IKG Blog

From September 17th to 19th, 2025 the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University hosted the International Conference on Conflict and Violence Research 2025. Over the course of three days, international scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds shared their research and discussed insights from empirical studies, on-the-ground work with local partners and discussed the challenges, tensions but also promises of inter- and transdisciplinary approaches within Conflict and Violence Research in Times of Climate Change.

Two outstanding keynotes provided the frame for these discussions after the opening of the conference by the university’s rector Prof. Dr. Angelika Epple. In the opening keynote, Prof. Dr. Karie Marie Norgaard from the University of Oregon, USA, discussed on “Global Violence and Climate Change: Themes and a Case Story of Indigenous led Success from the Klamath River Basin” how indigenous communities in the US are affected by climate change and what role human-made infrastructure play for that. By presenting a community-led resistance project that ultimately led to the bringing down of four dams in the Klamath River Basin, Dr. Norgaard shed light on possible pathways for environmental transformations and forms of collaboration of local communities and researchers.

Prof. Dr. Susan Elliott from the University of Waterloo, Canada, highlighted in her keynote on “Women, water and wellbeing in the face of climate change: what’s violence got to do with it?” the second important strand of the conference’s topic: Through presenting research findings on climate change-related developments on the African continent, she discussed gendered violence and how e.g. water-contamination contributes to bringing about those gendered forms of violence and related conflicts, ultimately affecting the wellbeing and safety of women globally.

These two keynote speeches were complemented by three panel discussions: a public panel on “What happens when the climate changes? Perspectives on conflict and violence research“, with Prof. Dr. Michał Bilewicz, Prof. Dr. Tereza Capelos, Prof. Dr. Karen Devries, Prof. Dr. Daniela Fuhr and IKG’s scientific director Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick discussing how climate change affects the topics of research and in what way interdisciplinary work can succeed in providing more adequate research data on a multifaceted phenomenon such as conflicts and violence in times of climate change; a panel taking on the university‘s research focus on “Conflicts & Inequalities: Challenges in a transforming society” with Dr. Jule Adriaans, Prof. Dr. Simon Kühne and Prof. Dr. Martin Kroh highlighting the importance also of more conceptual debates within the field; and a panel on “Opening up for more voices: African perspective on climate change”. Here, Prof. Daniel Chigudu, Dr. Faustine B. Masath, Dr. Peter Sanful and Dr. Pamela Wadende shared their perspectives and highlighted insights from their research and collaboration with local actors and (international) researchers.

It was the latter panel that also concluded the conference and pointed to the importance of more and other voices to be listened to - by researchers in the Global North and policy makers and civil society alike.

Overall, the panel discussions together with the keynotes and the ten symposia opened up the space for in-depth discussion of the various facets of conflict and violence research in times of climate change.

With this, the conference succeeded in shedding light on conflict and violence research from an interdisciplinary and global perspective, especially against the background of climate change. Topics touched upon included migration, social and political conflicts around resources, climate change-infused inequalities, gender- and health-related aspects of violence, discoursive shifts and narratives around climate change as well as nature-human-relations more generally.

The IKG was delighted to welcome international researchers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including psychology, sociology, geography, political sciences, public health and health sciences, education sciences, history, anthropology, economics, environmental sciences, and legal studies. Scholars came from all career stages and contributed to a lively, mutually inclusive, supportive scholarly community in challenging times.

We wholeheartedly thank the participants for coming to Bielefeld and contributing to the success of the conference. A conference that took place in an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect - so important and yet so remarkable in these challenging times, both nationally and globally.