Public lecture series sheds light on the health effects of climate change on older people

Dr Maria Reinisch from the Association of German Scientists will host this public lecture at the Information, Communication and Media Centre (IKMZ) of the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU). All interested parties are invited to attend free of charge. Registration is not required.

Climate change often seems very far away, yet we are seeing more and more effects in Germany too, not only in the environment, but also in various areas of society if you look closely.

Prof. Behrens takes a close look and has been noting for some time that older people are severely affected by climate change, and affected very unequally in social terms. People over the age of 75 are particularly vulnerable to both heat and cold stress. There are effective long-term regional design measures and effective short-term neighbourhood design measures.

Prof. Dr phil. habil. Johann Behrens worked as a gerontologist and founding spokesman of the "Interdisciplinary Centre of the University of Halle: Biology-Medical Society", which comprises six faculties. As Director, he founded the first Institute of Health, Midwifery, Therapy and Nursing Science at a German-speaking public faculty of medicine in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This became the first German Centre for Evidence-based Nursing. He knows what he is talking about when he says: "Every heat-related death is a victim of social cold" - and the same applies to cold stress.

Open lecture series on the topic of "Age" by the AlterPerimentale project
Date: Tuesday, 11 November 2025, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Location: BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Information, Communication and Media Centre (IKMZ),
7th floor, Platz der Deutschen Einheit 2, 03044 Cottbus

to the poster for the event

Questions for Professor Behrens can be sent in advance to the e-mail address Marc.Schreiber(at)b-tu.dein advance or directly during the lecture.

The AlterPerimentale is a transfer initiative of the Social Work and Regional Planning chairs at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, the Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences Berlin and the Heinersdorf Practice Research Centre. It is one of twelve T!Raum initiatives funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. AlterPerimentale aims to improve the quality of life of older people in the peripheral German-Polish border region.

More about the AlterPerimentale project: www.alterperimentale.de