It was a pleasure to be invited to attend the final conference of the BMBF young research groups on global change in Bonn on 11th & 12th July 2022!

Within the two-day conference, there were 12 exciting presentations of different young research groups from leading German research institutions presenting the essence of their innovative work in the last five years covering the following major areas:
• thawing permafrost landscapes and the resulting risks;
• reducing heat risks through urban greening by means of parks;
• promoting sustainable consumption behaviour through gaming;
• recycling of chemical waste as a means of carbon transition;
• socially acceptable coal phase-out;
• consumption trends of middle classes in middle-income countries;
• energy transitions in Africa;
• novel methods for predicting sea ice change;
• financial markets failures and investor behaviour implications for emission reductions;
• addressing adaptation barriers, loss and damage;
• minimizing carbon footprint through decentralized production systems.

The presentations examined not only the corresponding research topic as a global warming issue. They also explored possible creative solutions for instance in the form of sustainability promotion in consumption behaviour through video gaming.

Despite difficulties and constraints with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the projects have reached their final stages.
To share the excitement, Matthias presented TRANSCENDs current status, first results, and impressions from our fieldwork in Mumbai and introduced us all as team members. In fact, we were the only ones who managed to attend the event with the whole group!

The Q&A section after each presentation was interactive and attentive. Numerous relevant questions had been raised about the content of the presentations. The conference host had to cut short the Q&A sections in order to let other presentations to be taken place within schedule.

Apart from the presentations, the conference provided sufficient occasions (e.g., long coffee breaks and lunch & dinner sections) for networking within the group. I had the chance to talk to some of the presenters in person about the content of their projects and some background stories. For me it was a key experience to gain more insight and consciousness in the topic and other research projects on global warming!