The Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) is a non-commercial research facility dedicated to integrated environmental and sustainability research at both a national and international level and based in Frankfurt am Main. A special feature of the Institute is its approach to research. It draws on both social and natural sciences, aspects of which are not viewed cumulatively, but systematically interrelated and integrated right from the start. In its research and consultancy work, the Institute focuses on the complex social problems of sustainable development such as non-sustainable patterns of consumption or mobility, or local and global water issues. A pre-condition for tackling such problems effectively is a transdisciplinary approach that includes pertinent social players in the research process, collating their ‘take’ on problems and their wealth of everyday practical knowledge with scientific problems and insights. This way the Institute aims to develop concepts for practical solutions geared to sustainable development and sustainability research.  

ISOE is currently working in the following fields of research: