he new open-access publication “African Futures in the Making”, edited by Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn and Prof. Dr. Michael Bollig, was published in February 2026 in association with the Collaborative Research Center “Future Rural Africa”. This edited volume features 11 contributions and examines the impacts of climate change, globalization, and changing resource practices on rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

A research output from the bachelor's thesis by Norick Peters at the Department of Geography, University of Bonn, has been incorporated into a newly installed memorial stele in Ahrbrück, commemorating the devastating floods of July 14–15, 2021 that affected the Ahr Valley.

On 3 November 2025, representatives from politics, administration and civil society came together at Koblenz University of Applied Sciences (Remagen campus) for a workshop organised as part of the SOZIAHR project to discuss meeting places in the Ahr Valley. During a gallery walk, participants identified 43 facilities and observed initial differences in their spatial distribution and target groups. In the following discussion, participants addressed current challenges and developed key objectives for the future, including long-term funding models, stronger cooperation between actors and improved support for volunteers.

On December 3, 2025, four MSc students from UNU-EHS and the University of Bonn presented their research at UNCCD CRIC 23 in Panama, following a commissioned consultancy project. Their study examined the gender-differentiated impacts of sand and dust storms in Mali, Egypt, and Australia, showing that women and men are affected differently due to distinct gender roles, livelihoods, and access to resources. The findings highlighted unequal health, economic, and social impacts, with women facing heightened maternal health risks and men often delaying medical care due to gender norms. The presentation contributed to international discussions and strengthened UNCCD commitments to gender-responsive adaptation, youth empowerment, and women-led land restoration initiatives.

On 7 January 2026, the long-standing collaboration between the GeoHealth Centre and the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn was secured for the long term through a cooperation agreement. This strengthens Bonn's position as an important location for geographical health research. The cooperation in research and teaching, previously shaped significantly by Prof. Dr. Thomas Kistemann, will be continued under the leadership of PD Dr. Timo Falkenberg and Apl. Prof. Dr. Carsten Butsch. Key areas of joint research are urban health and health in the Global South.

The amount of litter floating in the Rhine is many times larger than previously believed. Researchers from the University of Bonn, the University of Tübingen and the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) partnered with the Cologne-based non-profit pollution-fighting organization K.R.A.K.E. to collect and classify macro litter in a floating litter trap—the only one of its kind in Germany—over a period of 16 months. Katharina Höreth from Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers' working group “Ecohydrology and Water Resources Management” at the Department of Geography is part of the project. Extrapolation models based on the observed volume indicate that roughly 53,000 items of macro waste debris float past Cologne on the Rhine river every day. Disposable plastic products make up a large proportion of the litter found in the Rhine. The findings have now been published in the scientific journal “Communications Sustainability.”

Melanie Stammler successfully defended her dissertation “Multi-Scale Rock Glacier Kinematics in the Dry Andes of Argentina: From DEMs to the State of Permafrost Using Photogrammetry”, supervised by Prof. Dr. Lothar Schrott. Congratulations!

People’s conceptions of health are strongly influenced by their cultural values and norms, such as their religious beliefs. In an increasingly diverse society, different understandings of health are combining and melding through interaction and dialogue. This phenomenon has been investigated by Kevin Becker and Adjunct Professor Carsten Butsch from the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn, who is also a member of the Sustainable Futures Transdisciplinary Research Area. Their findings have now been published in the journal “Science & Medicine.”