Impulses from science - impact on society
The third Sustainability Transfer Day is organized by the Fachhochschule Dortmund together with the Sustainability Alliance for Applied Sciences in NRW (NAW.NRW). The format takes place once a year at a NAW.NRW university.
On September 10 - 11, 2025, the Transfer Day is dedicated to the transfer of knowledge between science and civil society. The aim of the event is to promote dialog between these stakeholders. Alongside the state and the market, civil society is the third pillar of a society. But who is civil society, what is its task and how can science support this commitment?
Over two days, we will have the opportunity to examine both perspectives on knowledge transfer.
Impressions from the transfer day
Program 10.09. 13.30 - 17.45 hrs| Kulturort Depot
/// Due to the high number of registrations, we have adjusted the daily schedule! As a result, the workshop and the Institute for Higher Education Didactics will take place in parallel and the conference will end earlier/// (change from 28.08.2025)
13.00 Arrival, coffee
13.30 - 13.50 Opening of the 3rd Conference of Social Responsibility Dortmund
Welcome by the Chancellor of Fachhochschule Dortmund, Ms. Svenja Stepper
13.50 - 14.00 Program presentation
Sebastian Kreimer, Head of CSR
14.00 - 14.30 Presentation of the Dortmunder Tatendrang Initiative
Claudia Pejas Chairwoman of Dortmunder Tatendrang(Opens in a new tab) , Karola Jaschewski, Head of the Dortmund Volunteer Agency
14.30 - 14.45 Short presentation of the sessions by the speakers
Session 1 Student engagement as a teaching format
14.45 - 16.15 Workshop "Campus-Community-Partnerships" A deck of cards for service learning
Karsten Altenschmidt M.A.(Opens in a new tab) , Head of the Center for Civic Learning and Social Responsibility Uniaktiv at the University of Duisburg Essen
Session 2 Churches as places of civil society
14.45 -16.15 Institute for Higher Education Didactics "St. Paul's Church" a place for civil society?
St. Paul's Church as a common place for engagement. What ideas and needs do science and civil society have and how can these new places be organized? We want to discuss visions and possible implementations in a future workshop.
Friedrich Laker(Opens in a new tab) , Pastor of St. Paul's Church, Sebastian Kreimer (Opens in a new tab) CSR Office Director, Fachhochschule Dortmund
16.15 - 16.30 Coffee break
16.30 - 17.45 Summary and exchange
Summary of the results. Exchange between the aid organizations and conclusion of the event
Further information on the day:
The IGA 2027 Ruhr Area(Opens in a new tab) and the Fair Metropolis Ruhr network(Opens in a new tab) will present themselves with information stands.
Program 11.09. 09.30 - 16.30 | Werkhalle Union Gewerbehof
On September 11, we will focus on the scientific perspective of knowledge transfer and discuss the diverse methods of campus-community partnerships in workshops and lectures, again together with civil society and science.
09.00 - 09.30 Arrival
09.30 - 10.00 Welcome address
Prof. Dr. Franz Vogler, Vice-Rector for Sustainability and Digitalization
Prof. Dr. Natalie Bartholomäus, Vice President for Transfer and Social Impact
Moderation: Sebastian Kreimer, CSR Office; Hannah Fischer, Welthaus e.V.
10.00 - 10.50 Knowledge, change, contradictions: How joint research can change society - and where it reaches its limits
Dr. Jessica Nuske, Research Institute for Social Cohesion, University of Bremen
10.50 - 11.00 Break
11.00 - 12.10 What does civil society need from science?
Panel discussion with Angela Märtin(Masterplan Wissenschaft(Opens in a new tab) ), Dr. Jessica Nuske(Forschungsinstitut Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt, University of Bremen(Opens in a new tab) ), Svenja Noltemeyer(netzNRW Verbund für Ökologie und Soziales Wirtschaften e.V.(Opens in a new tab) ), Dietmar Stahlschmidt,(City of Dortmund Coordination Office, "nordwärts"(Opens in a new tab) ) (Opens in a new tab)
Moderation:
Hannah Fischer(Opens in a new tab) , One World Promoter, Welthaus
Sebastian Kreimer, Head of CSR Fachhochschule Dortmund
12.10 - 13.05 Lunch break and poster session "Transfer at Fachhochschule Dortmund"
13.05 - 13.55 Lecture and discussion | Atlas of Civil Society - Shrinking Space for Civil Society and the Impact on the Sustainable Development Goals
Christine Meissler, Bread for the World,
13.55 - 14.45 The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A critical analysis of hegemonic power relations and possible solutions using the example of social work.
Prof. Dr. Michael Boecker , Fachhochschule Dortmund, Faculty of Applied Social Studies
14.45 - 15.00 Break
15.00 - 15.50 Lecture and discussion | Gemeinsam wandeln: Shaping transformation through campus-community partnerships
Jörg Miller(Opens in a new tab) , Head of the Center for Civic Learning and Social Responsibility Uniaktiv at the University of Duisburg Essen
15.50 - 15.55 Break
15.55 - 16.40 Transdisciplinary project teaching as part of sustainable participatory and transformative research on inclusive urban design
Friederike Asche M.A. (Opens in a new tab) Doctoral candidate, Fachhochschule Dortmund, Faculty of Architecture
Closing until 17.00 hrs
Recordings of the lectures
Link to the Youtube channel(Opens in a new tab)
The presentations will be linked here shortly.
Further events on this topic in 2025/26
22.09.25 Places of understanding We.Talk.Here "The future will be hot
Fachhochschule Dortmund is a partner of the #VerständigungsOrte dialog series in Dortmund. With this initiative, the Protestant Church, Diakonie and its local cooperation partners want to create a space for social exchange about crises and conflicts.
16.10.2025 Student conference " The end of the common good?"
How the climate crisis, right-wing populism and unequal distribution are challenging our society and the welfare state.
Poverty in Germany is growing, jobs are being lost and the climate crisis is endangering our livelihoods worldwide. At the same time, we are experiencing a political shift to the right: attacks on minorities, journalists, NGO employees and democratic institutions are on the rise. These developments are intertwined in many ways: ecological crises, social inequality and democratic erosion reinforce each other to a certain extent - and challenge our community. The conference will focus on the welfare state as a central pillar of the common good - and the question of how it can and must be defended and further developed under conditions of increasing social inequality, economic crises and democratic erosion.
15.10.2026 4th Transfer Day of Sustainability 2026
On Thursday, October 15, 2026, the Catholic University of Applied Sciences North Rhine-Westphalia will host the Sustainability Transfer Day of the Sustainability Alliance NRW 2026 at its location in Cologne.
Title: "Shaping the future together: Ecological and social sustainability in harmony - think globally, act locally"
CONTACT
Dominik Schneider
Consultant for sustainability management
Phone: 0221 7757-503
E-mail: d.schneiderkatho-nrwde
Lecturers and contents
Dr. Jessica Nüske | 11.09.
Research Associate at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion (FGZ) at the Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy (SOCIUM), University of Bremen
Jessica Nuske studied political science at the University of Bremen, where she also completed her doctorate on the topic of transdisciplinarity. Her research focuses on the sociology of science, with a focus on formats of research-based knowledge transfer between science and society. She is particularly interested in the epistemic and institutional conditions of successful cooperation between science and society. She currently works at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion (FGZ), where, in addition to her research on the relationship between science and practice, she is also responsible for the transfer between the institute and Bremen politics and civil society. Together with the research projects anchored at the institute, she develops and tests dialogical transfer formats with the aim of mutual learning and collaborative knowledge production on the topic of 'social cohesion'.
Further information(Opens in a new tab)
Keynote:
"Knowledge, change, contradictions: How joint research can change society - and where it reaches its limits"
When sustainability becomes a joint task, it is not enough to simply "transfer" knowledge. What is needed is a new understanding of research: one that incorporates different perspectives, works together with civil society actors and takes social relevance seriously. The keynote will take a critical look at what joint research between science and civil society can achieve and where structural, cultural and institutional hurdles lie. The focus will be on the conditions for productive collaboration and the question of what it takes to turn exchange into change - in a sustainable way.
Karsten Altenschmidt | 10.09.
Service Learning Coordinator at UNIAKTIV - Center for Civic Learning and Social Responsibility at the University of Duisburg Essen
Further information(Opens in a new tab)
Workshop with content impulse and practical exercise with the "Service Learning card deck
at universities
"The card deck helps with the implementation of service learning at universities and comprises a total of 90 cards, divided into nine categories. Successful examples of good practice are presented and discussed on the cards. The documented patterns are an essential basis of knowledge about service learning and campus community partnerships. They make it possible to successfully organize teaching and learning with reference to social commitment.
In order to deal creatively with recurring challenges and to develop solutions or answers, successful solution or action patterns are described. The patterns present the principle of a solution that can be used as a guide for applications in a specific situation. This creates a wide range of possible variations, which - by systematically combining different patterns of action - form a specific pattern language.
The cards can help you reflect on your own experiences or be used for self-evaluation. The tested patterns of action on the cards can also be used when planning a service learning event or a meeting with a partner. In addition, the card deck can be used effectively in your own seminars, at team meetings, in your own network or at service learning training courses." Uniactive(Opens in a new tab)
Christine Meissler | 11.09.
Civil Society Protection Officer at Bread for the World
Further information(Opens in a new tab)
For some years now, Bread for the World has been increasingly concerned that in many countries the working conditions of its partner organizations and other civil society actors have become increasingly difficult or even impossible: They are no longer allowed to accept foreign funding, lose their status or are simply banned. Violence, threats and defamation are on the rise. This phenomenon has also been referred to as shrinking space for some years now. Data from CIVICUS, which Bread for the World publishes annually in the Civil Society Atlas, shows that more than two billion people live in countries where independent and critical civil society engagement is completely suppressed by state violence.
Shrinking space has an impact on sustainable development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Where there are no independent, critical civil society actors* who could take on a watchdog role, demand rights for the disadvantaged, criticize public policy and hold the government to account, in many cases there is increasing marginalization and impoverishment.
Bread for the World, like other non-governmental organizations that work with local partner organizations, is operationally severely affected by the restrictions and repression against its partners. We also see the repression of critical and independent civil society as an attack on a development paradigm that, in line with the principle of the SDGs, "leaves no one behind", is based on human rights and empowers poor and disadvantaged people to improve their living conditions.
Jörg Miller | 11.09.
Research assistant in the UNIAKTIV Service Learning department at the Institute for Key Scientific Competencies
Further information(Opens in a new tab)
Transformation requires new forms of cooperation between universities and society.
Campus-Community-Partnerships (CCP) open up spaces for joint learning, action and design.
They combine scientific knowledge with civic engagement. The central question is: How can local alliances promote social change in concrete terms?
This article shows the potential, practical examples and challenges of transformative partnerships