— Welcome to DSSP —
The Doctoral Studies Support Program (DSSP) on “Environmental Peace and Development in Colombia” was launched in December 2017 with the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the Center of Development Research (Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung – ZEF) at the University of Bonn and the Institute of Environmental Studies (Instituto de Estudios Ambientales – IDEA) at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
The DSSP is financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD), within the framework of the “Sustainable Development Goals Graduate Schools” program, which aims at consolidating cooperation relationships between German higher education institutions and academic peers from countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, in order to make progresses in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations.
DSSP is one of seven international
DAAD SDG Graduate Schools.
Learn more about the
other SDG Graduate Schools.
— Latest News and Events —
06 de Febrero de 2025
We remember our dear colleague Nicolás Pérez
The Doctoral Studies Support Programme (DSSP) team remembers Nicolás Alexander Pérez Forero, who passed away on 3 February 2025. Nico was a great friend and companion, a valued colleague and an incredibly talented and dedicated researcher. His scientific contribution to our programme, his vision and his love left a deep impression on us. We will fondly remember his positive energy, his permanent commitment and his solidarity in every conceivable situation. What we are left with is not only a large void, but also wonderful memories of the intense time we were able to spend with him. We will miss him very much and will always carry him in our hearts. Our thoughts are with him, his family, friends and colleagues.
«Gracias en totalidad por la confianza, la sinceridad y el amor en familia. Por siempre» (Nico)
Photo taken by Laura Victoria Calderon in Tigre, Buenos Aires
August 23, 2024
Latin American Thought present in South Korea at the 31st International Congress on the Theory and Philosophy of Law 2024
Our scholarship holder, doctoral student Pablo González Delgado, recently participated in the 31st International Congress on Theory and Philosophy of Law 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, with a presentation entitled ‘The challenges of Critical Theory in Law: analysis from the epistemologies of the South‘ as part of the special workshop ‘The open veins of Latin America‘. Read about this academic and cultural experience here.
August 12, 2024
Beyond an academic exchange: Reflections from the participants. DSSP Travelling School Part 2.
The two weeks of the Travelling School were more than just an academic activity. At the end of the event, several participants expressed words of gratitude to the rest of the group, evidencing that this activity was inspiring and transformative as well. Although individual, the thoughts expressed had several connections. Read more about these reflections and their synergies by clicking here.
August 6, 2024
“Between two mountain ranges, through a valley: Between multiple views, an encounter”. DSSP Travelling School Part 1.
The Second Travelling School “Changing Territories: Sharing Ecological, Socio-economic and Cultural SSN Perspectives” was so much more than just an enriching academic activity. It was a truly personal and emotional experience for all of its participants. Read the first part of this exciting event here. The second part is coming soon!
August 5, 2024
The architect of emotions
Our scholarship holder, the doctoral student Carolina Saldarriaga Cardona, recently gave an interesting interview on Deutschland.de talking about her doctoral research on the role of emotions in the armed Colombian Conflict. You can read the interview here and look at a short interview on YouTube here.
August 1, 2024
Exploring Global South-South Connections: New ZEF Blog post
Some impressions of our experience in South-South-North collaboration with the Second Travelling School at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL) Campus La Paz are now available in the latest ZEF blog post, including the reactions of some participants. You can find it here.
June 13, 2024
Second DSSP Travelling School in UNAL Campus La Paz: “Changing territories: Sharing ecological, socioeconomic and cultural SSN perspectives”
The second Traveling School of our bilateral Doctoral Studies Support Program is coming soon! Base is Campus La Paz of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL). More information and the program here.
June 03, 2024
Extractivism, gender and peasant economies
Our scholarship holders Patricia Gómez-Nore, Giovanna Quintero-Arias and Diego David Aldana-Carrillo published their term paper entitled Extractivism, gender relations and peasant economies: A case study in the village of El Tomo in the municipality of Cumaribo (Vichada) in May in the journal Gestión y Ambiente of the Institute of Environmental Studies (IDEA) of the National University of Colombia. To read the full article go to our publications section (abstract in English, full article in Spanish).
May 27, 2024
Collaborative Networks and Pluriversal Dialogues in Bonn
From May 20-25, ZEF researchers and members of the DSSP coordination team Dr. Eva Youkhana and Dr. Dennis Avilés and two former postdoctoral fellows of our program Dr. Pablo de la Cruz and Dr. Yilson Barrera-Beltrán participated in the “Pluriversal Dialogues on Environmental Ethics: Decolonising Scientific Practice for Futures Beyond ‘Development’”, held at the Center for Life Ethics (CLE) of the University of Bonn and co-organised by ZEF. These ‘pluriversal dialogues’ are based on the idea of many and diverse worlds on the planet, each with different views and practices that need to be engaged in dialogues for sustainable and ethical futures. These dialogues were conducted during the week through workshops and presentations in different formats, deviating from the standard academic presentation format. Read more about the event and our participation here.
April 3, 2024
Visit of the Doctoral Studies Support Programme – DSSP to Argentina. 18 to 25 March 2024.
Our general coordinator, Dr. Eva Youkhana and two teammates from our partner IDEA in Bogotá, Laura Calderón and Nicolás Pérez recently visited Argentina to participate in the event “The challenges of the university system and internationalization“. They also visited some Argentinean academic peers in order to expand our collaboration networks, make our program known and strengthen ties with Argentinean institutions. Besides, they had the opportunity to experience the demonstrations on the 24th of March, the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice in the city of Buenos Aires. Read more about this experience here.
March 20, 2024
“Buen vivir”, Decolonial Feminism and Gender studies in ZEF Working Paper Series
Recently, two of our senior researchers and coordinators, Eva Youkhana and Dennis Avilés, published two Working Papers in the ZEF Working Paper Series. The papers explore the links between ‘Buen Vivir’ and Decolonial Feminism, as well as the role of Gender studies in development research. You can download and read these papers by clicking here.
March 14, 2024
Call for applications: Scholarship for a Research Stay at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn
The Doctoral Studies Support Programme (DSSP) offers a scholarship for a three-month postdoctoral research stay at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn. The deadline for applications has been extended to 22 April. Click here for further information
January 23, 2024
DSSP Annual Meeting 2023. Bogotá, Manizales, La Paz.
Over two weeks in November 2023 (14-24), part of the DSSP coordination team visited three different campuses of the National University of Colombia (UNAL) as part of the programme’s annual meeting and expansion of activities to other regions of the country. Bogotá, Manizales and La Paz were some of the destinations of the team.
October 24, 2023
When rivers that are the subject of rights sound, socio-environmental conflicts arise.
Recently, our Master’s Fellow Juan Diego Espinosa, political scientist, specialist in collective memory, human rights and resistance, Master in Environment and Development and researcher at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, published in Periodico UNAL some of his reflections on the process of implementing the landmark environmental judgment on one of the country’s most important rivers, the Atrato River, entering into the main discussions on the dialogue between public policies and judicial decisions.
Read the full article (in spanish) here.
Photo: Diego Núñez (2022) for the research “Assessment of the implementation process of the T-622 ruling of 2016 declaring the Atrato River as a subject of rights”.
October 5, 2023
Emotions, Cartographies and Territory in Bajo Atrato, Chocó, Colombia.
Thanks to the national and international mobility support offered by our programme, PhD student and scholarship holder Carolina Saldarriaga Cardona participated last July in the workshop “Affect, body and territory: In search of an Architecture of Place: Granada, Tetouan, Marrakech, Tamnougalt, Ouazarzate, Essaouira, Casablanca, Tetouan” with an oral contribution derived from her doctoral research “Why emotions are important for the territory? An approach to some cartographies of emotions in Bajo Atrato, Chocó. Colombia”. Please find here more information and some of Carolina’s reflections on her participation in this event.
August 28, 2023
Gender and Development from a Feminist Critical Perspective
On the 13th of May Dennis Avilés-Irahola, ZEFa and DSSP senior research gave a conference during the 75th Year Celebration of the UNAL campus in Manizales, Colombia about the relationship between gender and development from a feminist critical perspective. See the conference (in Spanish) here.
Photo: Dennis Avilés-Irahola
August 23, 2023
“Impressions of our stay”: Summer School 2023
At ZEF, the five researchers, all based in Colombia, namely María Camila Montalvo, Diego Quijano, Maria Marcela Lozano, Pablo González and Michael Weidemann, during July and July worked on their research topics and had the opportunity to share and exchange research insights, results and experiences with international colleagues from ZEF and other institutions in Bonn and Berlin. Click here to read their impressions in the ZEF’s Blog.
Photo: ZEF Presse
July 12, 2023
Research about Latinamerica from german speaking countries
In the framework of a study conducted by the Ibero-American Institute (IAI) in Berlin on the status and prospects of Latin American and Caribbean research in the humanities, cultural studies and social sciences in German-speaking countries, a workshop was held on Thursday 06.07.2023 that focused on the role of collaborative projects, Latin American-related doctoral programmes and thematically oriented transregional projects. DSSP and ZEF Senior researcher Dennis Avilés Irahola participated in panel 2: The role of international doctoral programmes for German-language Latin American and Caribbean research
June 22, 2023
Illegal Arson and civil resistance in Rosario, Argentina
Eva Youkhana, leader of our program in ZEF is spending a sabbatical term in Argentina working on different cases, one of them being the one of illegal arson and civil resistance in Rosario, Argentina, a joint work together with a doctoral student at the National University of Rosario, Francisco Preiti. Read more about this fascinating case on the ZEF Blog by clicking on the title.
Photo: Rosario by night. Credits: https://www.pexels.com/photo/city-of-rosario-in-argentina-at-night-13145259/
June 19, 2023
SDG Graduate Schools Alliance (SDG GS Alliance) – Midterm Conference
In the framework of the interdisciplinary activities of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Graduate Schools (GS) Alliance and as part of the internationalisation strategy of our program, together with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), we hosted the SDG GS Alliance – Midterm Conference on Digitalisation in Higher Education and Research in International Cooperation for Sustainability.
June 14, 2023
SDG GS Alliance Midterm Conference
DSSP, as part of the alliance of the seven SDG Graduate Schools (SDG-GS Alliance) together with DAAD celebrated from the 5th to the 7th of June a Midterm Conference on “Digitalisation in Higher Education and Research in International Cooperation for Sustainability”. The conference aimed, in general, to advance cross-regional reflection on the role of higher education, and in particular to reflect on the role of digitalisation of higher education and research in achieving the SDGs and strengthening international cooperation towards sustainability.
May 29, 2023
Kolumbientag BMBF – Colombia’s Day in Bonn
Dennis Avilés Irahola and Carolina Tobón Ramírez (DSSP researchers) participated on the 25 and 26 of May in Colombia’s Day in Bonn, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This event was intended to bring together scientists and experts working in Germany who are interested in cooperation with Colombia and to provide suggestions for future cooperation with Colombia. Dr Dennis Avilés participated as well in the panel discussion on the second day presenting the work of our program and the main aims of our collaboration with IDEA of UNAL.
January 27, 2023
New opinion article about Environmental Information in UN Periódico.
Recently an opinion article written by Nicolás Pérez was published in the UNAL Presse – UN Periódico. The article addresses the importance of environmental information and the urgent need to spread it. Nicolás is a junior researcher at DSSP and he is in charge of the Environmental Information Data Management System (SIAMI) in IDEA.
January 5, 2023
Support for the mobility of our academic community
As part of the activities in 2022, the DSSP supported the mobility of different members of our academic community: professors, students, and graduates of the Environment and Development Master Program in IDEA and our fellows from DSSP to national and international events. In the second half of 2022, the program supported six mobilities of our community: one professor, two conferences for one of our doctoral students, one member of the management team of IDEA, and three graduates from the master’s program. Here, you will find more information about these three presentations at international events.
December 1, 2022
Launching event for Data Management System in DSSP
One of the most important developments in the second phase of our program has been the Environmental Information System of the Environmental Studies Institute (SIAMI). SIAMI was officially presented on November 18th in the National University of Colombia in the framework of the Forum “Collaborative contributions for approaching information and environmental conflicts in Colombia”.
This development contributes to the aim of consolidating and extending information and data management systems and also looks to diminish the gap between academia and society in terms of data management and production of information.
More information click here
November 17, 2022
Call for application: Grants for the ASA Academia Global Program to support the project “Techniques and technologies for participatory monitoring of environmental conflicts in Colombia and Germany”
Closing date: December 11, 2022
The objective of the call is to identify young colombian profesionals, interested in research, to be part of the ASA Academia Global Program in the framework of the project “Techniques and technologies of participatory monitoring of environmental conflicts in Colombia and Germany”.
More info. click here
November 9, 2022
Forum: Collaborative contributions for approaching information and environmental conflicts in Colombia
Next Friday 18th November from 15 h – 19 h (CET) the Environmental Information System (SIAMI-IDEA) will be presented joint with the new platform of the Environmental Conflict Observatory (OCA). Both platforms have been enhanced within DSSP. It will be possible to be in presence in UNAL or to follow the launch through the YouTube Channel of IDEA. The event will be carried out in spanish.
October 29, 2022
First Travelling Summer School
From 21st to 30th September, in the framework of the second phase of the DSSP, a group of ten master students and professors from different campuses of UNAL participated in the First Travelling School in the Amazonia campus.
September 21, 2022
Call for application: Grants for DSSP Doctoral Students
Closing date: October 28, 2022
For doctoral students from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia who are eligible to be part of the Doctoral Studies Support Program (DSSP, in Spanish PAFD), offered by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn and the Institute for Environmental Studies (IDEA) of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. The selection of applicants will take place within the framework of a bilateral program of interdisciplinary studies on development, environment and peacebuilding.
September 19, 2022
Panel discussion “There is a future if there is truth” – Results and recommendations of the Truth Commission in Colombia.
“COLPAZ – Peace for Colombia”, “Center for Development Research (ZEF)”, “Nodo
Alemania de apoyo a la Comisión de la Verdad”, “Misereor”, “Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (giz)” and “Ibero-Club e.V. Bonn” invite you to an event on the occasion of
the report of the Colombian Truth Commission on the armed conflict.
August 31, 2022
Closing event of our project on “Participatory Monitoring of biodiversity
loss in Colombia: Alternatives for understanding and resolving
environmental conflicts” (ColPaMon).
The pilot project ColPaMon financed by BMBF was the perfect opportunity to plan a joint research proposal and future paths for addressing environmental conflicts, the role of science, and the perspective of the participatory monitoring process not just in Colombia but also in other regions of the world.
June 21-24, 2022
3rd Workshop on “Participatory Monitoring of biodiversity loss in Colombia: Alternatives for understanding and resolving environmental conflicts” (ColPaMon) in Bonn (ZEF).
Between May and November 2021 two workshops and three conferences were carried out and contributed to deepen in diverse monitoring experiences in territories of conflict. With these inputs, we have increased the knowledge about participative and communitary monitoring processes.
June 8-10, 2022
Eighth Annual Conference of the World-Ecology Research Network, Bonn, June.
Eva Youkhana, Dennis Aviles and Carolina Tobón (all researcher of DSSP programm) present their work.
The theme of the 2022 conference „ Working Environments, Unruly Natures” focuses on the concept and politics of work in the World-Ecology conversation. Work is understood here in its multiple and bundled dimensions. Program here