Dr. Jonas Birke
Lecturer in Human Deography
Fields of work and research
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Teaching in Bachelor's and Master's programmes
- Supervision of theses
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Research & project management
Forschungsgebiete
- Urban geography
- Shrinking cities & vacancy phenomena
- Lost cities & their emergence
- Cultural geography
- Changing significance of cultural institutions
- Processes of change in cultural participation
- Digital geographies
- Island geography
- Transformation and sustainability research
Dr. Jonas Birke
1.019 (222)
Meckenheimer Allee 166
53115 Bonn
Office hours by appointment via email.
Curriculum vitae
Since 10/2025: Lecturer in Human Geography at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bonn
03/2023 – 09/2025: Research assistant (post-doc) in the Anthropogeography working group in the Department of Geography at the University of Koblenz
01/2019 – 02/2023: Research assistant at the Chair of Social Geography at the Institute of Geography and Science Education at the University of Wuppertal
Doctorate
01/2019 – 05/2023: University of Wuppertal, title of dissertation: ‘Geography in the context of socio-ecological transformation – influences of geographical knowledge and ways of thinking with regard to the implementation of specific sustainability goals by civil society’. Awarded academic degree (Dr.phil.) with summa cum laude on 23 May 2023.
Studies
10/2016 – 12/2018: University of Wuppertal, Geography & German Studies, Master of Education. Title of master's thesis: ‘Agenda 2030 – Social perception of SDGs in connection with the implementation of sustainability strategies’ (grade: 1.0)
10/2013 - 09/2016: University of Wuppertal, Geography & German Studies, Bachelor of Arts. Title of bachelor's thesis: ‘Island tourism on Sylt – blessing or curse? The effects of tourism on the North Sea island's infrastructure and the standard of living of the local population’ (grade: 1.0)
Since 03/2025: Managing Director of the German Society for Demography (DGD)
Since 09/2023: German representative in the Association of European Geographical Societies (EUGEO)
Courses
Up to 10/2025, a total of 44 courses, 6 of which were in Master's programmes and 38 in Bachelor's programmes.
Introductory and advanced seminars in bachelor's and master's programmes, basic lectures on human geography and methods of human geography, day trips in the surrounding area, multi-day excursions in Germany (including Hamburg, Munich, Sylt) and abroad (including Iceland, the Netherlands).
Topics: Fundamentals of human geography, urban geography, social and cultural geography, regional geography, tourism geography, island geography and methods of human geography.
Research
‘What remains is the memory? – Urban destruction and memories of Ukrainian lost cities’ Gerda Henkel Foundation, funding priority: Lost Cities (in the selection process)
The abandonment of places is a historical phenomenon that is often referred to as the dark side of global urbanisation processes. There are many reasons for the emergence of these so-called ‘lost cities’. The most common cause, especially in the present day, is the military destruction of places. This results in the loss not only of the physical substance of cities, but above all of social networks and memories. The aim of the project is to use the example of Ukrainian lost cities that emerged in the course of the Russia-Ukraine war to explore the connection between urban destruction and memory culture. How are space and memory related? Which urban features remain particularly memorable and why? How do urban memory cultures emerge and what factors influence their emergence?
‘Urban gaps – a citizen science project in the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley’, funded by the Hans Sauer Foundation. Project duration: 1 March 2024 – 31 March 2025
Shrinking cities and settlements are a global phenomenon that is currently gaining increasing attention. The process of shrinkage is accompanied in particular by vacancy phenomena. This affects small towns in peripheral regions such as the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley in particular. Researching vacancy is methodologically challenging and in many cases relies on the local knowledge of the affected population. For this reason, the project used a citizen science approach to work with citizens from four small towns to investigate vacancy, its causes and potential revitalisation options.
‘Future City 2030+ Gelsenkirchen: Building Block Real-World Laboratories Phase 2’, funded by the BMFTR. Project duration: 01/2020 – 12/2022
What will the city of tomorrow look like? As one of seven winning municipalities in the BMBF's ‘City of the Future’ competition, various actors in the urban community are conducting joint research on this question in different phases under the motto ‘Education and participation as strategies for socio-spatial development’. The real-world laboratories component focuses on places of learning, processes of appropriation and participation in the neighbourhood, digitalisation and cooperation with science.
Selected publications
Geographisch denken – nachhaltig handeln?! Geographisches Wissen im Kontext der sozial-ökologischen Transformation
Birke, J. (2023)
Bielefeld (Reihe: Sozial- und Kulturgeographie, transcript)
Nachhaltigkeit und Social Media
Bush, A. & Birke, J. (2022)(Hrsg.)
Wiesbaden (Springer VS)
Other publications
Birke, J. & Keil, A. (2025, im Erscheinen): Sustainability in the theater management – Opportunities and challenges in establishing sustainability strategies in the German theater Landscape. In: International Journal of Arts Management.
Birke, J. (2025, im Erscheinen): „Räumliche Differenzen kultureller Teilhabe – Kulturpolitische Potenziale und Herausforderungen“ In: Crückeberg, J.; Allmannritter, V. & Tewes-Schünzel, O. (Hrsg.): Datenbasierte Kulturpolitik – Erkenntnisse und Handlungsempfehlungen. Transcript Verlag.
Brunn, M.; Billings, S.; Birke, J.; Brockmüller, S.; Nielsen, M.; Salas, S. & Oelmann, Y. (2024): On the importance of diversity in ecological research. In: Plants, People, Planet 6(5), S. 1-8.
Birke, J. (2023): Eine geographische Perspektive auf Kulturpolitik. In: Crückeberg, J. et al. (Hrsg.): Handbuch Kulturpolitik. Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag, S. 1-13.
Bush, A. & Birke, J. (2022): Verflechtungen von Nachhaltigkeit und Social Media – Ein Vorwort. In: Bush, A. & Birke, J. (Hrsg.): Nachhaltigkeit und Social Media. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 1-16
Birke, J. & Bush, A. (2022): Die Videoplattform YouTube als Informationskanal für Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation? – Eine Status-Quo-Analyse der Suchergebnisse zu Themen der Nachhaltigkeit auf YouTube. In: Bush, A. & Birke, J. (Hrsg.): Nachhaltigkeit und Social Media. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 59- 86
Bush, A. Sellmann-Risse, D. & Birke, J. (2022): Nachhaltigkeitsbewusstsein und Social-Media-Nutzung von jungen Erwachsenen – Informelles Lernen zu nachhaltigkeitsrelevanten Themen über Facebook, YouTube und Instagram. In: Bush, A. & Birke, J. (Hrsg.): Nachhaltigkeit und Social Media. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, S. 187-202.
Birke, J. & Keil, A. (2021): Die touristische Entwicklung von Sylt – Die Auswirkung der Covid-19-Pandemie auf Konzepte der Nachhaltigkeit. In: Geographische Rundschau (11/2021), S. 46-49.
Birke, J. & Keil, A. (2020): Die gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung der Agenda 2030 – Information und Partizipation als Schlüssel einer verbesserten Umsetzung? In: Geographische Rundschau (3/2020), S. 54-55.