transform.NRW
Symposium

Creating sustainability
through art, culture, and design.

How can art, culture, design and science together shape transformative relations for a socio-ecologically sustainable transition?

The transform.NRW symposium on November 13 and 14, 2025 at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn brings together actors from art, culture, design, science, business, politics, municipalities and civil society to exchange and develop diverse perspectives on shaping a socio-ecological transformation.

The aim is to open space for interdisciplinary discussion and networking to foster new alliances. At the center is the strengthening of a collective sustainability literacy. For the first time, good practices, methods and tools from the transform.NRW collection will be made accessible to a broad audience.

After the first two years of the project, we will use the symposium to come together, consolidate insights, refine questions, and to open and expand our network and set the course for the second half of the project.

Impulse from:

Jacob Sylvester Bilabel
Green Culture Anlaufstelle, Project Lead
Since 2023, Jacob Sylvester Bilabel has been in charge of setting up the federal government's central Green Culture contact point in Germany. In summer 2020, he launched the Action Network Sustainability in Culture and Media, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The network has since grown to include over 50 of the most important cultural institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As part of a consortium, he also developed the nationally standardised, culture-specific climate assessment standards KBK & KBK+ as well as the free, usable tool of the German Conference of Ministers of Culture. In 2009, Bilabel founded the pan-European Green Music Initiative as a cross-industry think tank. The non-profit initiative now brings together more than 350 festivals and 500 venues across Europe, reaching more than 3 million young Europeans.

Daniela Jacob
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) - Director GERICS
Daniela Jacob is Director of the Climate Service Centre Germany (GERICS), Chair of the Climate Council of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and of the German Committee for Sustainability Research in Future Earth (DKN) and a member of the Earth League. She is an honorary professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg and a Fellow of the International Science Council (ISC). She was coordinating lead author of the IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C and lead author of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (Working Group II). Expertise includes regional climate modelling, climate services, adaptation to climate change, sustainability.

Lars Jessen
Co-founder PlanetNarratives; producer, director, screenwriter; expert in narrative climate communication)
Lars Jessen is a producer, director and author. He has made award-winning cinema and television films such as ‘Dorfpunks’, ‘Fraktus’ and ‘Mittagsstunde’ and has directed over 100 episodes of popular series such as ‘Tatort’, “Polizeiruf” and ‘Mord mit Aussicht’. He has been honoured for his work with the Grimme Prize, the Golden Camera and the German Television Prize, among others. As co-founder of PlanetNarratives, he develops transformative narrative formats - most recently realised in the improv comedy ‘Micha denkt groß’ together with Jan Georg Schütte.

Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth
Co-founder of PlanetNarratives; media lawyer, script consultant, climate story consultant, expert in climate communication
Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth holds a doctorate in law and specialises in copyright, film and media law. After working at the FFA, Freshfields and most recently for 6 years at UFA Fiction, she now focusses on narrative climate communication. As a climate story consultant and co-founder of PlanetNarratives, she combines media science, psychology and storytelling-based expertise to support filmmakers in transformative storytelling, among other things.

Xiaomeng Shen
Vice-Rector of the United Nations University in Europe (UNU-VIE)
Director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Prof. Dr. Shen Xiaomeng has been United Nations University (UNU) Vice-Rector in Europe and Director of UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) since 2020. She facilitates collaboration with UN stakeholders, shapes policy, and leads academic programs. Prof. Shen is the chief academic and administrative officer of UNU-EHS and oversees its direction, organization and programmes. Her recent research interests include human-nature relationship, indigenous knowledge and a policy shift from GDP growth to wellbeing.

Bianca Herlo
Lucerne University, Design Film Art, Head of the ‘Transformation Design’ Competence Centre
Bianca Herlo is Professor of Eco-Social Design and researches issues of social and digital participation, gender equality, digital justice and the potential of design for socio-ecological transformation. She is Chair of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF) and a founding member of the international Social Design Network. Since 2022, she has co-hosted the podcast *Purple Code. Intersectional feminist perspectives on digital societies*.

Salons, panels and labs incl.:

Nina Hensel
Founding member of Performing for Future – Network for Sustainability in the Performing Arts, Climate Protection Manager and Freelance Theater Educator
As a founding member of Performing for Future and transformation manager for sustainable culture, Nina Hensel is committed to social and ecological transformation in art and culture. She is climate protection manager for five cultural institutions in Schleswig-Holstein and a freelance theater educator. As part of Performing for Future's Arts in Action AG, she designs and organizes large-scale artistic-activist campaigns throughout Germany, such as the *Theater Relay Race for the Climate and 7,000 Seedlings – Scenes for Tomorrow.*

Tanja Samrotzki
Freelance journalist and moderator
Tanja Samrotzki is a freelance journalist and moderator. As parliamentary correspondent for several German broadcasting stations, she reported on political events in Bonn and Berlin for about 20 years. Her deep knowledge of political subjects, stakeholders and structures informs her lively moderation of various formats: from conferences to debates – about any subject worth discussing.

Christina Dath
Deputy Managing Director, NRW KULTURsekretariat
Christina Dath is a cultural manager specializing in networks, change, and interface management. As administrative director of the NRW KULTURsekretariat, she helps establish framework conditions for cooperation. She is the initiator and project manager of the öKoKom program, which strengthens sustainability development in cultural administrations. The resulting project initiative, Circular.Culture, works on establishing a materials management system for North Rhine-Westphalia.

Havîn Al-Sîndy
Artist and professor at the Braunschweig University of Art
Prof. Havîn Al-Sîndy lives and works as a visual artist in Kurdistan and Germany. She studied art, biology, and chemistry and is currently a professor at the Braunschweig University of Art. Her artistic practice ranges from performance art to sculpture, painting, and moving images. At its core is the tension between visibility and invisibility. Her working method is process-oriented, collaborative, and intergenerational, particularly in her exchanges with young people, aiming to make suppressed perspectives audible and visible—not as representation, but as part of a shared practice.

Eva Eiling
Researcher in the Sustainable Production and Consumption Division, Innovation Labs Research Unit, Wuppertal Institute, transform.NRW
Eva Eiling is a researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy in the research division Sustainable Production and Consumption in the Innovation Labs research unit. Her research focuses on the intersection of art, culture, design, and sustainability, on real-world laboratory research, and on transformation design. In the transform.NRW project, she contributes content across all areas.

Julia Lohmann
Associate Professor in Contemporary Design, Head of Contemporary Design Major, Department of Design, Aalto University, Finland
Julia Lohmann is a designer, researcher and educator who explores the ethical and material dimensions of our relationship with nature. She is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Design at Aalto University, Finland, and Honorary Royal Designer for Industry in Regenerative Design. In 2013, she founded the Department of Seaweed, a community exploring the sustainable development of seaweed as a design material with a regenerative eco-systemic impact. Lohmann promotes an empathic, more-than-human-centric mindset and uses design to connect knowing, caring, and acting across disciplines. Julia holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art and contributes to research consortia linking design, biomaterials, science, and ecology. Her work has been recognized internationally.

Martina Fineder
Professor of Design Theory and Design Research at the University of Wuppertal, Co-Project Leader of transform.NRW
Prof. Dr. Martina Fineder is a design and cultural scientist focusing on socially and ecologically motivated design and consumption practices and transformation research. She is interested in commons logic, interpersonal design, and enjoys creating experimental laboratory exhibitions for inter- and transdisciplinary research projects. She is currently part of the management team of transform.NRW.

Jochen Stiebel
General Manager, Neue Effizienz gemeinnützige GmbH
Jochen Stiebel sees himself as a catalyst and deliberately seeks connections between disciplines that have rarely collaborated before or have failed in previous attempts. He is particularly interested in how art, culture, and design can open up new pathways toward sustainability – for example, in scenography. These fields have the potential to spark innovation and create profound experiences that enable completely new forms of engagement.

Franziska Stelzer
Senior Researcher, Division Sustainable Production and Consumption, Research Unit Innovation Labs, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy
Dr. Franziska Stelzer’s work focuses on transformative and transdisciplinary research in sustainability-oriented real-world laboratories.

Anica Luggen-Hölscher
Researcher for sustainable production and consumption in the innovation labs research unit at the Wuppertal Institute, transform.NRW
Anica Luggen-Hölscher is a researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy in the research division Sustainable Production and Consumption in the Innovation Labs research unit. Her focus is on socio-ecological transformation, health and climate change, as well as real-world laboratory research. In the transform.NRW project, she is involved in cross-sectoral content work.

YAYA
Represented by artist Gîn Bali
Crew, community, association – YAYA is committed to inclusive cultural spaces, especially for FLINTA and BI-POC individuals. They organize concerts, workshops, panels, and safer spaces for exchange, visibility, and empowerment. Gîn Bali represents the Yaya Crew at the transform.NRW symposium. Gîn Bali is a Kurdish-German guitarist, music educator, event organizer, DJ, community organizer, and producer. In addition to international performances, she promotes diversity in the music scene as a moderator on panels and in workshops on guitar, songwriting, and DJing. She also develops awareness concepts for various cultural institutions and gives workshops, training courses, and consultations in this area to promote inclusive and safe spaces in the cultural landscape.

Katja Kremser
Research assistant in the field of design theory and design research, University of Wuppertal, transform.NRW
Katja Kremser works as a research assistant at the Chair of Design Theory and Design Research at the University of Wuppertal. In the transform.NRW project, she is involved in both coordination and content across different areas and, as a strategic designer, deals with questions of the impact of design in the context of sustainability transformation.

Monika Lichtinghagen-Wirths
Managing Director, Bergisch Waste Management Association; Project Manager at :metabolon
Monika Lichtinghagen-Wirths has been managing director of the Bergisch Waste Management Association for 23 years. Her goal: to shape and implement circular thinking, resource conservation, and innovation in society and the economy. Together with the Technical University of Cologne, she heads the :metabolon research community and the :bergische Rohstoffschmiede (Bergisch Raw Materials Forge), projects that stand for value creation and innovation on a supraregional level.

Eva Rudolf
Social designer, storyteller, creative mind at co-do! lab GmbH
Eva is a designer with 20 years of interdisciplinary experience in culture, medicine, science and sustainability. She uses design and design-based methods (storytelling, human- and planet-centred design, etc.) as tools for change and scaling. At co-do lab, she develops experience-based, interactive learning formats to make the future tangible. Her work emphasises holistic and strategic perspectives, which she also applies as a senior designer at CSCP.

Christoph Rodatz
Assistant Professor of Media Aesthetics and Public Interest Design, University of Wuppertal
Since 2016, Christoph Rodatz has focused on public interest design—both as a practitioner and as a lecturer in the master's program of the same name. Public interest design is dedicated to the idea of actively shaping society through design, taking responsibility for the community, and strengthening interest in the common good. The focus is on the question: How can we use design to participate in the transformation of our society—and allow as many people as possible to participate in it?

Ruth Gilberger
Chairwoman, Montag Stiftung Kunst und Gesellschaft
In accordance with the mission statement of the Montag Foundations group, “Acting and creating with social responsibility,” Ruth Gilberger is responsible for implementing projects that enable everyone to participate in art and culture. She is convinced that joint and collaborative artistic projects can provide impetus for the equitable development of our society. This requires interdisciplinary collaboration with partners from the fields of art, culture, design, and science.

Felix Fastenrath
Research assistant in the field of design theory and design research, University of Wuppertal, transform.NRW
Felix Fastenrath studied design and sociology and is currently pursuing his doctorate at the Chair of Design Theory and Design Research at the University of Wuppertal on the topics of socio-ecological design, just transitions, and sustainable everyday and consumption practices. He is involved in a wide range of areas within the transform.NRW project.

Helga Kühnhenrich
Head of Division, Construction Research and Innovation, Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
Architect Helga Kühnhenrich has headed the Research and Innovation in Construction department at the BBSR for 10 years. Together with her team, she implements the federal program Zukunft Bau (Future of Construction) and deals with fundamental issues relating to the transformation of the construction industry. She attaches great importance to promoting interaction between research, practice, and society in order to enable new alliances and spaces for experimentation in practice.

Andreas Kalweit
Professor of Manufacturing and Materials Science, University of Wuppertal
Designer, engineer, and professor Andreas Kalweit combines craftsmanship, technology, and design in his work. After completing a vocational training program, he studied mechanical engineering and industrial design and worked for many years as a design engineer, designer, and entrepreneur. As the owner of a design agency, he oversaw numerous industrial projects for international companies. He is also the owner of a long-established family-run manufacturing business and, together with his wife, initiated and oversaw the transformation and innovation processes for a sustainable and resilient corporate structure.

Kim Huber
Researcher for sustainable production and consumption, Wuppertal Institute, transform.NRW
Kim Huber is a researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy in the Sustainable Production and Consumption Department in the Innovation Labs research area. Her focus is on transition design, empathy, and embodiment in the context of sustainability communication, as well as on real-world laboratory research. In the transform.NRW project, she is involved in both coordination and content across all areas.

Thomas A. Geisler
Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts / Design Campus, Dresden State Art Collections
Thomas A. Geisler has been involved in teaching and research on design theory and history at institutions including the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he laid the foundations for the Victor J. Papanek Foundation. He is co-founder of Vienna Design Week, curated contributions to the Vienna Biennale and London Design Biennale, and was artistic director of the Ljubljana Design Biennale BIO26: Common Knowledge in 2019. After positions at the MAK Vienna and Werkraum Bregenzerwald, he took over as director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum Dresden. There, in 2020, he established the DESIGN CAMPUS as a research and development platform for the museum in Pillnitz Castle, focusing on transformative and sustainable design.

Bettina Milz
Director of the Pina Bausch Center under Construction
Bettina Milz studied Applied Theater Studies in Giessen and subsequently worked as a dramaturge, curator, lecturer, and author. From 1988 to 2022, she supervised numerous projects in the field of dance and theater, including the founding phase of the Institute for Theater, Film, and Media Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, dramaturgy at Theater Erlangen, and management of the TanzRegion 97 project. She was also Managing Director of the Young Opera at the Stuttgart State Opera. Before her current position as Director of the emerging Pina Bausch Center in Wuppertal, she headed the Department of Theater and Dance at the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Angela Kesselring
Co-Founder & Managing Director, FUTURES BEING MADE GmbH
Angela Kesselring is co-founder and managing director of FUTURES BEING MADE. Her focus is on strategic stakeholder communication and social impact strategies for companies, cities, and institutions. In her work, she brings together science, politics, and civil society to jointly develop effective responses to the climate and transformation issues of our time.

Lars-Christian Uhlig
Head of Division IP 7 – Project Development and Management Urban Programmes, Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
Lars-Christian Uhlig, a trained architect, heads the Federal Competence Center for International Building Exhibitions and is responsible for urban development funding programs that are characterized by their exemplary nature, special significance, and high quality standards. In addition to financial support, the center also provides expert advice and assistance from a competent and motivated team to stimulate innovation in local communities and urban development practices in Germany.

Moritz Ahlert
Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Architecture, TU Berlin & Kiosk of Solidarity
Dr. Moritz Ahlert is an architect and researcher at the Institute of Architecture at TU Berlin. His research combines urban development, mapping, and urban interventions as tools for co-creative design. In the Transforming Solidarities project, he initiated the Kiosk of Solidarity with ConstructLab and curated Spaces of Solidarity (DAZ) – as contributions to a socially and ecologically transformative urban practice.

Carolin Baedeker
Deputy Head of Department and Co-Head of the Innovation Laboratories Research Unit at the Wuppertal Institute and Project Lead at transform.NRW
Dr. Carolin Baedeker studied geography at the University of Cologne. From 1998 to 2000, she worked as a freelancer at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy GmbH and has been a research associate there since 2000. In 2006, Dr. Baedeker became Deputy Head of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Department at the Wuppertal Institute. Since 2019, she has been Co-Head of the Innovation Labs research area. Her work focuses on real-world laboratory research, user-integrated sustainability innovations (living labs), socio-ecological transformation, product-service development, the sharing economy, cooperation and networks, education for sustainability, transformative learning, climate change and health, and the interconnection between art, culture, and sustainability.

Sustainability by Design
Folkwang University of the Arts, funding project: Sustainability by Design (SBYD)
SBYD researches climate-neutral and resource-efficient ways of living and producing, and transfers knowledge from sustainability research into society and the economy through design. The ability of design to make theories and abstract concepts tangible—and to transfer them into everyday life—is used to explore, discuss, and test these theories and ideas in practice. SBYD involves various target groups and cooperation partners in a range of formats, including workshops, international symposia, exhibitions, an “Artist/Designer in Residence” program, and support for entrepreneurial projects.

Reckless Sleepers
Performance collective (Choreographer: Leen Dewilde, Dancers: Annika Kompart, Fiammetta Ruggiero, Barbara Kaufmann, Alexa Moya Panksep, Leen Dewilde)
Reckless Sleepers, UK/Belgium fuses theatre, dance, and visual art into bold, concept-driven performances. Their 14 European artists craft playful yet profound works, using objects, structures, and architectural scenography. Prioritising residencies over touring, adapting pieces like A String Section, into larger-scale performances with local dancers, which they will perform this time at the Bundeskunsthalle.

Bernd Draser
Program director and Senior Consultant Sustainability at ecosign Institute for Sustainable Future
Cultural scientist Bernd Draser has been teaching at ecosign in Cologne since 2004. As a senior consultant, he supports organizations in implementing their sustainability strategies. As a university lecturer, he heads the “Sustainable Design” and “Sustainable Design Management” degree programs (B.A. and M.A.). He has given numerous lectures and published extensively on the subject. In 2022, his book “Sustainable Design: Origins, Future, Perspectives” (together with Elmar Sander) was published.

Bettina Paust
Head of the Cultural Office of the city of Wuppertal, art historian, and cultural manager
As a former museum director and art historian, Dr. Bettina Paust's work focuses on exhibitions and publications on artistic positions that deal with sustainability issues, especially in the performing arts. Her work currently focuses on working and networking strategies between administration, politics, and artists for the implementation and feasibility of sustainability goals, especially in the independent scene.

Dunja Karabaic
Member of the executive board of ökoRAUSCH Think Tank e.V.
Since the founding of the ökoRAUSCH Festival for Design & Sustainability in 2008, Dunja has been one of the First Movers in the sustainability scene. As a graduate of the Hamburg University of Fine Arts, she develops projects and formats as a project designer and cultural manager that always focus on the creative side of sustainability. Dunja is also active as a curator, speaker, and presenter, true to the motto “Doing is like wanting, only more extreme.”

Ines Rainer
Project manager at creative.nrw
Ines Rainer worked for several years as an editor at a television production company and has produced various formats for WDR. In 2012, she co-founded the non-profit Foodsharing, where she was active on the board until she co-initiated the start-up The Good Food in 2014. She has been supporting the creative.nrw team since 2017 and has been project manager since August 2022. Her work focuses on strengthening and networking players in the creative industries in NRW, thereby unlocking cross-sector potential for sustainable transformation.

Geske Houtrouw
Consultant for Transformation and Sustainability at the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts
Building on her expertise in architecture, communication, and sustainability management, she raises awareness of sustainability in the skilled trades and establishes networks to put transformation into practice. With their creative and technical expertise, skilled trades make an important contribution to living and experiencing sustainability in everyday life—both in the circular economy and in the practical and creative development of new solutions.

Erica von Moeller
Professor of Audiovisual Media Design at the University of Wuppertal, director, author, and project lead at transform.NRW
Director, author, and professor Erica von Moeller studied both fine arts and film. Since 2001, she has been making films in various genres, such as the feature film *“Leben mit Hannah”* (Living with Hannah, 2006), the feature film *“Fräulein Stinnes fährt um die Welt”* (Miss Stinnes Travels Around the World, 2009), the historical television film *“Sternstunde ihres Lebens”* (The Moment of Their Lives, 2014), and the transmedia narrative *“2052 – Geschichten von Morgen”* (2020–25). As a media artist, she develops exhibition projects at the intersection of moving images, space, and sound. Since the summer of 2011, she has been teaching at the University of Wuppertal as a professor of audiovisual media.

Christa Liedtke
Head of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Department at the Wuppertal Institute, adjunct professor of Sustainability in Design at the University of Wuppertal, and project lead at transform.NRW
Prof. Dr. Christa Liedtke is head of the Sustainable Production and Consumption Department at the Wuppertal Institute. Since 2022, she has been an adjunct professor for sustainability in design in the department of Industrial Design at the University of Wuppertal. Her work focuses on research strategies in the field of sustainable production and consumption, evaluation of resource efficiency and sustainability of and in value chains, user-integrated product-service development, and sustainable and circular design.

Malene Saalmann
Research assistant at the Department of Sustainable Product Design and Development at Kassel Art Academy
Malene Saalmann works at the Laboratory for Sustainability Issues at the University of Kassel (SDG+ Lab) on the topic of transformations in work and business. In addition, she has been pursuing a doctorate since April 2025 on the topic of strategic design methods and sustainable consumption practices in the field. As a system designer by training, she uses product development to explore the relationship between people and objects with a focus on consumer behavior and the design process.

Mareike Gast
Professor of Industrial Design with a focus on Materials, Technology, Sustainability at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design
Mareike Gast has been Professor of Industrial Design with a focus on materials, technology, and sustainability at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle since 2016. Her teaching and research focus on the development of (more sustainable) material interactions and transformation processes, as well as on exploring the potential and risks of biotechnology. She is project manager of BurgLabs, a platform for creative and interdisciplinary research in the fields of sustainability, biotechnology, and robotics.

Janine Steeger
Director ecosign Academy for Sustainable Design
Janine Steeger is a journalist with 20 years of television experience in front of and behind the camera. Since 2015, she has specialized as a presenter and speaker on all topics related to sustainability. As the new director of ecosign, she has made it her mission to raise awareness of the academy for sustainable design. Janine is an initiator, co-founder, advisory board member, and author. In all of her work she is driven by the question of how we can enable as many people as possible around the world to live a good life.

Fabian Hemmert
Professor of Interface and User Experience Design, Dean of the School of Art and Design at the University of Wuppertal
Design, art, and culture can be understood as the opposite of anesthesia: while anesthesia numbs the senses, design opens them up. It helps us to feel things that we could not feel before—be it the drama of climate change, the fragility of ecosystems or opportunities for solidarity. Art can irritate, move, and open up new perspectives. Culture creates the space for resonance in which these experiences are shared and interpreted.

Tilo Schulz
Artist, author, curator
Tilo Schulz has been represented in national and international exhibitions since the 1990s. Since 2021, Schulz has been accompanying Pradtke GmbH in Bochum in its transformation process, overseeing the renovation of the workspaces and providing essential impetus for a new corporate culture. Since 2022, Tilo Schulz has been part of Werkstatt Morsbroich in Leverkusen, which aims to rethink the museum and baroque ensemble from an artistic perspective and to establish it sustainably in the urban community.

Preliminary Program

Thursday, November 13, 2025

When?	What?	Who, how & with whom?
12:00 – 13:00	ARRIVAL	Check in at the desk
13:00 – 13:15	WELCOME	Welcome address by Eva Kraus, Director of Bundeskunsthalle, and the transform.NRW team
13:15 – 13:35	LECTURE: Prosperity in Times of Transition	Introduction by Christa Liedtke (Wuppertal Institute)
13:35 – 14:00	INTRODUCTION: transform.NRW – Shaping Sustainability through Art, Culture and Design	Network and platform release with Martina Fineder (BUW), Carolin Baedeker (WI), Andreas Pawlik and Bernhard Poppe (dform, Vienna)
14:00 – 15:00	AGORA Part I: Daring Transformative Relations	Keynotes by Jacob Bilabel, Bianca Herlo, Daniela Jacob, Xiaomeng Shen, Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth, Lars Jessen
15:00 – 16:30	AGORA Part II: Salons Salon 1: Societal and Cultural Relations Salon 2: Human–Environment Relations Salon 3: Economic and Institutional Relations	Open discussion forums with keynote speakers, actors from art, culture, design and sustainability sciences, and symposium participants
16:30 – 17:00	Coffee, Meet & Greet
17:00 – 17:30	AGORA Part III: Results and Outlook	Moderated by Bernd Draser and Janine Steeger (ecosign)
17:30 – 18:30	ARENA for Good Practices	Short presentations from the transform.NRW network, curated with Ines Rainer (creative.nrw)
18:30 – 19:30	FILM LECTURE: Designing with the Earth	Filmmakers and designers Metahaven on questions of geo-design (Amsterdam and Design Academy Eindhoven)
19:30 – 20:30	DANCE PERFORMANCE	Reckless Sleepers, curated with Bettina Milz (Pina Bausch Center)
20:15 – 21:00	Dinner & Networking
ab 21:00	Interactive NETWORKING EVENT	with DJane Gîn Bali member of YAYA – crew, community, association for more inclusive cultural spaces
ganztägig	transform.NRW PLATFORM	User test station by dform, Vienna
ganztägig	INTERVIEW BOX	transform.NRW film team interviews symposium participants

Friday, November 14, 2025

When?	What?	Who, how & with whom?
09:30 – 10:00	ARRIVAL	Check in at the desk
10:00 – 10:15	WELCOME	Welcome by the transform.NRW team
10:15 – 10:30	IMPULSE: On the Role of Art, Culture and Design for the Sustainability Transformation	Input by Manfred Fischedick, President of the Wuppertal Institute
10:30 – 11:00	FILM PRESENTATION Good Practices	With director Erica von Moeller (University of Wuppertal)
11:00 – 12:00	LABS & PANELS	Panel: Narratives and Stories of Success – Imaginative and narrative practices for change Lab: How to transform – Methods, tools and literacy for socio-ecological transformation
11:00 – 12:00	EXHIBITION TOURS	Curator-led tours through the current exhibitions at the Bundeskunsthalle WEtransFORM – The Future of Building and Expedition Ocean.
12:00 – 13:00	Lunch & Networking
13:00 – 14:00	ARENA for Good Practices	Short presentations from the transform.NRW network, curated with Ines Rainer (creative.nrw)
14:00 – 15:00	LABS & PANELS	3. Networks of Transformation – Allies, collectives, accomplices Labs and Workshops of Transformation – Formats for collaborative research, learning and experimentation
14:00 – 15:00	EXHIBITION TOURS	Curator-led tours through the current exhibitions at the Bundeskunsthalle WEtransFORM – The Future of Building and Expedition Ocean.
15:00 – 15:15	Coffee, Meet & Greet
15:15 – 16:15	LABS & PANELS	5. Places of Transformation Museums, theaters, kiosks and other cultural venues 6. Demanding, Promoting, Changing Funding instruments and policies for art, culture, design and sustainability
16:15 – 16:45	DANCE PERFORMANCE: Tree Tree	Kenji Shinohe, curated with Bettina Milz (Pina Bausch Center)
16:45 – 17:00	CLOSING & OUTLOOK	Farewell by the transform.NRW team
laufend	EXHIBITION TOURS	Dialogical and guided visits to current exhibitions at Bundeskunsthalle: WEtransFORM and Expedition World Oceans

About the Program:

Agora: Daring Transformative Relations

At the heart of the first day is the Agora: an open dialogue format with keynote impulses and moderated conversation spaces, the “salons”. Together, participants will negotiate the fundamental prerequisites and promising starting points for a new interplay between interpersonal relations, human–nature relations and the economic–institutional conditions that shape them. Impulses for the discussion will come, among others, from Prof. Dr. Xiaomeng Shen (United Nations University), Prof. Dr. Bianca Herlo (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts), Jacob Sylvester Bilabel (Green Culture Contact Point), Dr. Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth and Lars Jessen (Planet Narratives).

Labs and Panels: Thematic Spaces for Discourse, Networking and Co-Creation

On the second day, labs and panels open spaces for in-depth engagement — for example on narratives, networks, labs or sites of transformation. In a variety of dialogue and working formats, practice and theory, concept and application meet. This creates opportunities to share stories of success, pass on methods, and jointly discuss and develop funding strategies.

Arena for Good Practices: Examples for a Sustainable Future

On both days, ideas converge in short pitches: projects that each seek answers and solutions in their own way yet share a common goal — to make life within planetary boundaries possible in a respectful way. The spectrum ranges from participatory cultural initiatives to resource-saving product ideas and artistic interventions.

Artistic Performances and Film Lectures

The program is complemented by artistic-performative formats and perspectives that add an additional sensorial-aesthetic layer to the topics discussed before.

Venue:

In 2025, the Bundeskunsthalle is ringing in the year of ecological transformation. In this context, an international exhibition project on sustainable architecture and urban development is also taking place in Europe, in which transform.NRW is involved as a partner:

WEtransFORM. Zur Zukunft des Bauens
June 6, 2025 to January 25, 2026, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn

Current News

transform.NRWSymposium

Impulse from:

Jacob Sylvester Bilabel

Daniela Jacob

Lars Jessen

Nicole Zabel-Wasmuth

Xiaomeng Shen

Bianca Herlo

Salons, panels and labs incl.:

Nina Hensel

Tanja Samrotzki

Christina Dath

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