International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW)

Carina Betz

Nature and Sustainable Development

Carina Betz has been working as a research associate at IZEW since 2023. She studied biology and education in Würzburg as well as education for sustainable development in Eberswalde. In her final thesis she dealt with the relationship between children and nature based on Hartmut Rosa's resonance theory and was a research assistant at the HNEE in the project „Nature Experience Spaces in Big Cities using the example of Berlin“.

Research focus

Culture of sustainability at universities

Career

  • Since January 2024, independent orchard educator and educational officer.
  • Since April 2023, research assistant in the project “KuNaH – Universities in Society – Real-life Experiments in Transformative Learning and Research Processes for a Culture of Sustainability at Universities” (https://uni-tuebingen.de/de/240915)
  • From August 2020 to April 2023, educational support in the Federal Voluntary Service of the NABU Regional Office North; environmental education work and NP seminar house and assignment location management on Hallig Langeness at the Wadden Sea Conservation Station e.V.
  • From 2017 to July 2020 Master's degree at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development: Regional Development and Nature Conservation with a focus on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Degree: Master of Science. Thesis: You (Nature) - Me (Child) and Our Connection: Nature Resonance Spaces in Large Cities. A survey of children's relationship with nature in the Kienberg nature experience area in Berlin.
    • Research assistant in the project: Nature experience areas in large cities using Berlin as an example.
  • From 2013 to 2017: Studied education with a minor in biology at Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Thesis: Promoting sustainable action – opportunities and barriers to environmental education approaches.
    • Student assistant in the teaching and learning garden at the Würzburg Botanical Garden.
    • Student assistant in the project: HumanCare

Teaching

  • Summer semester 2024: Experiencing sustainable development in the cultural landscape (advanced seminar Studium Oecologicum – together with Simon Meisch)
  • Winter semester 2024/25: Understanding, shaping, and teaching sustainable development (NWT seminar – together with Prof. Thomas Potthast and Maike Weynand)
  • Summer semester 2025: Experiencing sustainable development in the cultural landscape (advanced seminar Studium Oecologicum – together with Simon Meisch)

Publications

  • Blog article: 2023: Betz, Carina: Children, nature, and their relationship. How open windows of resonance create a connection to the world. https://uni-tuebingen.de/de/255371 (last accessed on 10/01/2025)
  • Holst, J., Fritz, H., Nölting, B., Singer-Brodowski, M., Albiez, M., Betz, C., Lang, D. J., Meyer, S., Ober, S., Parodi, O., Schaltegger, S., Scheiding, C., Weynand, M., & Potthast, T. (2024). Culture of sustainability at universities: From goal to normality. DUZ Wissenschaft & Management (02/2024), p. 20-23.
  • Blog article: 2025: Eilan, Ulmer; Betz, Carina; Weynand, Maike; Potthast, Thomas: Wellbeing@Uni-Tübingen – Well-being as a building block for sustainable development at universities. https://uni-tuebingen.de/de/284184 (last accessed on 10/01/2025)
  • Singer-Brodowski, M. & Holst, J., Fritz, H., Nölting, B., Löde, V., Schmitt, J., Betz, C., Lang, D. J., Ober, S., Parodi, O., Schaltegger, S., Scheiding, C., Weynand, M., & Potthast, T. (2025). “Cultures of Sustainability at Universities” – a consolidated working understanding of the KuNaH joint project. http://dx.doi.org/10.17169/refubium-48838