBNE: Open Educational Resources for sustainability education

So that teachers do not always have to reinvent the wheel when preparing lessons, they can draw on existing materials, such as open educational resources. The moreBNE research project promotes the exchange and competent use of freely available teaching materials in the field of education for sustainable development.

Erasmus+ project BESTNATURE: Forests in focus

What is biodiversity? What role do our forests play in biodiversity? How is nature conservation realised in Europe and what is the role of national parks? An international Erasmus+ project has been addressing these questions since the end of 2023.

CLASSIC vhb course: “Migration & Development (M&E): Spatial Mobilities and Social Transformations in West Africa”

Migration is an integral part of human history. The fact that migration is closely structurally linked to development is undisputed in the social sciences. However, there is no clear answer to the questions of how migration affects development and how this in turn influences migration.

EU project LIFE Prognoses – Taking stock of Europe's natural heritage

Europe's old-growth forests are invaluable – scientists agree on that point. But there are no clear, scientific criteria to assess the state of these forests. This is where the EU project LIFE Prognoses takes action, and Professor Christine Schmitt from the University of Passau, who is a geographer by training, has joined in the endeavour.

BioCult project: Passau researcher studying biodiversity and biomass in the forests of Kenya and Ethiopia

Tropical forests are home to a remarkable diversity of species and often of major cultural significance to the people living there. However, many of these forests are being depleted and threatened by conversion into agricultural areas.

Harnessing wild edible plants to improve food security

Crop failures and unbalanced nutrition are a problem in northern Kenya. A project backed by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is looking into how wild edible plants could help to improve the diet of the local population.

BMBF consortium MiTra-Wa: team of geographers from Passau investigating the nexus of migration and livelihood security in West Africa

In West Africa, migration is an integral part of everyday life. A research team at the Chair of Human Geography at the University of Passau is leading the joint international project MiTra-Wa, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which aims to provide a systematic analysis of the relationships between migration and securing a livelihood and their social, economic and ecological consequences.

Gen Future project: Youth shaping change

How do we want to live in future? What should different parts of society look like – political participation, diversity, inclusion, mobility transition, alternative forms of doing business, social media?

DFG project DREAMS: Making African cities sustainable

African cities face major challenges in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The network project DREAMS, in which the University of Passau is also involved, is developing recommendations for action that underpin sustainable and climate-resilient urban planning efforts.

CLASSIC vhb course: “Social Network Analysis (SNA) – methods, concepts, applications"

Increasingly, the globalised world is being organised in networks. The CLASSIC vhb course "Social Network Analysis (SNA) – methods, concepts, applications" from the Chair of Human Geography, aims to give students the empirical equipment to give them a better understanding of worldwide networking, the way it works, and the impacts it has.

Geographical NetWorkshop: GEOcite – a scientometric monitoring instrument for the longitudinal observation of scientific communication

This DFG-funded project is mainly concerned with the development of the software solution GEOcite, a monitoring tool for continuous scientific observation within geography in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Translocality and social change in Africa south of the Sahara

The translocality of securing a livelihood not only shapes the lives of 500,000,000 people on the African continent – it is also having a more and more obvious impact on the respective realities in situ.

Geographical NetWorkshop: migration, education and inclusion in school contexts

It is not just since the "long summer of migration" (2015) that questions of social integration have been the subject of intensive public and social science discussions. A key role is assigned to the institution "school" in these debates, and rightly so.

Geographical NetWorkshop: the search for evidence in the field of geoarchaeology – bibliometric information and network analysis approaches

The GEOarc project focuses from a scientometric / network analysis point of view on the cooperation between natural and cultural sciences in the field of geoarchaeology. 

Geoarchaeology is a research field in which both cultural and natural scientists work.

Tourism in the Zellertal is being scrutinised

Based on an inventory of existing studies and important key figures on tourism in the Zellertal, empirical data is collected on the main topics of organisational structure, fields of tourism and target group requirements.

Changes in tree ring isotopes in forests of southeastern Brazil during the 20th century: how do climatic conditions influence growth and water use efficiency?

It is undisputed that the tropics are important for the global climate system and the carbon cycle. The reaction of tropical forests to enhanced CO2 concentrations is the pivotal role for the land carbon and water cycle.

Mangrove regeneration on Guanaja Island (Honduras) seven years after Hurricane Mitch

Hurricane Mitch is considered to be one of the strongest hurricanes of the last century. Due to its exceptionally stationary position for three days between the northern coast of Honduras and the northern offshore island of Guanaja, these areas were particularly affected by wind speeds of over 280 km/h.

The contribution of ecotones to the functional, structural and floristic diversity of semi-arid high mountains - a case study in the Great Basin, USA

The research project focuses on the contribution of ecotones to the functional, structural and floristic diversity of semi-arid high mountains using a case study in mountainous regions of the Great Basin (USA), with most of the field work carried out in the Snake Range (Great Basin National Park).