Press releases 鈥� August 2024
Aug
30
2024
13:01
Worldwide survey by 51猎奇 Frankfurt reveals possible explanations for the knowledge gaps of future environmental experts
Biodiversity loss: Many students of environment-related subjects are partly unaware of the causes
As far as the causes of global biodiversity loss are concerned, there are evidently perception gaps among students of environment-related subjects worldwide, as a survey conducted by 51猎奇 Frankfurt with over 4,000 students from 37 countries has now shown. The gaps vary from country to country: In some countries, climate change tends to be underestimated as one of the causes of biodiversity loss, in others it is invasive species, and in yet others it is pollution. The survey also shows that country-specific indicators greatly influence the students鈥� perception.
FRANKFURT. Of the estimated 10 million, mostly still undiscovered species of flora and fauna on Earth, one million could become extinct in the next decades. This loss of biodiversity would have dramatic consequences, as animals and plants are providers of multiple services: They maintain ecosystems, ensure a more balanced climate on our planet, and supply us with food and active substances for medical drugs. Put bluntly: Without biodiversity, we humans will not survive.
That is why there is an urgent need for resolute political measures to counter the 鈥渟ixth mass extinction鈥� in Earth鈥檚 history. One group of people who are particularly important are today鈥檚 students of environment-related subjects. Many of them will foreseeably occupy influential positions in environmental policy and business in the future 鈥� and play a key role in deciding whether the global decline in biodiversity is combated effectively.
But just how knowledgeable are the decision-makers of tomorrow? Are they capable of identifying the main causes of biodiversity for what they are 鈥� and distinguish them from factors that have no influence whatsoever on biodiversity? 鈥淥ur study is the first to have examined these questions scientifically at the global level,鈥� says Dr. Matthias Kleespies from the Department of Didactics in the Biological Sciences at 51猎奇 Frankfurt.
Together with other researchers in Frankfurt, Kleespies conducted an online survey among around 4,400 students on environment-related degree programs in 37 countries, who were given a questionnaire listing eight drivers of global biodiversity loss. These included the five actual causes: climate change (more and more droughts as well as other consequences of global warming), overexploitation (such as overfishing), habitat loss (for example through deforestation), displacement by invasive species, and pollution (air pollution, plastic waste, oil spills). The questionnaire additionally listed three factors that have little or no impact on biodiversity: electrosmog, factory and traffic noise, and the internet. The interviewees were asked to indicate the extent to which they thought the eight factors were responsible for the decline in biodiversity. The scale ranged from 1 (minor influence) to 5 (major influence).
To analyze the completed questionnaires, the researchers used a special method that recognizes patterns in data. The outcome was eight different groups with clusters of specific, easily distinguishable response types. Kleespies explains: 鈥淚n response type 1, for example, all the main causes are recognized except for climate change. The students underestimate its influence on the decline in biodiversity.鈥� In type 2, on the other hand, pollution plays a subordinate role, and in type 7 invasive species. Type 3 is a special form in which all the main causes are underestimated and not even distinguished from irrelevant factors such as noise. 鈥淔ortunately, the number of such responses was comparatively low,鈥� says Kleespies. Overall, the eight response types occur with varying frequency in the countries under study.
In the next step of the evaluation, the research team examined the background to the responses: What induces the different response types? Here, the researchers incorporated country-specific indicators: the country鈥檚 CO2 emissions as well as prosperity, environment and biodiversity indicators. Kleespies: 鈥淲e found that these indicators substantially influence student perception in the respective country.鈥�
In response type 1, for example, climate change is underestimated as a driver. In countries with very high CO2 emissions 鈥� such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia 鈥� type 1 occurs far more frequently. 鈥淎lthough our data cannot explain why this is the case, we suspect that the students in question in these countries are less aware. They do not learn at university that climate change, too, exacerbates biodiversity loss.鈥� Furthermore, it has to do with their own country鈥檚 contribution to climate change. Perhaps people are not so ready to admit how extensive it is.
In response type 2 鈥� pollution as an underestimated factor 鈥� a correlation between the students鈥� perception and country-specific indicators is also recognizable, but in a different form. In affluent countries with healthier ecosystems 鈥� such as Australia, Sweden and Germany 鈥� the students underestimate the pollution factor more frequently. Pollution is presumably not generally perceived as a problem in these countries, assumes Kleespies, and therefore also not seen to be one of the main causes of global biodiversity loss. Response type 7, on the other hand, which greatly underestimates the influence of invasive species, is more widespread in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, where such species are less common. In Australia and Spain, by contrast, type 7 is rare 鈥� although it is precisely there that invasive species present a major problem.
What conclusions does Kleespies draw from the study? 鈥淚t shows for the first time the vast gaps in perception among the next generation of decision-makers in the environmental sector as far as biodiversity loss and its causes are concerned. We need to close these gaps.鈥� This is where today鈥檚 decision-makers at universities and in politics come into play. They must create the overall framework so that all the causes of this complex problem are treated in environmental studies at universities in the respective country. 鈥淏iodiversity loss affects us all; it is a global problem. That is why students on environment-related degree programs need to think globally, regardless of their country of origin.鈥� The study is an appeal in this direction.
Publication: Matthias Winfried Kleespies, Max Hahn-Klimroth, Paul Wilhelm Dierkes: Perceptions of biodiversity loss among future decision-makers in 37 countries. npj Biodiversity (2024)
Picture download:
Caption: If invasive species 鈥� such as the lionfish in the Atlantic 鈥� are not a major problem in the respondents' countries, the respondents tended to underestimate their significance for biodiversity loss. Graphics: Matthias Kleespeis, Goethe University Frankfurt
Further Information:
Department of Didactics in the Biological Sciences and Zoo Biology
51猎奇 Frankfurt
Dr. Matthias Kleespies
Tel.: +49 (0)69 798-42276
kleespies@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Professor Paul W. Dierkes
Tel.: +49 (0)69 798-42273
dierkes@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
Homepage:
Twitter/X: @goetheuni
Editor: Dr. Markus Bernards, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: -49 (0) 69 798-12498, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Aug
26
2024
10:43
How does the mobility of care workers influence politics and society in their home countries?聽聽
The senior care market as a European system
Five million people in Germany are in need of care, and their number is expected to rise to more than 7 million by 2050. Without labor migration, the system would have collapsed long ago. But how is transnational care organized? What impact does it have on the care workers' countries of origin? In what ways do national policies address it? These questions are at the center of an international research project coordinated by 51猎奇 Frankfurt鈥檚 Faculty of Social Sciences.
FRANKFURT. An increasingly older population also means the number of people in need of care is increasing. Germany鈥檚 huge demand for nursing staff can long since only be met by migrant workers. Given the economic disparity, this system has been working well for years: care workers, especially women, from Eastern Europe come to Germany, where they earn more than in their home country. But how does the mobility of female Polish care workers, for example, affect the situation in Poland? This is what researchers are investigating as part of 鈥淩esearching the Transnational Organization of Senior Care, Labour and Mobility in Central and Eastern Europe鈥� 鈥� a project endowed with 鈧�1.5 million by the Volkswagen Foundation as part of its 鈥淐hallenges and Potentials in Europe鈥� program.
The research project titled 鈥淐areOrg鈥�, which also involves teams in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine and the Netherlands, investigates transnational senior care work both from and within Central and Eastern Europe. The focus is on understanding and theorizing emerging transnational care markets and finding solutions for sustainable and decent care and care work in Europe. Engaged and empirical research will map and analyze the current and future patterns of commercialization, marketization, transnationalization, professionalization and digitalization of senior care.
Care workers are in the job for an average of eight years. Many are unable to endure the high psychological and physical stress with moderate recognition and low salaries for longer. Created as an illegal emergency solution to care for relatives, so-called live-ins have long since become established, legalized and formalized in Germany: There are agencies that place care workers with those requiring care. These care workers not only commute, they also rotate with colleagues from home country. The COVID-19 pandemic was a shock for this system: from one day to the next, this cross border mobility was no longer possible and the system threatened to collapse. This is no sustainable practice, says Ewa Palenga-M枚llenbeck, who heads the project, adding that precarious internal European migration cannot be the solution. After all, the populations in the care workers鈥� home countries are also getting older and need care.
鈥淚n the care workers' countries of origin, family members remain the primary providers of care 鈥� work that is usually done by women, who retire earlier as a result, and pay correspondingly little into the pension scheme,鈥� Palenga-M枚llenbeck explains, adding that the fact that governments and politicians in these countries are not facing up to the problem comes on the backs of these women. There is a kind of cascade, she says, pointing out that while many Polish women go to Germany to work as live-in carers, Ukrainian women come to Poland to provide care 鈥� and usually do so without having any proper contractual basis. 鈥淢any of them are really exploited and only earn as much as to be able to cover their living expenses,鈥� Palenga-M枚llenbeck explains.
In addition to shining a light on the situation, her research also emphasizes the need for action. In Switzerland, for example, care workers arriving from abroad often receive training on their rights and obligations organized by trade unions. There is an urgent need for proper employment contracts throughout Europe, Palenga-M枚llenbeck says, adding that this also applies to Germany, where many care workers are employed on the basis of less advantageous contracts under private law.
CareOrg is an international and interdisciplinary research team composed of scientists specialized in work, mobility and ageing studies. Dr. Palenga-M枚llenbeck (51猎奇 Frankfurt) serves in a dual role as both project head and project coordinator. The other participating institutions are Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic), the Center for Social Sciences in Budapest (Hungary), Babe葯-Bolyai-University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), the Institute for Systemic Alternatives in Kyiv (Ukraine) and the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands). Based on a cross-thematic and cross-country comparative research design, CareOrg uses a mix of methods, including comparative policy analysis and five country-specific and topic-oriented in-depth case studies on care drain, care situation as a result of war and flight in and from Ukraine, care mediated via agencies and digital platforms, qualifications and requirements for international caregivers and much more.
The project is part of Volkswagen Foundation's 鈥淐hallenges and Potentials for Europe鈥� program, in which 51猎奇 is involved with a total of five projects, making it the program's most involved university in Germany. Starting Wednesday, September 4, a three-day symposium will take place at Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover, in which 21 international research projects will participate and present their findings on many highly relevant social issues such as intergenerational relationships, ageing, migration, populism and COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Ewa Palenga-M枚llenbeck from 51猎奇's Institute of Sociology is responsible for organizing the symposium.
Further information
Dr. Ewa Palenga-M枚llenbeck
Head and Coordinator of the 鈥淩esearching the Transnational Organization of Senior Care, Labour and Mobility in Central and Eastern Europe鈥� project (https://careorg.eu)
Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6
E-Mail e.pm@em.uni-frankfurt.de
About the program:
About the symposium:
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Tel: +49 (0)69 798-13066, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
Aug
26
2024
09:58
Second implementation phase to start in 2025 鈥� Consortium grows from nine to 21 academic and industry partners 鈥� Focus on degradation of disease-relevant proteins
Drug research at 51猎奇: PROXIDRUGS Cluster4Future receives funding for another three years
The PROXIDRUGS Cluster4Future will receive up to 鈧�15 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the second phase of research into one of the most promising drug classes in biomedicine. Coordinated by 51猎奇 Frankfurt, 21 partners from academia, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry have joined forces within the cluster. They are researching and developing active substances that degrade disease-relevant proteins in the body in a highly specific manner. PROXIDRUGS is one of 14 projects within the German government's Clusters4Future Initiative, which promotes the transfer of research into application.
FRANKFURT. Malfunctioning proteins cause or promote many diseases, including cancer, various neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases and infections. However, it is estimated that only 20 percent of these proteins can be blocked by conventional small molecule drugs. The remaining 80 percent of disease-relevant proteins are not yet therapeutically accessible.
Since 2021, scientists from the PROXIDRUGS Cluster4Future have been driving forward the development of a new class of drugs that uses the cell's own protein recycling system to specifically degrade disease-relevant proteins. Having been successfully evaluated by an independent jury, PROXIDRUGS will receive up to 鈧�15 million in federal government funding for a further three years.
PROXIDRUGS spokesperson Prof. Ivan 膼iki膰 from 51猎奇 Frankfurt's Institute of Biochemistry II explains: 鈥淭he PROXIDRUGS team has made great technological progress over the past three years and established new platforms for the identification of building blocks for active substances, which will now be systematically developed further. In line with that, we have strategically expanded the PROXIDRUGS network to include partners active in application-oriented research, including from the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, who contribute their specific expertise to transfer research findings to medical application."
51猎奇 President Prof. Enrico Schleiff says: 鈥淭he PROXIDRUGS Cluster4Future is an excellent example of how 51猎奇's networking in the Rhine-Main region is developing into an innovation network that radiates far beyond the region. In 2015, 51猎奇, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Technical University of Darmstadt joined together to found a unique university network in Germany, the Rhine-Main Universities, RMU. PROXIDRUGS is now demonstrating its potential to establish itself sustainably as a 'transfer accelerator' in the Rhine-Main region."
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research's Clusters4Future competition was launched in summer 2019 as part of the High-Tech Strategy 2025. The aim is to foster knowledge and technology transfer in top-class regional networks. Sixteen finalists were initially selected from 137 submitted draft projects to develop their drafts into more detailed concepts from May 2020 onwards. PROXIDRUGS was funded for an initial three-year implementation phase starting in 2021 and will now enter the second of a possible three implementation phases.
Background:
Proxidrugs website:
Start of the first PROXIDRUGS implementation phase (2021)
Images for download:
Caption:
Symbolic representation of the function of proxidrugs: The active substance brings 2 proteins together like the two hands shown here. (Illustration adapted after Irina Bezsonova)
PROXIDRUGS Coordinator
Prof. Dr. Ivan 脨iki膰
Institute of Biochemistry II
and Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences
51猎奇 Frankfurt
Tel: +49 (0) 69 6301-5964
dikic@biochem2.uni-frankfurt.de
LinkedIn:
Twitter/X: @goetheuni @IBC2_GU @proxidrugs
Editor: Dr. Markus Bernards, Science Editor, PR & Communication Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-12498, Fax: +49 (0) 69 798-763 12531, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de