Baden-Württembergisches Brasilien- und Lateinamerika-Zentrum

History

Since the early 1990s, a research partnership between Prof. Dr. Ernst Bayer (University of Tübingen) and Prof. Dr. Raimundo Damasceno (Universidade Federal Fluminense) has been in progress. After Prof. Bayer passed away in 2002, the efforts of this partnership took a new form  as a scientific conference, namely the 1st German-Brazilian Symposium. The first edition of this event took place in Tübingen, in 2003, addressing environmental issues from different scientific areas. Since then, the Symposiums have been held alternately every other year in universities from both countries. The following is a list of institutions that have hosted the event:

  • 2003 - University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany
  • 2005 - UFSM, Santa Maria (RS), and UNISC, Santa Cruz do Sul (RS), Brazil
  • 2007 - University of Freiburg, BW, Germany
  • 2009 - UFPR, Curitiba (PR), Brazil
  • 2011 - University of Stuttgart, BW, Germany
  • 2013 - UFOPA, Santarém (PA), Brazil
  • 2015 - University of Heidelberg, BW, Germany
  • 2017 - PUCRS, Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil
  • 2019 - University of Hohenhein, BW, Germany
  • 2022 - UFF, Niteroi (RJ) and UFRJ (Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil (the event was postponed one year because of the pandemic caused by the coronavírus)
  • 2024 - University of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg (BW), Germany

The events are organized by a specific team from each university relying on the support from the Baden-Württembergisches Brasilien-Zentrum (BZ) der Universität Tübingen. In the year 2022, the Brasilien-Zentrum, after 20 years of existence, expanded, incorporating more Latin American countries, and was renamed as Baden-Württembergisches Brasilien- und Lateinamerika-Zentrum.

The aim of the symposium is to exchange scientific ideas between Brazilian and German partners in the area of sustainability. Different topics such as energy, water, soil, air, biodiversity, agriculture,silviculture and health have been addressed, in addition politics, economy, resource management and the future of cities. The symposium consists of keynote lectures and short-talks, as well as workshops, discussions  and eventuelle includes technical visits.