leonardo@humtec.rwth-aachen.de

Projekt „Leonardo“

Interdisziplinäre Lehre: Meeting Global Challenges

Rethinking resources:

Innovations to secure Europe's future

Registration

Registration takes place via RWTHonline and is possible from 15 March 2026 to 6 April 2026. Further information on the registration process can be found in the FAQs.

All students can register for one course. You can specify two preferences. To do so, please use the ‘high’ priority and the one directly below it. For instructions, please click here. If you have not been allocated a place at the end of the allocation process and are still interested in participating in a course, please contact sibel.yildirim@ipw.rwth-aachen.de.

(If you have any problems with registration, please contact Ms Sibel Yildirim (IPW) at sibel.yildirim@ipw.rwth-aachen.de, stating your matriculation number. If you have any general questions about the course, please contact the person listed below.)

We welcome your questions and comments. You can contact us here! (The ‘Leonardo’ project is also on Facebook and Instagram).

Click here to register

Academic Responsibility

Prof.in Dr. Ing. Elisabeth Clausen

Division of Mineral Resources and Raw Materials Engineering, RWTH Aachen

Prof. Dr. phil. Stefan Böschen

Chair of Society and Technology

Contact Person

Fynn Grünwald

fynn.gruenwald@leonardo.rwth-aachen.de

Schedulue

Start

14.04.2026

Zeit

Tuesday, 18:30 – 20:00 h

Ort

SFo 1

Description

Raw materials are part of our everyday lives in a self-evident way, but the sustainable procurement and use of these resources is a challenge. Contemporary societies have entered into a wide-ranging and complex dependency on raw materials.
The secure supply of raw materials, as well as secure access to raw materials, is therefore rightly seen as a major challenge. Furthermore, the development of a new world order raises particularly acute questions about the secure and sustainable supply of raw materials. Against this background, the crucial question arises: whether and, if so, how can Europe become independent of raw materials? The answer to this question depends on many factors, which we will explore in the module. These include, in particular, the complex dependencies involved in the extraction and use of raw materials, the criticality of raw materials, challenges to a secure supply of raw materials and, of course, the question of the sustainability of selected paths of raw material supply.
In order to make the strategic aspects of this topic tangible, the module is conducted in the form of a simulation game.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students are able to…

  • describe the importance of sustainable raw material extraction and explain the role of domestic mining against the background of a secure supply of raw materials.
  • describe different types of raw material extraction and distinguish them from each other on the basis of their respective requirements and framework conditions.
  • develop the social embedding of raw material extraction as a relevant question in a subject-specific way.
    discuss the background and elements of a raw materials strategy and put the raw materials strategy and other key points of the Federal Government’s raw materials policy into context.
    know and describe the interdependencies of various factors (economic, ecological, social) and be able to apply them to specific examples.
    reflect on the strategic questions of resource dependency in transformation processes.
  • understand the dynamics and framework conditions of debates in public-political spaces.
  • practise role-taking and consider forms of self- and external positioning in the process.

Program

14.04.2026

Introduction to the topic – course schedule. Important: online learning units will be provided to help students acquire basic knowledge. The face-to-face sessions will serve to deepen selected perspectives on raw materials policy and prepare for the simulation game.

21.04.2026

The individual perspectives on raw materials policy are presented: Perspective of the Ministry of Economics

28.04.2026

The individual perspectives on raw materials policy are presented: Perspective of civil society actor, PowerShift e.V.

05.05.2026

The individual perspectives on raw materials policy are presented: Perspective of economic actor, BDI

28./29.05.2026

As part of a two-day strategy workshop, we are working on a joint strategy for raw materials policy in the form of a simulation game from the perspective of the various stakeholders (business, science, civil society). The focus here is on securing the supply of metal raw materials in Germany/Europe.

16.06.2026

Parliamentary evening and summary: Strategies for German and European raw materials policy.

Procedure/Working method​

Depending on the course of studies, module and examination, credit points can be achieved through participation. If you would like to take an exam, please make sure beforehand how you can get credit for it in your degree program. Of course, you can also take exams without receiving curricular credit for them. Visit our FAQs for more information.

Certificate

– Participation (0 CP, certificate of attendance):
   for participation in the pitch at the  parliamentary evening.
– Protocol with reflection (2 CP, ungraded)
– Term paper/essay, 8–10 pages (4 CP, graded upon request)
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