Schwarze is a MSc student at the Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development programme

Schwarze joined the Master’s program at the SRC to deepen her skills in resilience thinking for sustainability. She’s fascinated by the complexity of social-ecological systems and seeks insight on how academia can support sustainability transformations.

She has a Bachelor's degree in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her courses ranged from natural sciences like chemistry and ecology to social sciences like sustainability management and ethics, to name a few. Through her studies, she gained an interdisciplinary perspective on sustainability issues. Elective seminars gave her the opportunity to focus on co-creation of knowledge and collaboration with actors outside the university. In addition to theoretical courses,she participated in a transdisciplinary project on an urban protected area and attended a UN conference on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. During an integrated exchange year, she studied at Karlstad University (Sweden) and deepened her understanding of global warming issues, social-ecological systems and landscape ecology. In her Bachelor's thesis, she conducted a comparative case study analysis on transdisciplinary research projects with Sami reindeer herders, with a particular interest in methods and research ethics.

Besides science, Schwarze is passionate about travelling. For example, she lived in Costa Rica for two years and worked in a reforestation project as well as a political peace centre that supports Indigenous and local rights movements. She was also involved in intercultural learning through volunteering with AFS Intercultural Programs and Kolping. She worked as a tutor for exchange students, led workshops on intercultural education in Germany and organised a work camp in Costa Rica.

Awards and achievements

• Scholarship from the Heinrich Böll Foundation.