Recalling the past – the cultural act of remembering – is crucially important for the formation of cities, their identity, and that of their inhabitants. It is an urban practice that involves a process of narrating and scrutinizing history and making it present in urban spaces. Remembering history is a form of participation and activism, which can be seen to revive the past, generate and shape public life, criticize historical constructs and misconceptions, and negotiate new ideas and identities. As part of a panel at the conference „Urbane Praxis. Neue für kulturelle Infrastrukturen“ [Urban praxis. New contexts for cultural infrastructures] we talked to four scholars and/or curators – Marie-Charlott Schube, Pablo Santacana López, Julia Kurz und Marianna Liosi – about their perspectives on remembering via the negotiation processes occurring in urban spaces.

Climate change poses significant risks to the food system, directly impacting food security and disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. This study examines the critical role of local municipalities in planning for the effects of climate change on food systems through the case of the New River Valley, located in Southwestern Virginia. This study utilizes a qualitative participatory research design, including semi-structured interviews and focus groups with both food system and municipality stakeholders in the New River Valley region. Guided by Stroh's Systemic Change Process, the study seeks to advance climate adaptation planning in the region through the implementation of the first stage of the process, called "building a foundation for change." This stage involves identifying key stakeholders, getting them involved in the process, and establishing common ground. Through facilitation, stakeholders build capacity for systems thinking with a focus on collaboration. The findings of this study will inform the ongoing efforts of the Blacksburg Sustainability Department in planning for climate change transformation at a local level. This research is significant in that it addresses the gap in the literature around how municipalities are planning for climate resiliency in the food system, provides insight into the use of interviews and focus groups to bridge the creative tension gap in collaborative problem-solving through a systems thinking approach, and informs policy decisions made by local government. This study's findings have the potential to inform community-engaged efforts to plan for climate change while envisioning a more resilient and fair food system. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / In this study, researchers explore how climate change affects our food system and the steps local communities can take to address these challenges, with a focus on the New River Valley in Southwestern Virginia. By using interviews and group discussions with various stakeholders, including those involved in the food system and local government, we aim to enhance climate adaptation planning in the region. To achieve this, we focus on "building a foundation for change," which involves identifying key stakeholders, getting them involved, and finding common ground for collaboration. Through this approach, we promote systems thinking and cooperation among stakeholders. The insights from this research will be valuable for the Blacksburg Sustainability Department as they work towards climate change resiliency at the local level. This study addresses a gap in the existing literature by examining how municipalities plan for climate resilience in the food system. It also sheds light on the benefits of using interviews and group discussions to foster creative problem-solving through a systems thinking perspective. The findings of this study can contribute to community efforts in planning for climate change, with a vision for a more vibrant and equitable food system. Climate change impacts us all and understanding how local communities can respond and adapt is essential for a sustainable future.

Reform within food justice initiatives calls for emergent strategies and practices that align with pursuits of justice, health equity, ecological sustainability, and collective social change. Examining historical and contemporary Black geographies of the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States offers valuable lessons on what grows and thrives in opposition to plantation logic. As both material and immaterial representations of the genesis of life, seeds serve as catalysts for understanding stories of praxis, where seedkeeping traditions and contemporary experiences radically reimagine and contest the imposition of colonial legacies. Theoretically grounded in Black feminist futurities, this research illuminated the relationship between radical tradition and radical imagination to understand the complex landscapes of Black liberation through stories of past, present, and future relationships to seeds. The everyday stories from Black seedkeepers articulate visions for equitable food systems and provide specific insights into how a seedkeeping praxis manifests and forms of community cultural wealth and self-determination that challenge the ongoing commodification of seeds. Focusing on the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. where these geographies are deeply shaped by colonial sites with legacies of slavery, land theft, and a genesis of American agriculture that created the foundation for global capitalism, this project delved into the narratives of 17 Black seedkeepers from. By engaging with seedkeepers' memories and motivations this inquiry also lays the foundation for understanding how narratives articulate collective hopes for food sovereignty through seeds. / Master of Science in Life Sciences / Seeds hold the memories, stories, and imaginations of individuals that provide insight on the limitless potential to change. The idea of seedkeepers, as one word, combines the practice of saving seeds with the intention of growing them for the next harvest as well as the process of sharing the stories with these exchanges. This study explored he stories of Black seedkeepers in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., focusing on the Mid-Atlantic region, a geography deeply shaped by colonial legacies of slavery, land theft, and agricultural practices foundational contemporary systems of extraction. Through in-depth narrative inquiry interviews with 17 Black seedkeepers, this research uncovers intergenerational knowledge exchange and seed-sharing practices that envision more just, equitable, and cooperative food futures. Grounded in Black feminist futurities and radical imagination, this study provides a whole-systems perspective on the complex landscapes of Black liberation through past, present, and future connections to seeds. Using narrative inquiry as a methodology, the researcher delved into the lived experiences and perceptions of these seedkeepers. Their stories revealed how seedkeeping practices can serve as learning spaces that cultivates new understandings and stories about invigorating new forms of social action, and nurture imaginaries that challenge how we grow and exchange seed, food and more.

This dissertation evaluates the vision of empowering African elites iQ the International Church of Pretoria and suggests the ways to successfully train and empowers these Africans for the positive socio-political transformation of Africa. Such Christian empowering is so complex that it has to deal with the spiritual, psychological, intellectual and/or technical and socio-political aspects of the life of the trainee. After describing the problems that prevent these elites from behaving adequately and the portrait that can facilitate the successful selection of their trainers the dissertation proposes the guidelines of the empowering programmes for different elite groups. In the main the curriculum comprises a four-level conversion component for proper Christian life, and a psychotherapy empowerment coupled with horizontalisation for their liberation from psychological and socio-political evils, and a programme for the selection and the training of the spiritual leaders of the African elites. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

This dissertation evaluates the vision of empowering African elites iQ the International Church of Pretoria and suggests the ways to successfully train and empowers these Africans for the positive socio-political transformation of Africa. Such Christian empowering is so complex that it has to deal with the spiritual, psychological, intellectual and/or technical and socio-political aspects of the life of the trainee. After describing the problems that prevent these elites from behaving adequately and the portrait that can facilitate the successful selection of their trainers the dissertation proposes the guidelines of the empowering programmes for different elite groups. In the main the curriculum comprises a four-level conversion component for proper Christian life, and a psychotherapy empowerment coupled with horizontalisation for their liberation from psychological and socio-political evils, and a programme for the selection and the training of the spiritual leaders of the African elites. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

This thesis studies current preaching praxis in Australia through a practical theology perspective. It is argued that Evangelical churches in Australia operate predominantly with a narrow applicational hermeneutical model in regard to preaching and hence communicate the gospel ineffectually to ordinary Australians. A need for contextualised and dialogical preaching is presented. Using Zerfass's model a situational analysis of the Australian context and the effects of modernism and postmodernism are explored. Theological tradition in regard to preaching is then analyzed with a focus on incarnational, Trinitarian and covenantal theology, scripture as public text and dialogue as scriptural pattern. Preaching is then analyzed using the communication theories of Gadamer, Searle, Ricoeur, and Habermas. The need for contextualised preaching is critiqued in light of the concerns of Barth regarding preaching and the concerns of Strom in regards to the nature of church in Australia. A new evangelical practical theological/ preaching model is then offered. Zerfass's model emphasises dialectic tension as the basis for moving from praxis to praxis. While movement from praxis to praxis does occur via dialectic tension there are also elements of change that are based on processes of continuity and evolution. A model that reflects this dynamic is forwarded. Finally an ideal praxis for dialogical preaching is presented with possibilities for further research. Throughout the thesis five interviews are used to illustrate the research, concepts and recommendations presented. / Practical Theology / D.Th.

Text in German / Based on the "Cycle of mission praxis" developed by Karecki the present study develops a model for personality development for institutions of theological training. This model presents a conceptual framework which these institutions can use to develop a concept for the personality development of their students. The model serves as methodological basis for the development of character traits which qualify a prospective full-time Christian worker for his/her ministry in the kingdom of God. In a second step the model will be applied to the specific context of the Theological Seminary of the Liebenzell Mission (ThSLM). This requires a context-analysis which grapples with the societal developments during the last decades in Germany with a special emphasis on the developments in German evangelicalism. The analysis also deals with the ThSLM. And it focuses on the individual student with his/her development and potential. The theological reflection develops framework principles of a biblically oriented anthropology, points out the pastoral theological demands of potential employers, and relates these insights to Clinton's discoveries regarding leadership development. The next chapter deals with the theme of identification. The question of motivation is central for a concept like this. This applies also to the expectation with regard to the motivation and views of lecturers who teach in a school which is committed to a triadic view of education. These investigations lead to the development, definition and description of spiritual and social quality markers which are expected from future fulltime ministers in mission work and which are therefore part of the curriculum of the ThSLM. The development of the concept is rounded off by the explication of concrete steps for its implementation. These steps show how an institution can assist students in the development of these quality markers. The present study develops a model and applies this model by means of an example. The model answers to the call which repeatedly appears in missiological debates for a comprehensive, holistic development of spiritual leaders. The study points out which steps institutions for theological training can undertake to contribute to this goal in the early phase of ministry preparation. / Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

French text / Si nous pouvons constater, d’une part, que l’univers carcéral occupe une place très importante dans les textes de Tahar Ben Jelloun, nous ne pouvons cependant ignorer, de l’autre, les efforts des personnages de la diégèse ben jellounienne pour trouver une libération quelconque. De ce fait, la libération constitue l’objet de notre étude par excellence. Nous avons choisi cinq textes de l’écrivain marocain : Moha le fou Moha le sage (1978), L’enfant de sable (1985), La nuit sacrée (1987), Cette aveuglante absence de lumière (2001) et Amours sorcières (2003). Après un survol rapide de l’incarcération sous ses différentes formes, allant des plus concrètes aux plus abstraites, nous étudions les paradigmes les plus communs vers lesquels l’homme maghrébin moderne se tourne dans le but de se libérer des carcans qui l’entravent et nous en relevons tour à tour les limitations ou lacunes. Ainsi, nous remettons en question le modèle matérialiste qui échoue pour ce qui de la libération de l’individu en raison de ses excès. Puis, nous étudions le modèle psychologique mettant l’accent sur ses limites dans la mesure où il comprend un mouvement vertical vers le bas. Or, sans un mouvement vers le haut, aucune libération n’est possible. Très particulière à la société maghrébine est la praxis islamique moderne qui, loin de libérer l’individu, ne fait que l’étouffer davantage. Ensuite, nous soulevons des questions au sujet de la sorcellerie et des dangers qu’elle comprend. Loin d’être un élément libérateur, elle constitue un piège. Nous arrivons éventuellement à la seule clé capable d’apporter la libération intérieure au Maghrébin : la métaphysique et, dans le contexte de la civilisation arabo-islamique, il s’agit de l’ésotérisme islamique ou le soufisme. Ce mémoire requiert une approche très scientifique telle que l’exige la nature même de notre problématique. Nous avons opté pour une approche métaphysique pour conduire notre étude à bon port. / If we cannot deny the fact that the realm of incarceration holds an important place in the texts of Tahar Ben Jelloun, we also have to acknowledge the endeavours of the characters to find liberation in some way or another. Therefore, above all else, liberation constitutes the object of our study. We have chosen five texts of the Moroccan author: Moha le fou Moha le sage (1978), L’enfant de sable (1985), La nuit sacrée (1987), Cette aveuglante absence de lumière (2001) and Amours sorcières (2003). After a quick glance at the different forms of incarceration, starting from the most tangible and moving to the most abstract ones, we study the most common paradigms to which the Moroccan turns to in order to free himself from the shackles that imprison him and we study simultaneously their shortcomings. Hence, we call into question the materialistic model that fails in liberating the individual on account of its excesses. Then, we study the psychological model laying emphasis on its limitations in that it comprises a vertical downward movement while no liberation is possible without an upward movement. Quite specific of the Moroccan society is the modern Islamic praxis that, in lieu of freeing the individual, only stifles him more. Afterwards, we raise questions concerning sorcery and dangers that it represents. Far from being a liberating agent, it constitutes a trap. Ultimately we come to the only key capable of bringing internal liberation to the Moroccan: metaphysics and, in the arabo-islamic context, it is Islamic esotericism or Sufism. This thesis requires a most scientific approach as demands the very nature of our problematic. We have thus chosen a metaphysical approach that best suits our study. / Classics and World Languages / M.A. (French)

Text in Afrikaans / Een van die grootste probleme waarmee die prediker in 'n industriele konteks te doen het, is om die evangelie op 'n sinvolle wyse aan die hoarders oor te dra. Die radikale verandering in die samelewing deur die moderniseringsproses, het die homiletiek gedwing om teoreties her te besin. Hierdie moderne homiletiese teorie soos deur H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long en G.D.J. Dingemans verteenwoordig het die volgende belangrike teoretiese aanpassings gemaak: Eerstens, in plaas van die tradisionele beweging van die teks na die hoarders, is die homiletiese proses omgekeer. Die beweging is nou vanaf die hoarder na die teks deur middel van die prediker en weer terug van die teks na die hoorder. Tweedens, hierdie benadering het noodwendig hermeneutiese implikasies gehad. Daarom het die homiletiek die bree aanpak van die moderne kritiese hermeneutiek in diens geneem. Derdens moes 'n nuwe kommunikasieteorie ondersoek word naamlik, die dialogiese kommunikasieteorie van H.J.C. Pieterse en C.J.A. Vos. / One of the greatest problems, with which a preacher in an industrial context have to deal with, is to convey the gospel in a sensible manner to the listeners. The radical change in society caused by the modernisation process, forced homiletics to review its theoretical base. Modern homiletics as represented by H.J.C. Pieterse, T.G. Long and G.D.J. Dingemans, has made the following theoretic adjustments: Firstly, in stead of the traditional movement of the text to the listeners, the homiletical process is revearsed. The movement is from the listener to the text by means of the preacher and back from the text to the listener. Secondly, this approach inevitably has hermeneutic implications. Therefore homiletics has employed the broad approach of modern critical hermeneutics. Thirdly, a new communication theory has to be developed namely, the dialogical communication theory of H.J.C. Pieterse and C.J.A. Vos. The most important theoretical foundation for preaching in an industrial context is the approach of taking the listeners as starting point without neglecting the text. In practice, it brings about that the following topics ask for particular attention: For the understanding and formulating of the message of the Scriptures, the modern critical hermeneutics and the use of metaphors is of the greatest importance. The new understanding of rhetorics which is about conveying the message, must be taken into consideration. The formulating of the message in the language of the listeners has a theoretical influence on the formulating and use of the theological concepts during preaching. The dialogical communication theory is also of great importance, and has dialogue before, during and after the preaching in mind. For it to be fulfilled, preaching work groups is an important component to improve dialogical communication in the congregation. / Practical Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology