News — Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development

Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development

Welcome to the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development!

About us: The Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development is an interdisciplinary hub for excellent research and policy advice...

... in the field of religion and development. It is based at the Faculty of Theology and headed by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Gräb and Philipp Öhlmann. We seek to actively contribute to finding solutions to the fundamental challenges of our time. We do so with a focus on religious communities in different contexts – investigating their potential to foster development, equality, social cohesion and ecological sustainability, but also analyzing their role as possible sources of exclusion and marginalization – and by continuously intensifying our international collaboration, particularly with our partners in the global South.

Current News

Newsletter 02/2021

Please click here to find our current newsletter.

Here, we provide news from our Research Programme as well as information concerning new publications, upcoming events and our most recent activities.

A Panel Discussion on Sustainability with Philipp Öhlmann, Katharina Pyschny, Mona Feise-Nasr and Wolfram Stierle

"Glauben & Wissen. Theologiegespräche an der HU": Nachhaltigkeit

Please click here to find the talk (in German).

Climate change and its ecological and social consequences, the exploitation of natural resources and the extinction of animal and plant species - humanity is responsible for all this. In this interview, the speakers discussed this topic more in depth.

Radio Interview on Religion and Sustainability in the Deutschlandfunk Program "Climate Talks" with Philipp Öhlmann.

Please click here to find the full article (in German).

„Klimaschutz & Religion. Was die Kirchen sagen – und was sie tun“.

Philipp Öhlmann was interviewed for this interesting program of Deutschlandfunk. He talked about the contribution of churches in the field of climate protection in Africa. In particular, he highlighted their role in relation to sustainable agriculture. If you want to know more about this topic and about the role climate protection plays in German churches, we invite you to read the whole article here.

Religion and Sustainability: Interview with Marie-Luise Frost on the Sustainability Webportal of Humboldt17

Please click here to find the interview (in German).

Religion connects people, their faith brings them together to shape society together. This is especially true in those regions of the world where religious communities are the most important local institutions. Can communities there contribute to sustainable development? And if so, what role do religion and religiosity play in this process of change? These are the questions that researchers at the Research Programme on Religious Communities and Sustainable Development (RCSD) want to answer.

Research Result and Policy Recommendations for German Development Policy

"Potentials of Cooperation with African Initiated Churches for Sustainable Development"