IIASA is proud to announce that its Director General, Hans Joachim (John) Schellnhuber, has been awarded the prestigious German Cultural Policy Prize 2024. The award, presented by the German Cultural Council, recognizes his exceptional and long-standing contributions to sustainability and climate protection.
Schellnhuber, who is renowned as one of the world’s leading voices in climate research, has served as a climate advisor to the German government, and also contributed as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
In their statement announcing the award, the jury of the German Cultural Policy Prize highlighted Schellnhuber’s rare ability to communicate the impacts of climate change clearly and accessibly, as well as his commitment to linking science with culture.
"By choosing this year's winner of the German Cultural Policy Prize, the German Cultural Council is emphasizing how closely the topics of culture and sustainability are linked: without culture, there can be no sustainability. We are delighted that we can honor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, one of the most renowned scientists in the field of climate research, who always takes the cultural sector into account in his research and is particularly interested in regenerative architecture," said Olaf Zimmermann, Managing Director of the German Cultural Council.
Schellnhuber responded to the announcement with gratitude, stating: "Culture has the power to generate compelling narratives when analytical intelligence meets aesthetic creativity. Such narratives can even serve as visions for the sustainable development of societies. The New Bauhaus movement, which I helped to start, is an example of this. It brings together artists, architects, designers, engineers, and natural and social scientists to develop blueprints of a built environment that is more inclusive, more beautiful, and climate-positive. This was explicitly recognized by the Deutscher Kulturpolitikpreis."
The award ceremony took place at the Berlin State Library on Wednesday, 11 December 2024 and featured opening remarks from Achim Bonte, Director General of the Berlin State Library, and Christian Höppner, President of the German Cultural Council. This was followed by a laudatory speech by author and moderator Eckart von Hirschhausen.
Related interviews and media coverage
In an interview with the German broadcaster WDR3, Schellnhuber said that building with organically renewable materials could stop climate change and, for the most part, even turn it around.
Listen to the full interview (in German).
Frank Schmid from Germany's Radio 3 sat down with Hans Joachim Schellnhuber to talk about his award and what cultural policy has to do with climate protection.
Listen to the full interview (in German).
In an interview with Germany's ARD1 Audiotech, Shellnhuber spoke about the award, how we as a civilization are driving our own downfall, and narratives abround tipping points. He said: "We humans are evolutionaryly very clever to act correctly in situations. In the short term, locally, we have enormous intelligence. But it is incredibly difficult for us to think long-term and in large dimensions."
Listen to the full interview (in German).
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