Open Access

The 11th Annual Meeting of the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance (Förderkreis Rückversicherung) on the topic of reinsurance was held 13 July 2018, in Niederkassel near Cologne. Some 85 invited representatives of the (re)insurance companies supporting the Sponsoring Group took part in the meeting, together with guests. Offered for the fourth time as part of the Annual Meeting, the Researchers’ Corner gave eight members of academic staff at the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance an opportunity to deliver a presentation on their respective individual research projects. Professor Materne also conducted interviews with Dr. Falk Niehörster (Climate Risk Innovations) and Dr. Magnus Kobel (YAS.life). Dr. Niehörster reported on his research and consulting activities in regard to maritime climate change and Dr. Kobel on the business model of his InsurTec, YAS.life, and his general experience in the establishment and development of start-ups. In three sessions – each with 2-3 parallel lectures with posters – the most important results of the scientific studies by the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance were presented and discussed. The heterogeneity of the topics presented by academic staff reflects the dovetailing of research theory with practice.

In dieser Arbeit wird die Frage nach der Zusammensetzung einer aus konservatorischer Sicht unbedenklichen Stempelfarbe untersucht. Es konnten vier Kategorien von Stempelfarben ermittelt werden: die leinölhaltigen, die mineralölhaltigen, die glykol-/glycerolhaltigen und die harzhaltigen. Neun Stempelfarben aus diesen vier Kategorien wurden in einer umfangreichen Testreihe auf ihre Licht- und Klimabeständigkeit, ihre Löse- und Bleichmittelfestigkeit, ihre Wischfestigkeit und ihr Durchschlagvermögen überprüft. Drei rein pigmenthaltige Stempelfarben haben diese Tests bestanden. Von diesen hatte nur die leinölhaltige Stempelfarbe eine gute Dokumentenechtheit. Zudem werden im letzten Kapitel Möglichkeiten zur Entfernung von Stempelfarben auf Papier vorgestellt.

The 10th Annual Meeting of the Sponsoring Group Reinsurance was held 7 July 2017, in Niederkassel near Köln. Some 80 representatives of the (re)insurance companies involved in the Sponsoring Group took part in the meeting, together with invited guests. Offered for the third time as part of the Annual Meeting, the Researchers’ Corner gave nine members of academic staff at the Cologne Research Centre for Reinsurance an opportunity to deliver short presentations on their individual research projects. Professor Materne also conducted interviews with Messrs Lorenz Kielwein and Frank Baumann. Kielwein reported on the application of mathematical systems theory to processes in change management, and Baumann on his 30 years of experience at Gothaer. During each of three sessions, three short lectures with posters were held in parallel and discussed afterwards. The heterogeneity of the topics presented by the staff members reflects the dovetailing of research theory with practice. In the sessions, the following speakers presented in German and English: Round 1 a) Fabian Pütz (M.Sc.) Alternative Capital and Basic Risk in the Standard Formula (Non-Life) of Solvency II b) Manuel Dietmann (M.Sc.) SFCR: Findings for Initial Publication c) Jan Böggemann (B.Sc.) Optimising the Purchase of Optional Reinsurance by an Industrial Insurer Round 2 a) Robert Joniec (M.Sc.) Actuarial swap b) Lucas Kaiser (M.Sc.) The Impact of Different Determinants on the Rating of Reinsurance Companies c) Lihong Wang (M.Sc., FCII) Chinese Automobile Vehicle Recall Insurance Round 3 a) Sebastian Hoos (M.Sc., FCII) Critical Analysis of the Practical Application of the Definition of an Event b) Fabian Lassen (B.A.) Employees in the Reinsurance Industry: Germany and the USA. c) Kai-Olaf Knocks (M.A., FCII) [Autonomous Driving: Evolution or Revolution? The presentations also featured the work of another member of our staff who unfortunately, for logistical reasons, was able to present his research project in poster form but was not able to deliver a brief lecture. Poster d) Wolfgang Koch (B.A.) Public-Private Partnership in Emerging and Developing Countries. We would like to thank the funding bodies who make this event possible to begin with and provide our scholars an opportunity to conduct their research.

Soils are complex, evolving systems that simultaneously shape and are shaped by numerous biotic and abiotic factors in a vast web of interactions that creates the conditions for the propagation of life and the maintenance of human societies. Yet, land use and land use change (LULUC) and anthropogenic climate change (CC) are forcing substantial and rapid alterations into soil’s properties and processes, thus affecting the functions and services derived from it. The resulting land degradation (LD) is now spread, according to recent estimates, over nearly 30 % of the world’s total land, mostly on the population dense and impoverished tropics, a zone predicted to withstand the worst impacts of CC. The Atlantic Forest in Brazil is a particularly vulnerable environment, and the unusual drought of 2014-2017 that hit its Southeastern region is likely the harbinger of a progressively drier future. The way the prelude of what might be an increasingly frequent hazard affected farmers’ livelihoods and natural resources, and the manner in which they reacted to those impacts can thus reveal points of strength and fragility that could be respectively harnessed or addressed to develop a more sustainable agriculture and climate resilience. This master thesis focused on characterizing those impacts and reactions on distinct dairy production systems in two municipalities in Northwestern Rio de Janeiro: Santo Antônio de Pádua and Cambuci. Through interviews and in loci observations, the researcher collected data concerning environmental services (erosion prevention, soil cover and water provision), production variables (inputs and outputs), socio-economic information, farm system management and farmers’ future perspectives. The results show that dairy production systems in the region are heterogeneous and, although they may share common characteristics, drought outcomes were closely tied to the specificities of each farm. Ultimately, outcomes originated from differences in water supply, water demand, and feed availability, their subsequent change by the drought and farmers’ reaction to those changes at each property.

As the number and intensity of environmental challenges increase, more faiths have initiated religiously motivated change within their communities or have been involved in cooperation projects with NGOs or GOs dedicated to conservation. Even though a lot of quantitative research had been done on the correlation of religiosity and concern for the environment, no scientific study dealt about the argumentation lines that drive or discourage believers to get involved in environmental conversation. As a basis for the research the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen was modified into a model. By the means of Semi-Standardized Interview guidelines 15 members and leaders of different church communities in Amman were interrogated to retrieve meaning of and cause-effect-chains between the different components of the model. Their answers were coded and analyzed with cross tables to identify interconnections and their tendencies. The results show that interviewees’ religious convictions about God and the world were the strongest influencer, whereas the community and leaders rarely gave a reason for people to adapt water saving measures. External factors such as governmental, societal, political or economic mostly discouraged people to adapt environmentfriendly behaviors. Approaches by the GIZ have already started catering to those challenges and potentials, however the range of impact did not reach until most of the interviewees.