(Freedom of) opinion in the border area: "Why democracy without criticism of racism is no democracy", explains educational scientist Professor Paul Mecheril from Bielefeld University at the Diversity Lunch on 12 May. Because the refusal to address racism - for example in the police, in the allocation of housing and jobs, in educational institutions - stabilises racist routines, criticism of racism begins with talking about racism. The lecture will discuss what this means and what contribution the critique of racism can make to analysing the social present. The question of what it means to be politically educated in a programmatically post-racist migration society committed to the idea of democracy will be addressed.

12 May, 12 to 2 p.m.; Location: Senate room (Building K, Level 11, Room 07), Grifflenberg campus, Gaußstr. 20

"Democracy and freedom of speech" will be discussed by legal scholar Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Christian von Coelln, from the University of Cologne, who will be a guest at the BUW on 12 May at the "Future Democracy Forum". Universities are places of the greatest possible freedom of speech - or should be. In reality, however, this cannot be taken for granted, as there are repeated calls to exclude certain people or positions. Since 1949, the framework for freedom of speech has been set primarily by the German Basic Law, which guarantees a high but not unlimited degree of freedom. It protects free speech through freedom of opinion and academic freedom, which are often confused. The lecture and discussion should help to better understand these rights and to recognise the actual content of the Basic Law more clearly.

12 May, 18.30; Venue: Lecture Hall 26 (Building I, Level 13, Room 65), Grifflenberg campus, Fuhlrottstraße 10. register at. https://uni-w.de/henc8 required

The climate crisis, authoritarianism and disinformation are putting democratic societies under increasing pressure. The "Sustainable Democracy" conference asks how ecological and democratic sustainability can be considered together - and what political and social ways there are to make democracy sustainable under these conditions. On 20 May, the focus will be on the question of how democratic ways of life can be sustainably secured and further developed under conditions of multiple crises - in particular the climate crisis and increasing authoritarian policies. The event is a cooperation between the BUW (Practical Philosophy), the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Technical University of Dortmund, the Wuppertal Institute and the Centre for Transformation Research and Sustainability (transzent).

20 May, 1.30 to 6.15 pm; Venue: Wuppertal Institute, Aula, Döppersberg 19, 42103 Wuppertal. The evening lecture "After Sustainability: Democratic Alternatives to Authoritarianism and Greenlash" will take place at Utopiastadt, Mirker Str. 48, from 7.00 to 8.30 p.m. Registration at https://uni-w.de/hxuko

"Spaces for Democracy and Science" will be presented by Dr Friederike Jesse and, as head of the University Archive, will guide you through the BUW's memory on 21 May. Archives depict actions, they document history - for their institution, their community or their country. As repositories of knowledge and memory, they enable remembrance and are therefore important players in a democratic society. The University Archive in Wuppertal has been in existence since 1990 and is open to the public, a place for research, science and factual information.

21 May, at 11 am and 1 pm (duration: approx. 30 to 45 minutes); location: University Archives (Building FD, Level 02, Room 03), Freudenberg campus, Rainer-Gruenter-Straße. Please register at archiv[at]uni-wuppertal.de

"The constitution(s) in the Johannes Rau Library" is known to Peter Hulajko, Head of Library 7 at the Freudenberg campus; he will give a guided tour of the library of a Federal President on 21 May. Why did Johannes Rau's private library return to Wuppertal? This is not the only question the tour will explore. It also offers fascinating insights into the structure and holdings of the personal collection, which also contains several constitutional documents.

21 May, 1 p.m.; location: Johannes Rau Centre, Freudenberg campus, Rainer Gruenter Str. 5. registration required at hulajko[at]uni-wuppertal.de or on 0202/439-1686

"merry company - fröhliche Gemeinschaft"(merry company - happy community) is the new exhibition at the Kunsthalle Barmen from 23 May, focusing on the social significance of social participation and shared responsibility. merry company is dedicated to the power of community in art and research. On display are works by collectives as well as artistic positions that deal with questions of community and collaboration. The exhibition is complemented by outstanding examples of research groups and networks from the University of Wuppertal that make collective forms of knowledge development visible. merry company focuses on a practice that characterises art, science and society in equal measure: working together.

23 May, 7 p.m. (vernissage); venue: Kunsthalle Barmen, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 4-6

"The Basic Law - Development and Crisis of the Free Democratic Order" is the topic of the lecture by Professor Dr Andreas Heusch, Vice President of the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, on 27 May. After the Nazi dictatorship, war and occupation, the Basic Law, which was never formally adopted by the people in a referendum, established our constitutional state in 1949. Since then, the Federal Constitutional Court has developed these fundamental legal guarantees and made them the constitution of the people - with the individual and their inalienable dignity and freedom at its centre. But now the self-evident guarantees of freedom, their structures and procedures seem to be called into question as a result of political crises. Andreas Heusch is convinced that in order to overcome the crisis, we need to relentlessly analyse the causes and reflect on the past.

27 May, 6 pm; Location: Johannes Rau-Zentrum, Freudenberg campus, Rainer Gruenter Str. 5.