First Professor at the IZNE

The International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) is gaining momentum. Prof. Dr Günter Klein has been appointed the first professor of this institute.

In organisational terms, Prof. Dr Günter Klein is a member of the Department of Natural Sciences, but his office is located in the building of the International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE) on the Sankt Augustin campus. He wants to draw attention to the combination of issues which our University’s departments are already dealing with.

According to Klein, “Environment and Health” is a possible topic for tuition; another possible tuition focus, with a view to achieving sustainable resource management, is “Water and Energy”. For instance, it is important to deal with the question of how to organise water supply management in growing conurbation areas.

Prof. Klein has been dealing with water issues since he studied marine research in Bremerhaven. Furthermore, he studied, among other things, biology and environmental protection in Bochum. Klein was a research assistant at the Dortmund Institute for Water Research (IfW), undertook research into the drinking water supply in Africa and Central America and headed the Department of Drinking Water Hygiene in the former Federal Ministry of Health in Berlin. After having worked for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN University in Bonn in various leading positions, Klein built up the initiative office “Water Strategy” at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which he headed until he changed to our University.

• International Centre for Sustainable Development (IZNE)