Sound Knowledge about Challenges for our Future

Essen/Hanover - September 20, 2011. What do human rights count for in our globalized world? What role will religion play in the future? From "Made in China" to Chinese quality? These and other fundamental questions were discussed by experts attending "Our Common Future", an international conference which was held in Hanover and Essen in November 2010. This exchange of ideas and opinions is now bearing fruit: two collections of essays, one entitled "Research and Responsibility" and the other "Migration and Integration", bring together the papers presented by international experts from academia, business, culture, law, and politics.

Dr Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, is the editor of the volume "Research and Responsibility - Reflections on Our Common Future". In it, the authors of the essays call for greater inclusion of the world?s poorest countries in global economic development. In addition, they envision scenarios in which the world of the future is dominated by megacities. They discuss the importance of human rights in a globalized society, and analyse the cultural and social impacts of religious movements. A recurrent theme throughout the book is the question of the responsibility researchers have with respect to future developments.

The volume "Migration and Integration - Reflections on Our Common Future" is edited by Professor Bernhard Lorentz, President of Stiftung Mercator, and by the migration researchers Professor Klaus J. Bade and Professor Ludger Pries. The essays address migration dynamics against the background of social, economic, cultural, and political transnationalization and the increasing diversity of societies in countries of immigration. With its constantly varying patterns, conditions, and impacts, migration is a phenomenon of growing relevance throughout the world. The book focuses on three major issues: rural-to-urban migration to megacities and megaslums all over the world; the interplay between migration networks and development processes; and the migration of highly-qualified individuals.

Both collections of essays have been published in English by the Europäische Verlagsanstalt in Leipzig and are available in bookshops.
Wilhelm Krull (ed.)
Research and Responsibility 
Reflections on Our Common Future
2011, softcover, 384 pages
D 54.00 Euro / CH 62.00 Fr.
ISBN 978-3-863-930103
Date of publication: September 1, 2011

Klaus J. Bade/Bernhard Lorentz/Ludger Pries (eds.)
Migration and Integration -
Reflections on Our Common Future
2011, softcover, 256 pages
D 38.00 Euro / CH 44.00 Fr.
ISBN 978-3-863-930110
Date of publication: September 1, 2011

About "Our Common Future"
Ten years after the Expo in Hanover, and as the high point of the RUHR.2010 European Capital of Culture academic programme, Deutsche Messe, the Volkswagen Foundation and Stiftung Mercator hosted the international conference "Our Common Future" in cooperation with the state capital of Hanover and RUHR.2010. Over 200 speakers and 600 visitors attended the conference in Hanover and Essen. Further information, speeches, presentations and photographs can be found at www.ourcommonfuture.de.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Jens Rehländer
Director of Communication
Volkswagen Foundation
Phone: + 49 511 8381 380
E-Mail: rehlaender@volkswagenstiftung.de
Website: www.volkswagenstiftung.de

Marisa Klasen
Communication Manager
Stiftung Mercator
Phone: + 49 201 245 22 53
E-Mail: marisa.klasen@stiftung-mercator.de
Website: www.stiftung-mercator.de

 

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