Press releases
Dec
19
2025
10:12
Frankfurt research team presents first comprehensive analysis on the distribution of the human-pathogenic parasite in Europe
Continuous spread: Raccoon roundworm detected in nine European countries
The raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis can cause severe diseases in humans, including fatal brain damage. A research team from the ZOWIAC collaborative project at Goethe University Frankfurt has now presented the first comprehensive analysis for Europe: The parasite is already established in nine countries and continues to spread. The study combines new investigations of 146 raccoons from Germany with a comprehensive evaluation of all available European data and has been published in the journal Parasitology Research.
FRANKFURT. While the spread of raccoons in Europe is often discussed, their companion tends to remain unnoticed: The raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis arrived in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century with the first raccoons from North America. Since their release or escape from fur farms, raccoons have spread uncontrollably across large parts of Central Europe – and their parasite with them. Germany is now considered the main distribution area for both species in Europe.
Dangerous companion of the raccoon
"This parasite can also infect humans and cause so-called larva migrans, in which migrating larvae damage tissues and organs," explains Prof. Dr. Sven Klimpel from Goethe University Frankfurt and the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre. Humans become infected by accidentally ingesting infectious eggs found in soil, water, or on objects contaminated with raccoon feces.
A research team from the collaborative research project ZOWIAC (Zoonotic and Wildlife Ecological Impacts of Invasive Carnivores) has now investigated how far the parasite has already spread in Europe.
Insidious life cycle
The parasite's life cycle is complex: Adult roundworms live in the small intestine of raccoons. Females produce up to 180,000 eggs daily, which enter the environment via feces. At so-called raccoon latrines – preferred defecation sites – the resistant eggs accumulate. In the environment, they develop into infectious larvae within two weeks under adequate temperature and humidity conditions, and can survive for several years.
Children particularly at risk
Human infection with the raccoon roundworm is called baylisascariasis. Anne Steinhoff from Goethe University Frankfurt and first author of the study explains: "If the larvae enter the central nervous system, the disease can have severe consequences. Due to frequent hand-to-mouth contact, young children are primarily affected." Most known cases occur in North America, the natural distribution area of raccoons and the roundworm. There, in most documented cases, the disease led to permanent neurological damage or even death.
"Furthermore, it is assumed that many cases remain undetected or are misdiagnosed due to non-specific symptoms," Klimpel adds. "In Europe, diagnosis in humans is further complicated by the lack of specific diagnostic testing options." Definitive diagnosis is currently only possible at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA and Canada.
First comprehensive Europe-wide analysis
The aim of the study was to provide a current overview of the parasite's distribution in Europe and to identify research needs. To this end, the team led by Klimpel and Steinhoff examined raccoons from Germany by necropsy and supplemented these new data with a comprehensive analysis of available scientific studies and infection data from Europe.
Of the 146 raccoons examined, 66.4 percent were infected with Baylisascaris procyonis: 77.4 percent in Hesse, 51.1 percent in Thuringia, and 52.9 percent in North Rhine-Westphalia. The study provided prevalence data for Thuringia for the first time. "The results show both an expansion of the roundworm's distribution area and stable infection occurrence at high levels in German raccoon populations," Klimpel explains. The analysis revealed that the roundworm occurs in wild raccoons in nine European countries, primarily in Central Europe – in some cases with extremely high infection rates. In three additional countries, infections were detected in raccoons or other animal species in captivity.
Spread coupled to raccoon populations
"The studies show a steady expansion of the distribution area in Europe. The distribution of the roundworm is linked to the steady spread of its definitive host, the raccoon, which now occurs throughout Europe," Klimpel continues. "The actual distribution of the roundworm is likely significantly underestimated due to insufficient or absent data collection."
Particularly concerning: The urbanization of raccoon populations increases the likelihood of contact between humans and contaminated areas. Three documented cases of baylisascariasis in Europe are known – all resulted in permanent visual impairment.
"The results of this study make it clear that further research on the raccoon roundworm in Europe is urgently needed – particularly in light of growing raccoon populations and their increasing adaptation to urban habitats," Klimpel concludes.
Publication: Anne Steinhoff, Robin Stutz, Anna Viktoria Schantz, Norbert Peter, Dorian D. Dörge & Sven Klimpel. Baylisascaris procyonis on the rise in Europe: a comprehensive review and analysis of occurrence data. Parasitology Research (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-025-08611-z
Picture download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/181720394
Caption:
[Collage] Raccoons, which are invasive in Europe, are often infected with the parasitic raccoon roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis (circle) (photos: ZOWIAC/Goethe-Universität).
[Intestine] During dissection in the laboratory, it becomes clear how severely the intestine of a single raccoon is infected with Baylisascaris procyonis (photo: ZOWIAC/Goethe-Universität)
Contact
Prof. Dr. Sven Klimpel
Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity
Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
+49 69 798-42237
klimpel@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
https://zowiac.eu/
Editor: Dr. Phyllis Mania, Science Editor, PR & Communications Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-13001, Fax 069 798-763-12531, mania@physik.uni-frankfurt.de
Dec
15
2025
15:25
Researchers at Universitaetsmedizin Frankfurt and Goethe University Identify Achilles’ Heel of the Oroya Pathogen Bartonella bacilliformis
Tropical Disease Oroya Fever: Elucidation of Disease Mechanism Opens Possibility for Novel Therapy
The bacterial pathogen Bartonella bacilliformis causes in South America one of the most dangerous infectious diseases known: the so-called “Oroya fever." Without antibiotic treatment, 90 percent of the infected patients will die, as the pathogen destroys red blood cells. Researchers at University Medicine Frankfurt have now clarified how the pathogen triggers this hemolytic disease. In laboratory experiments, they were even able to inhibit the destruction of red blood cells. The results open up a possible avenue for developing a novel therapy against this often fatal infectious disease.
FRANKFURT. The so-called “Oroya fever" is an extremely severe infectious disease, yet it is classified among the so-called neglected tropical diseases. This is because the infection occurs – so far – exclusively in high-altitude valleys of the South American Andes, primarily in Peru, but also in Ecuador and Colombia. As a result, it has received little attention from research and pharmaceutical development. Oroya fever is caused by the bacterium Bartonella bacilliformis, which is transmitted through the bite of infected sandflies of the genus Lutzomyia. The disease typically begins with high fever and massive destruction of red blood cells (erythrocytes), resulting in a severe hemolytic anemia. Without antibiotic treatment, Oroya fever is fatal in up to 90 percent of cases. Already 26 percent of the pathogens are resistant to the standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin, making antibiotic treatment significantly more difficult.
Lutzomyia sandflies are so far found only in South America. However, due to global warming and increasing travel, experts expect that the habitat of these sandflies could expand to other continents and even into Europe.
An international research team led by Professor Volkhard Kempf from Universitaetsmedizin Frankfurt and Goethe University has now generated and analyzed more than 1,700 genetic variants of the pathogen, identifying two proteins that Bartonella requires for the destruction of red blood cells: a so-called porin, which enables the exchange of substances such as ions with the environment, and an enzyme called α/β-hydrolase. Together, these two proteins are responsible for hemolysis. Structural analyses and targeted point mutations showed that the hemolytic activity of Bartonella bacilliformis strictly depends on the enzymatic integrity of the α/β-hydrolase. “Both proteins work together to destroy human erythrocytes and thereby provide an explanation for the characteristic clinical presentation of Oroya fever," explains Dr. Alexander Dichter, first author of the study. “This makes the α/β-hydrolase a suitable target protein for therapeutic agents."
In laboratory experiments, the researchers also identified an inhibitor – a phospholipase inhibitor – that blocks the activity of the α/β-hydrolase and can also prevent the hemolysis of erythrocytes. “If we succeed in selectively disabling the disease-causing effect of the bacterium in the human body in this way, we may have a therapy against which resistance is unlikely to develop," Dichter is convinced.
“Oroya fever is a serious public health problem in Peru and South America, killing hundreds of people every year without drawing attention from the rest of the world. The disease is poverty-related and belongs to the neglected tropical diseases, which receive far too little attention says Professor Volkhard Kempf, Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, which also hosts the German Consiliary Laboratory for Bartonella Infections (appointed by Robert Koch Institute, Berlin). “We are therefore all the more pleased that we have laid the foundation for developing novel therapeutic approaches for Oroya fever and thus made an important contribution to the fight against this deadly neglected tropical disease."
With the project's funding period now ended, efforts are underway to secure further financial support to continue the research, Kempf explains. “Now that we have elucidated the mechanisms of hemolysis, our next goal is to understand how the pathogen binds to erythrocytes, since adhesion of pathogens to host cells is always the first step in any infection. We were able to elucidate the adhesion mechanisms of a related pathogen, the bacterium Bartonella henselae, several years ago."
Background information
Detection of Bartonella bacilliformis: Tracing a Dangerous Infectious Disease (2023)
https://aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de/unireport/auf-den-spuren-einer-gefaehrlichen-infektionskrankheit/
Frankfurt–Lima Research Axis
The publication represents another success of a cooperation that has existed since 2019 between Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima. It is part of a series of publications within the German-Peruvian scientific network, in which several researchers from Lima have already worked in Frankfurt, and the Frankfurt team collected diagnostic samples in the endemic region during an expedition in 2022. As part of a follow-up project, Peruvian young scientist Luis Solis-Cayo analyzed new Bartonella bacilliformis patient isolates from Peru in 2024 and 2025 for their pathogenic properties.
The research was funded by the State of Hesse through the LOEWE Center DRUID (2018–2024), which aimed to advance research by universities in Hesse in the fight against neglected tropical diseases.
Publication: Alexander A. Dichter, Florian Winklmeier, Diana Munteh, Wibke Ballhorn, Sabrina A. Becker, Beate Averhoff, Halvard Bonig, Adrian Goldman, Meritxell García-Quintanilla, Luis Solis Cayo, Pablo Tsukayama, Volkhard A. J. Kempf: Porin A and α/β-hydrolase are necessary and sufficient for hemolysis induced by Bartonella bacilliformis. Nature Communications (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66781-x
Picture download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/181481095
Caption: Bartonella bacilliformis (blue) infecting human erythrocytes. Image: Juergen Berger, Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen, Germany, CC-BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Contact:
Professor Volkhard A. J. Kempf
Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene
Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel: +49 (0)69 6301–5019
volkhard.kempf@unimedizin-ffm.de
Homepage: https://www.unimedizin-ffm.de/einrichtungen/institute/zentrum-der-hygiene/medizinische-mikrobiologie-und-krankenhaushygiene
Bluesky: @goetheuni.bsky.social #BeatNTDs #TropicalDiseases
Linkedin: @Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Editor: Dr. Markus Bernards, Science Editor, PR & Communications Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel: +49 (0) 69 798-12498, bernards@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Dec
12
2025
15:39
DFG approves new Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt
Leadership and social cohesion
Our times are dominated by crises as well as social polarization and fragmentation. When it comes to strengthening cohesion, leaders play a special role: this is the fundamental thinking behind the interdisciplinary Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences approved today by the DFG. The “Goethe Leadership Centre", whose foundations lie in psychology and economics, will conduct research on this topic for an initial four years. In addition, the DFG announced that funding for the research unit QUAST, which focuses on predicting the properties of quantum materials, has been extended.
FRANKFURT. How
can leaders foster a sense of community among their staff and in this way
enhance their well-being, resilience and willingness to cooperate? This is the
question that researchers from psychology and economics will explore within the
project “Rethinking leadership: Identity leadership as a group-oriented tool
for addressing the challenges of our times" / “Goethe Leadership Centre –
Centre of Advanced Studies", the DFG's new Centre for Advanced Studies in the
Humanities and Social Sciences at Goethe University Frankfurt. The proposal for
the center, which will be hosted at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften in
Bad Homburg, was submitted by Rolf van Dick, Professor of Social Psychology,
and Michael Kosfeld, Professor of Business Administration, Chair of Organization
and Management.
“The new Centre for Advanced Studies in
the Humanities and Social Sciences hits the nerve of our times. Social
polarization, such as we have observed for several years, calls most urgently
for a holistic approach. That the world of work plays an important role for
society overall is clear to see. I am very pleased that Goethe University
Frankfurt is laying the scientific foundations for the right course of action,"
says Professor Enrico Schleiff, President of Goethe University Frankfurt.
“We are very proud that our proposal has
been approved. Our idea of building a bridge between psychology and economics
was evidently very convincing. We want to pave the way for a new definition of leadership
in a polarized world – with evidence-based instruments for more social cohesion,"
says Professor Rolf van Dick, who will initially act as the center's
spokesperson, adding that it is the first Centre for Advanced Studies in the
Humanities and Social Sciences ever approved by the DFG in the field of
psychology.
That leadership style shapes the identity
of a group as such seems almost trivial, explains van Dick. But it makes a big
difference whether a person in a position with more responsibility simply tells
others what to do or whether they successfully convey the message: “I am one of
you, I represent the group and our shared goals." This concept of “identity
leadership" needs, however, to be extended: a person does not become an
integrative leader solely by influencing their own group and realizing group
interests, as the example of Donald Trump, President of the United States, clearly
shows.
Together, van Dick and Kosfeld want to
develop a concept for the research program over the next four years. The aim is
to (further) develop a model of identity leadership that integrates findings
from both disciplines as well as the concepts of “common good" and “shared
leadership". The center will also evaluate identity leadership methods in a
cross-cultural comparison. “Here, we also want to also use qualitative approaches
and ask open-ended questions. We might find completely different types of
identity leadership in other cultures," says van Dick.
The center can build on extensive
preliminary work by the two main applicants. On the psychology side, Rolf van
Dick, one of the most-cited scholars at Goethe University Frankfurt, and his
team examined the concept of identity leadership around the world within the
global GILD network and showed the connection between identification and
innovation, trust and reduced burnout. During the coronavirus pandemic, he was
able to corroborate that a leadership style based on identity leadership encouraged
citizens to act in a manner commensurate to such pandemic conditions. On the
economics side, the experiments conducted by Michael Kosfeld have shown how
sharing a common goal improves cooperation within a team. “Michael Kosfeld and
I know that we work well together. Although we use different methods and have
different ideas, we are both investigating the same phenomena," says van Dick.
The new center includes a fellowship
program, with Rudolf Kerschreiter and Alex Haslam as permanent fellows, 20 further
senior and junior fellows as well as 60 shorter-term guest stays by visiting
researchers. To support young scientists, two postdoctoral positions, one
tenure-track professorship and half the fellowships are earmarked for early
career researchers. The plan is to hold a workshop once a year and a conference
every two years. The researchers involved will update each other about current
questions and results in a weekly forum. The intention is to start recruitment in
the summer of 2026. The first fellows will be invited to Frankfurt in the fall/winter
of 2026.
Slightly over €3 million are available for
the first funding phase. Van Dick and Kosfeld have already begun contemplating a
second funding phase, for which a proposal would be due after four years:
“Embedded in Frankfurt's research landscape with the Center for Leadership and
Behavior in Organizations (CLBO) and the Frankfurt Laboratory for Experimental
Economic Research (FLEX), we would widen the spectrum to include topics such as
AI, digitalization and demographic change," proposes Rolf van Dick.
Centres for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and
Social Sciences are a special type of funding instrument specifically tailored to the
working methods used in those disciplines.
The format
enables particularly distinguished researchers to collaborate for the purposes
of further developing a research topic in the humanities and social sciences in
a certain location.
Participants have
an opportunity to perform intensive research themselves. A fellows program for visiting
researchers from Germany and abroad, who are invited for periods of up to two
years and maintain contact with the center after their stay, is also foreseen. The
total funding duration is up to eight years.
The research
unit QUAST, led by its
spokesperson Professor Maria Roser Valentí from the Institute for Theoretical
Physics at Goethe University Frankfurt, has been granted an extension for
another funding period. As a consortium of scientists from Germany, Austria and
Switzerland, QUAST investigates how the properties of new materials can be
predicted more accurately. The researchers focus on the development of
so-called many-body theory in order to achieve reliable quantitative
predictions of topological and dynamical quantum phenomena in solids. The
properties of many novel quantum materials, such as the recently discovered
Weyl-Kondo semimetals, are based on spatiotemporal electronic correlations
whose many-body nature is difficult to describe mathematically. QUAST aims to
address this challenge through coordinated theoretical method development and
concerted experimental efforts. The Research Unit is funded by the DFG together
with the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and the Swiss National Science Foundation
(SNSF) within the framework of the D-A-CH cooperation.
Download portraits of the two spokespersons Rolf van Dick and Michael Kosfeld: Link einsetzen.
Caption:
Michael Kosfeld and Rolf van Dick have successfully submitted a proposal to the
DFG for a Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences. (Both
photos: Uwe Dettmar)
Further
information
Professor Rolf van Dick
Department of Psychology
Goethe University Frankfurt
Telephone: +49(0)69-798-35285
Email: van.Dick@psych.uni-frankfurt.de
Prof. Dr. Roser Valentí
Institut für Theoretische Physik
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
Tel. +49 69 798 47816
valenti@itp.uni-frankfurt.de
https://for5249.org/
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Referentin für Wissenschaftskommunikation, Büro für PR & Kommunikation, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Telefon 069 798-13066, Fax 069 798-763-12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
Dec
9
2025
11:47
Team of archaeologists from Goethe University Frankfurt returns from excavation in Iraq with new insights into the period 1,500 years ago
Evidence of interfaith coexistence in the Near East
It seems that Christians and Zoroastrians in the fifth century lived peacefully side by side in what is today Iraq. A team of archaeologists from Goethe University Frankfurt was able to corroborate this during three years of research work.
FRANKFURT. The team of archaeologists led by Dr. Alexander Tamm (FAU, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Prof. Dirk Wicke (Institute of Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt) has returned from its field research in northern Iraq without artefacts, but with many new insights. Over the past months, the ten-strong team has examined a building complex at the Gird-î Kazhaw site in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (Picture 1). The structure, which was first discovered in 2015, was probably built around 500 AD. Its purpose had, however, so far been unclear.
Five square pillars made of quarry stone, partly plastered with white gypsum, had suggested that it might be a church (Picture 2). Geophysical investigations had revealed more walls underground, so that this “church" was initially believed to be part of a larger monastery. In particular its relationship to a settlement mound directly adjacent, with a small Sasanian fortification dating from the 5th to 6th century AD, is still unexplained. This fortification is overlaid by an Islamic cemetery.
This year, the team from Frankfurt began its excavations in late summer in two areas: a surface excavation around the pillars (Area A) and an exploration of the Islamic cemetery (Area B), with a focus on anthropological documentation. They uncovered brick walls and floors made of rammed earth and later also of stones and broken bricks relatively close to the surface in Area A. The discovery of further stone pillars, which points to the existence of perhaps a three-nave structure with a central nave running in a north-west to south-east direction, as already evidenced in early Christian religious architecture in this region, was a huge surprise. The size of the central nave, presumably 25 by 5 meters, is unusual (Picture 2). Whether the adjacent rooms indeed form monastery buildings will, however, call for further research in coming years.
The discovery, also in Area A, of a room with a floor made of neatly laid, fired bricks, with the outline of a semicircle at its north-western end (Picture 3) was equally surprising. Apart from the architecture, the main indication that the buildings were used as a Christian meeting place is the discovery of decorated pottery depicting a Maltese cross (Picture 4). The early dating for a church building into the fifth to sixth century AD is not unusual in the region, as there are comparable structures in northern Syria and northern Mesopotamia. (An international workshop on this topic took place in Frankfurt on October 24–25, 2025.)
Particularly relevant to research on religious neighborhoods, such as will be conducted in the future as part of the LOEWE Center “Dynamics of Religion" approved from 2026 onwards, is the proximity to the Sasanian fortification described above. Should the two buildings indeed date from the same period, this would suggest that Zoroastrians, followers of the religious founder Zarathustra, and Christians lived side by side at that time. Establishing when exactly the people in Kazhaw converted to Islam, as evidenced by the Islamic graves (see Picture 5), is also part of the research agenda.
The excavations in Kazhaw are part of a larger research project by Dr. Tamm and Prof. Wicke on rural communities and settlements in the Shahrizor Plain in northern Iraq. To date, archaeological research has paid little attention to rural and small towns; it has mostly focused on the capital cities of ancient empires. The latter were undoubtedly the engine for cultural development in antiquity, but it was the rural regions that created the economic basis for the supply of goods. Without this basis, cultural life in the cities would have been impossible. Work in Kazhaw will continue next year and focus more on the economic infrastructure, this time using archaeometric methods, in particular archaeobotany, zoology and forensic anthropology. The aim is to study what life was like within the excavated walls.
Picture download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/181309490
Captions:
Picture 1: Excavation site Gird-î Kazhaw in the foreground; the modern village of Bestansur in the background.
Picture 2: Brick pillars in Area A.
Picture 3: Room with brick floor in Area A.
Picture 4: Pottery fragment with carved, cross-shaped decoration.
Picture 5: Excavation of a grave in Area B.
Image credits: DFG project Rural Settlements of the Sasanian Period, Tamm/Wicke
Publication (prior to excavation): Dean Mahmoud, Alexander Tamm, Dirk Wicke, Sasaniden im Nordirak. Vorläufiger Bericht zu den Ausgrabungen in Gird-î Qalrakh 2023–2024, in: Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft Nr. 157, 2025; 117 bis 159
Further information
Professor Dirk Wicke
Institute of Archaeological Sciences
Goethe University Frankfurt
Telephone: +49(0)69-798-32317
Email: wicke@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Referentin für Wissenschaftskommunikation, Büro für PR & Kommunikation, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, Telefon 069 798-13066, Fax 069 798-763-12531, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
Dec
5
2025
14:30
Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space supports CoFoKids Junior Research Group at Goethe University Frankfurt
How Young People Want to Move Around
“From the 'Backseat Generation' to Pioneers of the Mobility Transition?" – Under this thought-provoking title, a new junior research group at Goethe University is exploring how children and adolescents are mobile in public spaces, what perspectives they bring to shaping urban street design, and how they can be involved in transportation transformation processes. The young people themselves will play a central role in the research
FRANKFURT. The project, which is now getting underway, focuses on the mobility of young people, particularly children and adolescents aged six to 15. Human geographer Sina Steele from Goethe University and Heike Marquart from the Institute of Transport Research at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) successfully secured funding for the junior research group titled “From the 'Backseat Generation' to Pioneers of the Mobility Transition? Mobility Practices, Spatial Design, and Participation of Children and Adolescents as Co-Researchers for a Social-Ecological Transformation of the Region" (CoFoKids) from the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). The group, which consists of a team of three doctoral students and two post-docs, has been awarded €3.2 million for the next five years to investigate how mobility research and planning focused on children and adolescents, as well as their involvement in transformation processes, can advance the mobility transition and contribute to sustainable and resilient urban-rural regions for all residents. The research is specifically designed to actively involve young people as co-researchers within a transdisciplinary living lab operated together with two Frankfurt schools as well as various local and regional stakeholders. It is this group, after all, that knows best what is needed for their generation to become part of their region's social-ecological transformation.
Sina Steele has been passionate about mobility for quite some time. Having studied geography, she completed a master's degree in human geography with a thesis on walking and spatial conflicts on Frankfurt's Schweizer Straße. Her doctoral research, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, focused on car-reduced neighborhood developments and how the planning visions of these mobility concepts align with the expectations and practices of residents. Now she is turning her attention to younger generations and their needs. The 34-year-old researcher firmly believes: “What children and adolescents want for public spaces ultimately benefits everyone."
Before exploring the wishes and ideas of children and adolescents, the project will first examine how the complex mobility of children and their families is organized – or rather, how families manage their everyday travel. This is the focus of the first of three project areas, each led by a doctoral researcher. Under the theme “Mobility Practices," the project will investigate how children and adolescents are mobile in their daily lives and how active and independent mobility can be encouraged, both on the way to school and for leisure trips. “Of course, decisions are not made in isolation; they depend on transportation options and personal circumstances," Sina Steele explains. They are also influenced by the behavior of the adults involved.
The second focus area, “Planning Practices," examines the ideas children and adolescents have about the design of the routes and spaces they use and how these ideas can be better integrated into planning processes. This area is led by project partner Heike Marquart, a transportation researcher at the German Aerospace Center in Berlin. Finally, the third focus area, “Participation Practices," will develop formats to better involve children and adolescents in mobility transition processes.
“We want to understand how transformation processes in transportation, as well as life events or social influences, impact the mobility of young people and how their voices can be amplified in these processes," says Sina Steele. She emphasizes that there is no need to start from scratch, as in recent years especially, significant progress has been made in this field. As such, young people were involved in developing Frankfurt's pedestrian strategy, and so-called “Schulstrassen" featuring temporary restrictions on or closures for motor vehicle traffic have been expanded across the city. Steele hopes to build on these and similar initiatives to create synergy effects. Events like the city's Mini Mobility Festival have shown that children often prioritize the quality of public spaces: less trash, reduced traffic, or safer crossings. Taking all suggestions seriously and carefully considering them, according to Steele, would constitute a true paradigm shift. Transferring the findings from Frankfurt to the Rhine-Main region and Berlin is also part of the plans.
The Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is funding this project as part of its “Research for Sustainability" (FONA) strategy under funding code 01UU2506A.
Further Information
Dr. Sina Steele
Institute for Human Geography
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 798-35174
E-Mail steele@geo.uni-frankfurt.de
Editor: Dr. Anke Sauter, Science Communication, PR & Communications Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel. +49 (0)69 798-13066, sauter@pvw.uni-frankfurt.de
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