(Number of projects = 45)
The junior research group ‘regulate’, led by ISOE, investigates current challenges to Europe’s groundwater management against the background of acute drought conditions, ongoing pollution, increasing conflicts and complex institutional settings. The team of researchers from natural and social sciences develops strategies for sustainable management of groundwater on different governance levels.
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plant growth. Currently, most of the phosphorus fertilizers used in agriculture are imported. However, wastewater remains unused as an important source of phosphorus, although the potential for the recovery of phosphorus from wastewater is great and the necessary technology – such as precipitation, the recovery of dissolved phosphorus from wastewater – is available. Against this background, the BMBF project “Network for resource-efficient phosphorus recycling and management in the Harz and Heath region (P-Net)” is investigating possibilities for establishing regional networks to process precipitated phosphorus involving so-called struvite plants which are wastewater treatment plants that have already established phosphorus precipitation with the aim to produce phosphorus fertilizers such as struvite. This process is a sustainable method of phosphorus recycling (P-recycling) which also makes an important contribution to the regionalization of resource cycles.
The SynVer*Z synthesis and networking project accompanies almost 50 research projects dealing with the transformation of cities towards sustainability. ISOE examines their effectiveness and supports them in the development of impact potentials.
The volume of commuter traffic has increased steadily in recent years – bringing with it the known consequences for ecology, health and quality of life. The CommuterLab research project examines how to bring about a more agreeable and environment friendly form of commuting between the city and the surrounding region, taking into consideration the strong changes currently affecting the basic social and technological parameters.
The design of water infrastructures plays a central role in the transformation of urban spaces. This current follow-up project of netWORKS 4 is concerned with the consolidation of research results and knowledge transfer. The aim is to initiate dialogue processes dealing with future-oriented designs of urban infrastructures. The focus is on synergies between different infrastructures, as these make an important contribution to resource conservation and adaptation to the consequences of climate change, such as heavy precipitation or heat waves. This includes the question to what extent the adaptation of infrastructures can improve the “climate justice” for inhabitants.
Although the principle of transdisciplinary research has been successfully applied for several decades, especially in sustainability research, there are so far only a few structures or expert organisations that could ensure the consolidation of its scientific standards. And, it is precisely because of the complex methodological, conceptual, and communicative challenges, that there is a special need for structures and places for the bundling and further development of knowledge about transdisciplinarity and for strengthening the community of those who explore and teach transdisciplinarily and fund such research. The platform tdAcademy closes this gap.
As a result of anthropogenic climate change, Bangladesh is regularly affected by extreme weather events such as storms and floods. The frequency and severity of these events is increasing and they have serious impacts on the life, health and quality of life of the local population. The sub-project “Gender Aspects of Flood Events in Bangladesh” at ISOE is part of the joint project “FlutNetz” and aims to analyze gender-specific issues of flood disasters and emergency measures in Bangladesh.
In this EU-funded, interdisciplinary project, the project team investigates how end users and stakeholders perceive the innovative TRI-HP technology. The aim of this project is to determine which social needs have to be taken into consideration in order for these systems to be used successfully.
The contributions of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) to future-oriented urban and regional development are the focus of the transfer project “System Innovation for Sustainable Development. Transfer as a learning process in the region” (s:ne). The aim is to link the creative and innovative potential of the region to support sustainable development and to establish a system with the inherent capability to learn (self-learning system). To this end, the project works closely with regional and urban institutions and actors from society, research, politics and business in the Darmstadt area.
The research project develops inter- and transdisciplinary concepts and methods that enable a dialogue on biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as on the impacts of human interventions on ecosystems and on the role of climate change.
For the Indian cities of Coimbatore and Solapur, the establishment of Water Innovation Hubs as network and project centres contributes to sustainable local development and the consolidation of Indo-German cooperation in the water sector. Demonstration projects integrated in these hubs promote technology transfer in a very concrete way, as the exemplary piloting of smart water quality monitoring systems in the two cities shows. This way, partnership-based cooperation in combination with innovative, digital technology can make a sustainable contribution to improving water security in India.
The ENGAGE project investigates the conditions under which the participation and commitment of citizens to sustainability can lead to “sustainable public welfare”.
The examination of the scientific and social discourse on sustainability makes it clear that in the course of its development the legitimacy of the goal of sustainable development was strengthened which means that at the same time the actors, objectives and understandings of sustainability have multiplied. A closer look at the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG) and their sub-objectives makes this evident since they are in part contradictory.
In many places one already finds attractive, environmentally friendly alternatives to owning a car, such as car sharing, carpools or electric cars, which allow citizens to use an own car less. All too often, however, these offers are not taken up. That is why, in the research project Mobility Laboratory 2020 the team from ISOE and Zebralog are investigating the obstacles that lead to this situation using participative methods.
The aim of DINA is to test a standardized monitoring of flying insects and to analyse factors that correlate with the drastic decline of insects in nature reserves. In three in-depth case studies, the ISOE team will bring different local groups of actors from agriculture, science, politics and nature conservation into a dialogue process with the aim to jointly develop feasible approaches to better protect biodiversity.
India is the country with the second largest population on earth and exhibits a steadily increas-ing rate of urbanisation. The interaction between climate change and resource depletion causes challenges in wastewater disposal and public access to clean drinking water. The BMBF research project TRAPA India looks into approaches to address urban wastewater problems in Indian cities. Implementation strategies for integrated wastewater management will be developed based on sound business models.
The SuPraStadt research project investigates in three Real-World Laboratories how the needs of residents can be reconciled with the ecological requirements of sustainability with respect to the areas of housing, open space and mobility.
Das Forschungsprojekt NamTip untersucht, wie ökologische und soziale Faktoren die Desertifikation – oder Wüstenbildung – in Trockengebieten beeinflussen. Ziel ist es, sogenannte Kipppunkte und die damit zusammenhängenden Folgen für Mensch und Umwelt frühzeitig zu erkennen. Am Beispiel der namibischen Savanne werden Desertifikationsprozesse, die zu einem Umkippen des Savannenökosystems führen können, erforscht und geeignete Maßnahmen identifiziert, um einer Wüstenbildung wirkungsvoll zu begegnen.
The research project MORE STEP investigates processes of change in the ecosystem of the Mongolian steppe and their socio-economic and ecological causes and consequences. The mobility of wild as well as domesticated herd animals plays a central role in the survival of the ecosystem. The project therefore aims to identify societal development paths that will continue to enable the mobility of wild animals and nomadic pastoralists and their herds.
The ORYCS research project builds on the results of the successful Namibian-German cooperation in the OPTIMASS research project. The aim is to assess the suitability of wildlife management strategies as options for adapting land use to climate change in savanna ecosystems.
Ecosystems are frequently subject to strong (local) utilization pressure for instance due to intensive agriculture. At the same time, ecosystems are influenced by global processes like climate change. The question arises, how conflicts that are based on different demands on the ecosystem services can be avoided or reduced. This research project investigates the dynamics of land use changes and their impacts on ecosystem services and biodiversity.
The aim of the project is to determine the potential demand for service water in Frankfurt am Main and at the same time to show ways how this demand can be met. Service water can be used for those commercial, industrial, agricultural, and domestic purposes for which drinking water quality is not absolutely necessary. In addition to rainwater, river water, local groundwater and slightly polluted wastewater (so-called “greywater”) are considered as water sources from which service water can be obtained. Based on different development scenarios for the period of investigation until 2050, a theoretical substitution potential for drinking water is to be estimated. On the basis of these results, further supply areas of Hessenwasser GmbH & Co. KG can be examined.
