Source: IÖW
As part of their award, all Green Talents are invited to return to Germany the year after they won the competition in order to conduct a research stay at a facility of their choice. During three months they have the opportunity to initiate or further develop a research project with their host.
Online games for the conservation of the environment or crowd-funding for the protection of yellow-tailed woolly monkeys – this is how Alexander Iscenco from Moldova and Bruno Monteferri from Peru combine science and practical approaches for sustainable development. The young scientists are currently guests at the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW). Here, the laureates of the „Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development“ will get to know the institute's interdisciplinary sustainability research and will enrich it with their ideas and experiences. They established first contacts when visiting the institute in the context of the Green Talents-Science Forum 2013.
Green Talents - International talents from ecological and sustainability sciences
With this competition, the BMBF invites 25 international talents from the ecological and sustainability sciences for a three months research stay in Germany every year. “With this outstanding initiative the BMBF encourages the worldwide exchange between young scientists and sustainability researchers in Germany. We are pleased that two of those talents chose the IÖW for their stay”, says IÖW-scientific Director and Green Talents jury member Thomas Korbun.
Bruno Monteferri is looking toward the fruitful exchange with the IÖW-employees: “The IÖW has an interdisciplinary approach to understand current and future challenges and works out sustainable solutions. It is a place that values and attracts critical thinkers to research collectively for a sustainable development. I wanted to meet exactly this kind of people to exchange ideas and learn from one another!”
Alexander Iscenco sees many parallels between his work and that of the IÖW as well: “In my projects I am trying to raise awareness on how we are dealing with our environment. Thereby, researching collaboratively is very important, but also a collective implementation is very important. The IÖW as a research institute works on a similar basis. That is why I have chosen the IÖW!”
Alexander Iscenco – Scientist and founder
The environment and nature resource economist Alexander Iscenco is one of the founders of the global open-source collaboration Qodemo, as well as strategy and research coordinator at the Moldovan Environmental Governance Academy (Mega). There he develops the unique gamified platform for youth to start living an eco-friendly life, collaborate in environmental research projects and ultimately launch green businesses in Moldova and world wide.
Bruno Monteferri – Environmental lawyer and activist
Bruno Monteferri has a law degree and a Master in Conservation Leadership by the University of Cambridge. He is Director of Conservamos por Naturaleza (CxN), a platform that supports voluntary conservation initiatives and promotes more sustainable lifestyles through collective actions and policies. CxN supported over 150 initiatives that protect more than 1.5 million hectare (3886 times the size of the Tempelhofer Feld) and provided 330,000 USD to grassroots conservation initiatives. In less than two years the platform has: become a collective project that gathers 600 volunteers and 14 team members. Their latest project preserves a 34 hectares habitat of the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, which are threatened with extinction.
