With the beginning of the new year, we are now entering the crucial phase of ROOTS. 
As we look forward to the next months, the first meeting of the ROOTS Executive Board on January 10, 2023 offered the opportunity to all members of the board to exchange and reflect on the growth of ROOTS. This gathering served to define and implement a roadmap in order to successfully reach the next milestones of our cluster of excellence, particularly in light of our efforts to extend our research initiative after 2025. Publications, conferences, including the upcoming 2023 Kiel Conference on “Scales of Social, Environmental and Cultural Change in Past Societies” (13-18 March 2023), will shape and stimulate scientific dialogue and exchange, helping sparking new ideas and advance research also for ROOTS phase 2.

The ROOTS board meeting also provided an opportunity to take a photograph of the new members who compose the board for the next two years:
The members of the 2023-2025 ROOTS Executive Board. Upper row, from left to right: Johannes Müller, Mara Weinelt, Vesa Arponen, Ulrich Schmölcke, Nils Müller-Scheeßel, Martin Furholt, Jens Schneeweiss, Cheryl Makarewicz, Eileen Eckmeier; lower row: Pawel Cembrzyński, Gerald Schwedler, Ulrich Müller, Wolfgang Rabbel, Andreas Schwab, Wiebke Kirleis, Andrea Ricci (photo by Jan Steffen)

The new composition of the ROOTS Executive Board is as follows:
Speaker: Johannes Müller
Co-Speaker: Martin Furholt
Co-Speaker (until September 30, 2023): Wolfgang Rabbel
Co-Speaker (from October 1, 2023): Eileen Eckmeier

Subcluster 1 - Hazards: Eileen Eckmeier (Deputy: Mara Weinelt)
Subcluster 2 - Diets: Cheryl Makarewicz (Deputy: Ben Krause-Kyora)
Subcluster 3 - Knowledge: Andreas Schwab (Deputy: Gerald Schwedler)
Subcluster 4 - Urban: Annette Haug (Deputy: Ulrich Müller)
Subcluster 5 - Inequality: Martin Furholt (Deputy: Johannes Müller)
Subcluster 6 - Conflict: Lorenz Kienle (Deputy: Jens Schneeweiß)
Reflective Turn Forum: Vesa Arponen (Deputy: Konrad Ott)
Young Academy: Tim Kerig (Deputy: Andrea Ricci)
Platform 1 - Technical: Wiebke Kirleis (Deputy: Eileen Eckmeier)
Platform 2 - Communication: Ilka Parchmann (Deputy: Andrea Ricci)
Platform 3 - Humanities: Nils Müller-Scheeßel (Deputy: John Peterson)
Postdoc Representative: Pawel Cembrzyński
PhD Representatives: Benjamin Claaßen, Benjamin Serbe
For Kiel University: Kiel University President
For ZBSA: Berit Eriksen (Deputy: Ulrich Schmölcke)
Scientific Coordination: Mara Weinelt (Deputy: Andrea Ricci)