New Podcast: Science and Politics in Conversation

The second season of the podcast “Science and Politics in Conversation” comes with six new episodes dedicated to sustainability topics: Biodiversity, Carbon Capture, Hydrogen, Citizen Participation and much more. As with the episodes of the first season, the focus will be on the dialog between science and politics in order to advance the debate on sustainability issues.

WuPiG #7 - Communicating the biodiversity crisis better.
With Jan-Niclas Gesenhues (Parl. Staat. BMUV) and Susanne Schmitt (cultural anthropologist)

“Offensive environmental protection” - this is how the Green Party's Jan-Niclas Gesenhues presents his strategy for a more effective environmental policy in his book published in 2024. But what arguments should be used to better communicate environmental and biodiversity protection? Moral, ethical or even economic? Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment and Consumer Protection Jan-Niclas Gesenhues discusses these questions with cultural anthropologist and sensory ethnographer Susanne Schmitt. She was a fellow at the Research Institute for Sustainability at the GFZ (RIFS) and heads the STEAM project at LMU Munich.

WuPiG #8 - Do we need carbon capture and storage? (from January 23, 2025)
With Mark Lawrence (Director of RIFS) and Anja Weisgerber (CSU)

Is CO2 storage a serious way to achieve our climate targets? Is this technology worth investing in or is it too risky? How far along is science in the development of this CCS technology? And is it socially accepted?

We discuss these topics in the eighth episode of the #WuPiG (Science and Politics in Conversation) podcast, which brings together representatives from politics and research
Our guest is Mark Lawrence, specialist in atmospheric science and co-director of RIFS, Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ. He talks to Anja Weisgerber, spokesperson for the environment and consumer protection for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. 

WuPiG #9 - Green hydrogen - a fair international cooperation? (from January 30, 2025)
With Till Mansmann (Development Policy Spokesperson of the FDP parliamentary group) and Alexandra Tost (RIFS)

With the Ampel coalition, “green hydrogen” was on everyone's lips in Germany, but what exactly is its place in the German energy transition? And how does international cooperation work when it comes to importing hydrogen from Africa or South America? What geopolitical, climatic and equity challenges come into play in these cases?

We discuss these topics in the eighth episode of the #WuPiG (Science and Politics in Dialogue) podcast, which brings together representatives from politics and research.

Our guest is Till Mansmann, development policy spokesperson for the FDP parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. At the time of the recording (October 2024), Till Mansmann was also the “Green Hydrogen” innovation officer of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). He stepped down from this position in November 2024. He talks to Alexandra Tost, research associate at the RIFS (Research Institute for Sustainability at GFZ) and part of the coordination team for the focus topic “Equity and Sustainability”.

All further episodes every Thursday - here and on all known podcast channels!
 

How can we build a sustainable democracy? The podcast Science and Politics in Conversation (in german) tackles this question in its opening episode with guests Doris Fuchs, RIFS Scientific Director and Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Münster, and Andreas Jung, Deputy Chair of the CDU and spokesperson on climate and energy policy for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

The political scientist and the politician discuss the current challenges for sustainable development: How are politicians dealing with the demands of climate activist group Last Generation and protests by farmers? How should the government pursue its climate goals? Is the rhythm of political cycles attuned to the time scales on which planetary challenges unfold? And what options are available to bring policymakers and citizens into conversation and develop sustainable solutions together?

New episodes will be released weekly and will tackle the following topics:

• Kiezblocks - Who owns the city? With Almut Neumann (District Councillor - Berlin Mitte, The Greens) and Dirk von Schneidemesser (mobility researcher at the RIFS)
• Is there such a thing as “green AI”? With Maximilian Funke-Kaiser (digital policy spokesperson for the FDP’s parliamentary group) and Stefanie Kunkel (digitalisation researcher at the RIFS)
• Welcome to the green pitch – soccer and sustainability. With Michael Jopp (Berlin Senate Department for the Interior and Sport - Sustainability Management) and Jutta Katthage (Federal Institute for Sports Science)
• Sustainable building. With Elisabeth Kaiser (Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Construction, SPD) and Eike Roswag-Klinge (TU Berlin)
• WuPiG #6: Does the Green Deal fit into the Blue Economy? With Felix Leinemann, Head of the Unit for Blue Economy Sectors, Aquaculture and Maritime Spatial Planning in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and Florian Lennert (expert on sustainable innovation and development, Klaus Toepfer Sustainability Fellow at RIFS)

Science communicator Sébastien Vannier developed the podcast at RIFS as part of a #FactoryWisskomm Fellowship funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and in cooperation with the Centre Marc Bloch, a Franco-German centre for social science research. The podcast is hosted by science journalist Julia Vismann. Listeners are invited to take part in a survey on science podcasts as part of the research that will monitor the podcast and its impacts.