Knowledge for sustainable development

The state of research on the complex and highly dynamic topics of sustainable development and nature conservation is subject to constant change and expansion from a diverse range of disciplines. A targeted knowledge transfer between science, politics and society thus becomes a special challenge,...

The process of agricultural food production with recycled water, successfully developed in the HypoWave research project, is entering large-scale application for the first time. On a small scale, the model for hydroponic vegetable production with recycled irrigation water will be on display at IFAT...

Every day, around 480 tons of waste end up on the streets of Khulna, the largest city in the densely populated Ganges Delta. This includes vast quantities of plastic that is washed into the oceans via Bangladesh’s neighboring waters. Without countermeasures, marine pollution will continue to...

In order to achieve its climate goals and move towards more energy independence, the German government is planning a 100-billion-euro support package. In that context, the CO2 reduction targets for existing buildings are coming into focus. There is great potential in the provision of space heating...

The United Nations has declared ‘Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible’ its theme for World Water Day on 22 March 2022. This is because policies and decision-makers have paid little attention to the global groundwater problem thus far. In many places, this precious resource is contaminated, and...

Microplastics and the possible risks for the environment are highly debated. However, whereas scientists still see many open questions and have yet to complete their risk assessment, the general public ranks the environmental and health risks posed by microplastics as relatively high. Researchers...

While insect extinction is progressing in forests, fields and nature reserves, cities are increasingly providing suitable habitats for insects. Therefore, urban society is  called upon to preserve their diversity as its behaviour has an influence on the biodiversity of dragonflies, bumblebees and...

People in Germany expect politicians to do more for environmental protection and climate action. This might be due to the fact that awareness of the damaging influence of environmental pollution, for example through pollutants, air pollution or noise, has increased over the past 20 years. This is...

Transdisciplinary research is all about initiating joint learning processes in science and society to tackle societal challenges, something which is particularly beneficial to sustainability research. However, the approach is complex, both in terms of the methodology and design and the communication...

On October 1, 2021, ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research solemnly bid farewell to its co-founder Thomas Jahn as scientific director. In addition to a festive event, a symposium took place under the title “Crisis, Catastrophe, Normality – the Responsibility of Science for Shaping the...