Sub-project 1 – Focus on Structural Development
Mission-Oriented Support and Development of Academic Careers
Sub-project 1 aims to establish university-wide structures that promote academic careers in the SAGE fields. It analyses working conditions, facilitates dialogue formats, and initiates transformative structural processes, thereby enhancing the university as a place to work and study.
Key areas include:
- Embedding diversity and anti-racism as cross-cutting institutional principles
- Integrating health promotion, sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) across teaching, research and institutional practice
- Advancing quality-assured structural development in teaching and learning
Strengthening transfer and Third Mission activities to bridge academia, professional practice and civil society
Focal Professorships
Transfer and Third Mission
Prof. Dr. Asiye Kaya (2025-2027)
Prof. Dr. Asiye Kaya holds the professorship in Community Orientation and Social Change.
Her work focuses on embedding community-oriented transfer and advancing applied, participatory transformation processes at ASH Berlin.
Particular emphasis is placed on learning from marginalised communities and promoting community-based approaches. She initiates and supports participatory projects in teaching, continuing education and research, fostering equitable partnerships between academia and civil society.
Health and Sustainability Management
Prof. Dr. Johannes Verch (2024-2027)
The research interests of Prof. Dr. Johannes Verch include Education for Sustainable Development, urban and spatial development, and innovative teaching and learning formats.
This professorship aims to establish a cross-cutting institutional structure focusing on health and sustainability management and education at ASH Berlin, integrating these aspects into teaching, procurement and appointment processes, and strengthening external cooperation.
Dialogue-Oriented Education and Understanding
Prof. Dr. Jasna Russo (2025-2027)
Prof. Dr. Jasna Russo works on emancipatory research paradigms, user-controlled approaches in research and practice, dialogical knowledge production, Mad Studies and marginalised epistemologies.
In times of increasing societal polarisation, her professorship emphasises dialogue-based approaches as essential for fostering mutual understanding and constructive discourse. She develops dialogical working formats that place historically and currently marginalised knowledge at the centre. Within the framework of the focal professorship, formats are being created that invite engagement with complex debates—approaches that do not shy away from contradictions and conflicts and are capable of addressing the complexity and intersectionality of diverse lived realities. Rather than aiming for knowledge transfer or impact only at a later stage, these formats seek to embed transformative practice already in their design and implementation.
Visiting Professors / Lecturers and Research Associates
Nuran Ayten
Nuran Ayten is a graduate of the MA Practice Research in Social Work at ASH Berlin. Her research focuses on everyday racism, particularly within early childhood education settings and higher education institutions.
Marleen Sorensen
Marleen Sorensen is a research associate for health promotion and part of the newly established unit for Sustainability and Health. Within the Sage SAGE! project, she focuses on the health of professors and early-career researchers.
Following a settings-based approach, needs are analysed and organisational structures are adapted and further developed to promote and protect health in a sustainable way. At the same time, she contributes to implementing the “Health-Promoting University” section of ASH Berlin’s mission statement under the initiative “alice gesund”.
Vered Berman
Vered Berman is a lecturer specialising in antisemitism, migration and racism, queer feminist perspectives, resilience, and peace work. Since 1 June 2025, she has also served as the contact person for antisemitism.
In this role, she works to protect Jewish students, supports those affected by antisemitic incidents, advises university members, and contributes to the structural development of sustainable prevention and protection strategies. Her work focuses on critical, dialogue-oriented and depolarising approaches to antisemitism, anti-Muslim racism, and Israel/Palestine.
A further focus lies on organising exchange formats and events centred on dialogue, mutual understanding and critical engagement with discrimination. In 2024, she co-developed the event series “Civil Society Engagement in Israel/Palestine – Voices Against Hopelessness” at ASH Berlin.
Academic Manager
Elisabeth Keuten
Pronouns: she/her
Working days: Monday–Thursday
Selected Sub-project Outcomes
The internal organisational development process on diversity (IOEP D) was initiated by the focal professorship “Equality, Diversity, Anti-Discrimination”.
It systematically addresses racist, ableist and other discriminatory structures within the university. The aim is to collaboratively develop a power-critical, discrimination-sensitive and inclusive institution. The process is structured around three central fields of action: culture, structure and strategy.
Third-party funding has been successfully secured for the project “Campus Transferale (CaT)”. The project is funded through the BMFTR programme line “Innovative Hochschule” as well as the Berlin Senate Department for Science, Health and Care.
CaT is structured into the subprojects “Transfer_Hub”and “Service Centre for Participatory Research”. It provides key impulses for implementing the university’s transfer strategy and supports a comprehensive transformation towards a structurally embedded transfer campus as part of ASH Berlin’s ongoing growth and organisational development process.
The Anti-Discrimination Complaints Office at ASH Berlin receives complaints from all university members in cases of suspected discrimination. Its role is to support the reduction of discrimination within the institution.
As an official complaints office under the Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG), it processes formal complaints. It also operates in accordance with the Berliner Landesantidiskriminierungsgesetz (LADG) and the university’s anti-discrimination statute.
A target concept for the organisational unit “Continuing Education – Lifelong Learning” has been developed. It emerged from the focal professorships “Quality-Assured Structural Development in Teaching and Learning with Overall Academic Responsibility for Continuing Education” and “Transfer and Third Mission”.
In the context of significant institutional growth, particularly in undergraduate programmes and structural changes associated with faculty implementation, the university is undergoing a major transformation process.
As part of this, the three areas of continuing education programmes, the Centre for Continuing Education, and the alumni network are to be strategically and organisationally integrated into a unified academic unit.
Implementation of the concept is still pending.
The concept for embedding the cross-cutting unit “Sustainability and Health” at ASH Berlin has been finalised under the leadership of the focal professorship Health and Sustainability Management. The unit has been institutionally anchored in a manner comparable to InPuT.
In addition to Prof. Dr. Johannes Verch, the unit includes Marleen Sorensen (research associate, health focus) and Dr. Yannick Liedholz (external research associate, sustainability focus).
Key responsibilities include:
- Carbon accounting for ASH Berlin and implementation of related measures
- Development of a university-wide sustainability strategy
- Integrating sustainability and health criteria into job descriptions for research staff
- Embedding sustainability, ESD and health promotion in teaching, research and transfer
- Reviewing procurement procedures and policies
- Organising annual cycling campaigns and “fruit days”
Sustainability topics have been integrated more permanently into modules such as:
- International Social Work, Social Economy and Social Management
- Society, Health and Social Work
- Foundations of Education
as well as the ESD module in the degree programme EarlyChildhood Education.
In the area of health promotion, a consolidation of teaching has begun. Additional teaching strategies and modules are being developed for the BA Social Work and BA Early Childhood Education programmes.
Former project members 2021-2025
Focal professorship:
- Prof. Dr. Barbara Schäuble (2023-2025): Transfer and Third Mission
- Prof. Dr. Claudia Winkelmann (2021-2024): Quality-assured structural development in degree programmes and teaching, with overall academic supervision of the Continuing Education division
- Prof. Dr. Gesine Bär (2021-2023): Transfer and Third Mission
- Prof. Dr. Nivedita Prasad (2021-2024): Equality, diversity, anti-discrimination
Visiting Professors / Lecturers and Research Associates:
- Prof. Dr. Hella Dietz (Visiting Professor)
- Prof. Dr. Johanna Anzengruber (Visiting Professor)
- Weena Mallmann (Visiting Lecturer)
Research manager:
- Dr. Anna Bessler
- Dr. Zola Kappauf
- Elisabeth Hanske
- Kathrin Stopp
