28 KAAD scholars from twelve countries took part in this seminar. The majority of them were from the Africa Department of KAAD, but there were also participants from Jordan, Egypt and Myanmar. They spent four days dealing with the forms of sustainable economic activity. Facilitated by Dr Marko Kuhn, Father Professor Dr Ulrich Engel OP and Miriam Rossmerkel from KAAD as well as Dipl.-Ing. agr. Bernhard Nägele from Bildungshaus St. Ulrich, the seminar participants exchanged ideas after getting various presentations from their own ranks and two expert presentations by Professor Dr Stefan Pauliuk and KAAD alumnus Dr. Vincent Kyere.
Stefan Pauliuk (Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg) explained the extent to which modern societies use certain crucial materials such as cement and steel and the serious consequences their use has for climate and nature. The transport sector and the associated vehicle manufacturing were also considered. Stefan Pauliuk's references to the global context of material trading and transport were particularly relevant for the seminar. The demand for materials by the countries of the Global South in order to 'catch-up' is very significant in this context. Equally important is the questions of justice in view of the long-standing 'overconsumption' of the industrialized countries of the Global North. How organic (e.g. in agriculture) and inorganic materials (e.g. in the construction industry) can be brought to a circular movement was the core of this fascinating presentation.
The second main presentation of the seminar was given digitally by KAAD alumnus Dr Vincent Kyere (Mountain Research Institute, Accra, Ghana). Vincent Kyere made a name for himself as an expert on the global flow of electronic waste during his doctorate at the University of Bonn. His home country Ghana is one of the global hotspots for this problem, because in the capital Accra, the valuable raw materials in the discarded electrical devices are gained by crude burning. The damage to the soil, the air and people's health is immense. Vincent Kyere explained how, in a large-scale recycling project, he developed alternative, health- and environmentally friendly methods of obtaining the gold, silver, copper or cobalt contained in electronic waste (see the report on the visit to our partner country Ghana in November 2023).
The participants of the seminar also got involved in the topic by seven shorter presentations. The topics ranged from preventing food waste in African countries to sustainable agricultural systems on Mount Kilimanjaro to using the continent's abundant solar energy for local energy generation and food production.
On the excursion day, the participants were able to gain a deeper understanding of circular economy projects in Germany when they visited the Zweckverband Abfallbehandlung Kahlenberg (ZAK) in the Ortenau district. By developing new waste treatment techniques themselves, this plant is doing pioneering work which has brought Kahlenberg into the spotlight of the region and the entire professional world. The processes and techniques used are continuously adapted and further developed in the interests of environmentally friendly and sustainable waste management. On site, the scholars were able to view and understand the modern facilities developed by ZAK.
The Heuberg, located next to the Kahlenberg, not only offered the group the opportunity to have lunch and a lunch break, but also an impressive walk through the vineyards and up a lookout tower in the foothills. The views from here illustrated the structure of the Upper Rhine Valley between the Black Forest and the Vosges Mountains.
The second part of the excursion took the group to the organic farm of the Brengartner family in Ehrenstetten, near the conference centre in St. Ulrich. This farm was converted from a purely arable farm that used large amounts of artificial fertilizers in agriculture to an organic farming method. The participants in the seminar had many questions for the young farmer on the subject of sustainable livestock farming, profitability and ecology, as well as the use of certain feedstuffs (alfalfa) are used here to return important nutrients to the soil.
The seminar ended with a mass service in the former monastery church under the leadership of our KAAD chaplain, Father Ulrich Engel. Rhythms and sounds from various African countries rang out at the grave of St. Ulrich, demonstrating on a faith level what the entire seminar in the heights of the Black Forest had attempted to do: to connect topics that similarly relevant in Germany as they are in sub-Saharan Africa.
The location of the monastery in the Black Forest mountains contributed to the special atmosphere of the seminar and the collaboration with Bernhard Nägele from Bildungshaus St. Ulrich created many connections on the topic of sustainability, organic farming and future-oriented economic cycles.
