MHB organizes two Climate Puzzle Workshops – online and on site in Neuruppin

Neuruppin, 22 April 2026

Climate change is among the major challenges of our time and affects every one of us. The free-of-charge workshop is a unique opportunity to come to understand this complex issue and become actively involved in developing solutions. The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) organizes two interactive workshops where climate change is presented as an interconnected system and participants are invited to develop concrete activities: an online format for MHB students and staff starting Saturday, 25 April, at 10 a.m., and a locally organized event for the general public at the town hall of Neuruppin on Thursday, 30 April, from 3 p.m.

Participants will piece together 42 charts summing up the scientific findings of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in order to comprehend climate change as a highly complex interconnected system. The focus will be not only on facts but on inspiration and specific suggestions for action. The idea is to find solutions with potential effect at personal and organizational level.

Jan Störkel, moderator of workshops on climate education and recycling economy, Lars Alliolo-Näcke (research assistant at the MHB Dean’s Office) and Hannah Leichsenring from the MHB Graduate Studies Office and expert for sustainability, were interviewed about the background and the effectivity of the workshop.

The Climate Puzzle is the topic of an interactive workshop based on the IPCC’s scientific findings. What can participants expect, and how does the format contribute to a better understanding of climate change?

Jan Störkel: The workshop imparts knowledge, but that is not all. Participants exchange ideas and try to come up with tangible options. We look at personal and also organizational relevance. In short: what we need to fight the climate crisis is information plus inspiration plus joint efforts.

In that workshop, all participants work together and sort charts into a sequence to comprehend climate change as a complex interconnected system. Why do you think this game-based approach is better suited than lecture-style instruction?

Jan Störkel: The playful and participative approach of the climate puzzle is highly effective for several reasons. Active involvement in the form of discussion, sorting and scrutiny clearly helps to memorize information far better than teaching from the front. The workshop encourages systemic thinking, which is urgently required since isolated measures are often insufficient. It offers a protected setting which leaves room for fears, questions and hopes. This emotional component is a key factor to dissolve blockages and stimulate motivation for change. Climate protection is a social mission, and community efforts promote self-efficacy as well as specific options for activity.

The workshop is part of the MHB program of Studium Fundamentale, which among other things addresses ways to handle crises and changes in our environment.  How do you define “Futures Literacy”, and why is it important to develop this competence in preparation for climate change?

Lars Allio-Näcke: Futures Literacy enables us to perceive our future not as a constant but as something we can proactively shape. If we understand how future scenarios come about, we can diversify our activities and respond to the challenges of climate change with flexibility. Do you remember the 1980s when everybody was talking about forests ravaged by acid rain? And what was done about that? People concentrated on reducing sulphur dioxide emissions and did not consider other options. In general, this helped to improve climate policies to some extent, but acid rain was not the only cause. Currently, forests die because of excessively warm winters without temperatures low enough to kill bark-breeding insects. A cause-and-effect principle is therefore too simple to predict the future. This is why we need to be prepared for more than one possible future scenario, since the one we have in mind today is highly unlikely to come about. It is therefore essential to develop Futures Literacy.

A key question addressed in the workshop is how to protect our cities from heat. Why is this topic so important in connection with climate change, and which specific suggestions for action can participants expect from the workshop?

Hannah Leichsenring: We have made this question a central concern, as the town of Neuruppin has been preoccupied with ways to improve heat protection since last year. The starting point was a student-organized event in summer 2025. 3^rd-semester medical students explored man-made environmental changes in the context of a course unit on principles of the medical profession, and they presented their results at a public event. Officials of the town administration were pleased to incorporate the flyers and summaries produced for the occasion into their own pertinent activities.

• • Registration for Saturday, 25 April, from 10 a.m. online for MHB students and staff.
  • Registration for the public event at the town hall in Neuruppin on Thursday, 30 April, from 3 p.m.