During the two-day conference organised by 'Acker e.V' more than 800 participants, ranging from scientists to social entrepreneurs and educators, discussed both online and 'live on stage' (the Ackerbühne) topics such as education, healthy nutrition and the path to a more sustainable society. Keynote speeches and panel discussions were complemented by 'speed-dating' sessions to get to know other participants and create an open and lively platform for interaction.
Sabine Gabrysch gave a keynote speech on planetary health and the importance to understand and communicate the close connection between our own health and a healthy global ecosystem. She highlighted various synergies to improve our own health whilst protecting our environment for example by promoting plant-based diets and by making cities bicycle/pedestrian friendlier. As stated also at the German Medical Assembly (Deutscher Ärztetag) 2021: 'climate protection is health protection' and in protecting the planet we can simultaneously improve our health (DÄB).
Hermann Lotze-Campen participated in a panel discussion on 'Joint action towards a sustainable transformation' (Gemeinsam handeln, nachhaltig wandeln) and discussed the importance of interaction with policy makers from different perspectives. He stated that science has a very important role to play in feeding the political debate with relevant facts, thus being 'policy relevant but not policy prescriptive'.
As stated above, the conference took place in hybrid form (in German only). For those who missed it but would like to see parts of it, all sessions were recorded and can be found here.
Acker e.V. is a social start-up founded by Dr. Christoph Schmitz, who completed his PhD at PIK and HU Berlin in 2012. Acker e.V. combines horticulture and school education in an innovative way through school gardens and kindergarten projects. By giving young children the opportunity to grow fruits and vegetables in their dedicated school garden plots, children are encouraged to become more familiar with their natural environment and appreciate the food they eat.
