30 years of knowledge for sustainable development

Digitalisation is now also making itself felt in the water sector. The term ‘WATER 4.0’ alludes to new digital options for a flexible, resource-efficient, and competitive form of water management – intelligent measuring and control systems that can meanwhile replace manual operation. The processes...

The need for transdisciplinary research is growing. At the same time, structures and places for the further development and dissemination of transdisciplinary methods, concepts and competencies are lacking both in research and teaching. This gap is now to be closed by the foundation of an academy...

In the Anthropocene – the age of man – the popular image of the natural water cycle no longer applies, as man has long since intervened in this cycle in many places. The consequences are sometimes massive and can be seen in changed precipitation patterns as well as in sinking groundwater levels. How...

Transdisciplinary research – for instance within sustainability research – can provide targeted support for the solution of complex societal problems. This is possible as transdisciplinary research includes – across disciplinary boundaries – knowledge gained from experience and from everyday life...

Record temperatures and prolonged periods of drought are increasingly affecting agriculture worldwide. In Germany, too, droughts are now jeopardizing high-yielding harvests. A cultivation system with a new type of irrigation technology using water reuse is particularly suitable for arid regions and...

On World Water Day (22 March), the United Nations will focus on the link between water and climate change. It is a complex and momentous issue, also for Germany‘s cities: heat waves and heavy rainfall events are increasingly posing major challenges for water infrastructures. Research by ISOE –...

The steppes of Mongolia are unique. They are among the last grassland ecosystems in the world where wild animals can actually move freely. But social and economic changes are threatening this ecosystem. The consequences are water shortage and soil degradation. A key factor for the preservation of...

ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research has worked together with the Hessian Centre for Climate Change (FZK) and students of the HPI School of Design Thinking (D-School) during a three-month project on the topic of “Urban Green Spaces in times of Climate Change”. The results of this semester...

ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt am Main continued its series “ISOE Lecture” in the winter semester of 2019/20. This year’s lecture at the Goethe University Frankfurt was dealing with the debate on the anthropocene. The renowned environmental scientist and anthropocene...

In a recent statement, the German Council of Science and Humanities has acknowledged the positive development of ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research that has taken place since the evaluation in July 2016. The Council of Science and Humanities is impressed by the process of structural and...