Humanity faces big challenges: a drastic biodiversity crisis, rapid global warming and a shortage of natural resources endanger our livelihood. Often, the consequences of our doing cannot be assessed adequately, because the interactions and dependencies within and between the different spheres (litho-, pedo-, cryo-, bio- and atmosphere) are not sufficiently well known.
Intense, internationally connected research is required to recognize the complexity of biological diversity and the interconnection of the different spheres. Based on that, long term concepts for sustainable interactions, as well as a sustainable utilization of natural resources, have to be developed.
The State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart is one of the largest museums of natural history in Germany and a future-oriented research and education facility with:
- broad and excellent scientific competences and taxonomic expertise in botany, zoology and paleontology that is nearly unmatched at the national scale
- outstanding collections at the national and international scale
- brilliant competence in technical preparation
- a modern and continually advanced technical infrastructure
- research ties in biology and earth sciences regarding morphology and physiology in paleontology
- significant project involvement of qualified citizen scientists
- high quality knowledge transfer (communication and exhibition concept)
We connect and utilize these potentials in terms of an integrative research museum to contribute to the understanding of complex biological concepts from deep time up to today and to communicate findings with the public at large. Thereby we, on the one hand, provide the basis for political decisions resolving the problems mentioned at the beginning, and on the other hand, contribute to the acceptance of necessary measures in society.