Ecopolis München (2017–2019)
The Ecopolis project produced two exhibitions showcasing the final projects of students in the Environmental Studies Certificate Program of the RCC. The 2019 exhibition refers back to and includes what went into the 2017 exhibition. Both exhibitions were turned into virtual exhibitions and were made available on the Environment & Society Portal.
Ecopolis München: Environmental Histories of a City (25–27 June 2017)
Ecopolis München 2019: Environmental Stories of Discovery (12–20 October 2019)
Project-Related Essays on Seeing the Woods:
- The History of Munich’s Waste Management by Christian Schnurr
- The History of Munich and Its Loam by Julia Schneider
Water, rocks, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria: together with human inhabitants, they have shaped the Bavarian capital. The student exhibition Ecopolis Munich sets out in search of the past, present, and future relations between humans and their Munich environments.
Who knew that potatoes were once cultivated in the English Garden, or that mushrooms still grow in the urban underground? Does the Isar make Munich, or does Munich make the Isar? What does it mean that Munich is built on gravel? Why is it that one may not light candles around the Fröttmaning Church? And is there “democratic green” in the Olympiapark?
The stories in the exhibition ask to whom the urban world belongs, as well as how we want to design the urban environment in the future.
Students formed multidisciplinary groups and prepared exhibits and presentations for the 2019 event in collaboration with the course leaders from the Rachel Carson Center. Mentors and lecturers include experts from different disciplines including Dr. Nina Möllers (program manager BIOTOPIA); Prof. Dr. Christof Mauch (environmental historian and Director of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society), and many others.
In 2019, the RCC’s Environmental Studies Certificate Program has been awarded the LMU Munich’s Prize for Innovative Teaching for their work on the interactive and interdisciplinary exhibition "Ecopolis Munich: Environmental Stories of Discovery." The exhibition is the end result of a rich and diverse seminar taught by lecturers from different disciplines, as well as close cooperation between students and professional designers and curators. The Program received the prize money of 10,000 Euro for future developments and presented the project at the University’s official end-of-year award ceremony. The focus of the event in 2019 was recognizing the importance of high-quality and accessible higher education.
Both exhibitions were accompanied by a catalogue that offers glimpses from behind the scenes, revealing what went into the exhibition and asking questions about the future of Munich's environment. The catalogues can be downloaded from the Environment & Society Portal.