About Us

Climate and Environment Change, as well as social, technical and economic developments, are having an unprecedented impact on the system Earth, on soil, water, atmosphere and the subsurface, and thus on ecosystems and the foundations of human life.
Our mission: Exploring Climate and Environment, Developing Solutions
The KIT Climate and Environment Center develops basic and applied knowledge on climate and environmental change. On this basis, it develops concepts as well as nature-based and technological solutions for safeguarding the natural basis of life and shaping the living environment. Since its foundation on January 1, 2009, the KIT Climate and Environment Center has been offering a broad range of expertise in the natural, technical, and social sciences with about 700 scientists from 30 institutes. In interdisciplinary networking, we are developing a center of outstanding international visibility. In doing so, we consider both the causes of environmental problems and the adaptation to changing conditions.
Our vision: For an environment worth living in
In interdisciplinary networking, we are developing a center with outstanding international visibility. We consider both the causes of environmental problems and how to adapt to changing conditions.
Our values: Respectful discourse to advance research with responsibility

This is us

Here you can find the contacts of the KIT-Center for Climate and Environment

KIT Climate and Environment Center Office
Portrait Name Function Tel. E-Mail
Christoph_Hilgers
 Hilgers, Christoph Scientific Spokesperson +49 721 608-42139 scientific spokesperson ∂does-not-exist.zku kit edu
Hennrich
 Hennrich, Kirsten Managing Director KIT Climate and Environment Center +49 721 608-28592 kirsten hennrich ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Wolff
 Gerçe Wolff, Berna Executive Assistant KIT Climate and Environment Center +49 721 608-28594 berna wolff ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Meo Colombo
 Meo Colombo, Sabrina Assistant KIT Climate and Environment Center +49 721 608-25541 sabrina meocolombo ∂does-not-exist.kit edu

Associated institutes

As the Center for Climate and Environment we work together with many different institutes at KIT. You can find the list of institutes here

Cooperation with networks and centers at KIT and beyond

CEDIM

The Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) is an interdisciplinary research center of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) External Link in the field of disaster management. The main goal of CEDIM is to advance our scientific understanding of natural and man-made hazards, and to develop disaster management solutions for the early detection and reduction of the related risks.

Süddeutsches Klimabüro

The South-German Climate Office is an interface between research and society, which supplies information on climate aspects in a competent and understandable manner. Work is based on the expertise of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where several institutes conduct fundamental and applied climate research, and on the expertise of several associated institutions. The regional focus lies on South Germany. Major topics covered are regional climate modeling, trends of extreme weather events, such as strong rain, and hail, and aspects of energy generation and water management. The South-German Climate Office is one of four regional climate offices of the Helmholtz Association that have a regional and thematic focus each. Since 2009, the South-German Climate Office has been part of the KIT Climate and Environment Center.

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Über 200 Jahre Verantwortung

Verantwortung für das Allgemeinwohl zu übernehmen, ist seit ihrer Gründung vor über 200 Jahren ein Leitgedanke der Sparkasse Karlsruhe. Ein Ausdruck dafür ist ihr gesellschaftliches Engagement, das sich in ihren vier Stiftungen konzentriert. Deren älteste ist die Umweltstiftung, die eine Brücke zwischen der Sparkasse, der Gesellschaft und der Universität Karlsruhe, dem heutigen KIT, schlägt.

Forschen für die Welt von morgen - Sparkassen-Umwelt-Preis

Es gibt viele Wege, um sich für Umwelt und Klima einzusetzen. Ein besonders erfolgversprechender und nachhaltiger Weg ist die Forschung in umweltrelevanten Bereichen. Der Sparkassen-Umwelt-Preis würdigt daher neben der wissenschaftlichen Leistung den Nutzen für die Allgemeinheit.

Bereits zum 42. Mal haben die Umweltstiftung der Sparkasse Karlsruhe und das Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) 2024 den Sparkassen-Umwelt-Preis für hervorragende Abschlussarbeiten mit Bezug auf umweltrelevante Themen ausgelobt.

Der Preis in Höhe von insgesamt 15.000 Euro wird in den Kategorien „Dissertationen sowie Diplomarbeiten und Masterarbeiten“ vergeben. Die Ausschreibung erfolgt über das KIT-Zentrum Klima und Umwelt.

Von Karlsruhe in die Welt - Karlsruher Umweltimpulse

„Karlsruher Umweltimpulse“ ist der Titel der neuen Veranstaltungsreihe, welche die Umweltstiftung der Sparkasse Karlsruhe in Kooperation mit dem Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) ins Leben gerufen hat.

Eine Brücke zwischen Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft zu schlagen, das Engagement für die Umwelt zu fördern und zukunftsweisende Impulse für den Umweltschutz zu setzen – das sind grundlegende Ziele der Umweltstiftung seit ihrer Gründung vor über 40 Jahren.

Erstmals wurde nun eine Veranstaltungsreihe vom KIT-Zentrum Klima und Umwelt gemeinsam mit der Umweltstiftung der Sparkasse Karlsruhe initiiert, die der bisherigen Fördertätigkeit der Umweltstiftung eine neue Dimension verleiht.

Area IV - Natural and Built Environment: Head of Department Prof. Dr. Johannes Orphal

In Area IV - Natural and Built Environment, knowledge about a changing Earth is generated, taught, and applied. This includes natural processes and developments as well as human-induced changes and their impacts. Research, teaching, and innovation are concentrated on strategic topics across more than 30 institutes, spanning the fields of architecture, civil engineering, geosciences, environmental sciences, meteorology, and climate science. The scientists in Area IV research, develop, and teach local, regional, and global solutions for a sustainable future. The teaching and academic affairs of Area IV are organized within the KIT faculties of Architecture and Civil, Geo, and Environmental Engineering, while the large-scale research activities are conducted within the framework of the Helmholtz Program "Changing Earth - Sustaining our Future."

Further information can be found on the website of Area IV.

ATMO

The aim of the Atmosphere and Climate Programme (ATMO) is to
to better understand the atmosphere in the climate system. To this end, scientists are pursuing
complex measurements of atmospheric parameters and laboratory tests and
numerical modelling of processes that play an important role in the atmosphere
play.
Research approaches include high-resolution satellite measurements of tropospheric
trace substances, studies on the role of the middle atmosphere in the climate system, the
variability of biogenic emissions and the use of atmospheric water isotopes for
better understanding of the water cycle.

The programme is divided into four themes:

  • Clouds and weather research
  • Land surface processes in the climate system
  • Tropospheric trace substances and their transformation processes
  • Composition and dynamics of the upper troposphere and middle atmosphere

The website of the Helmholtz Programme Changing Earth can be found here.

More information about ATMO can be read here.

Deutsches Klimakonsortium DKK e.V.

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Wassernetzwerk Baden-Württemberg

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Scientists for Future

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