(Number of projects = 39)
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.
This research project investigates normative conflicts which potentially arise when using biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The research project investigates the relationship between natural and societal processes. The resulting social-ecological dynamics are considered in particular in the context of the Anthropocene discourse.
In cooperation with the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), ISOE is investigating what reduced biodiversity means for the provision of ecosystem services to society.
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.
The research project will develop a transfer program for Geisenheim University (HGU) that will strengthen biodiverse and multifunctional viticulture in the Rheingau. Together with regional actors, new and innovative formats of knowledge transfer will be used to develop solution strategies for a much needed system change in agriculture. Here, viticulture and the cultural landscape shaped by it is going to serve as an example.
This research project investigates the influence of social transformation processes – for example demographic change, digitalization or changes in values and norms – on cultural landscapes and their biodiversity. As a result, possible development paths of cultural landscapes can be identified. These paths are developed jointly with the local population.
The project is aiming to improve the knowledge base with regard to municipal climate adaptation in Germany, to strengthen municipal climate adaptation activities, and to identify leverage points for municipal climate adaptation activities that can be used to advance effective transformation processes towards climate resilient municipalities.
Forest areas are at the center of different interests and utilization claims . Conflicts around these ecologically, economically and culturally significant landscapes are coming to a head in the context of climate change. The research project “Conflicts over the Forest of the Future – Analysis and Cooperative Management of Forest-Related Negotiation Processes in the Context of Climate Change” explores conflicts of this kind and aims to facilitate a constructive dialogue. In this context, the actors involved are the focus of research interest.
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 is available. The BMBF project P-Net is investigating possibilities for establishing regional networks to process precipitated phosphorus with the aim to produce phosphorus fertilizers such as struvite. This process is a sustainable method of phosphorus recycling which also makes an important contribution to the regionalization of resource cycles.
The transfer project AquaticPollutantsTransNet accompanies 18 projects funded by the European Union that address risks to human health and the environment from pollutants and pathogens in water resources. The aim is to promote the transfer of knowledge from research results to the public and administrative sectors, politics, industry and business.
How can train stations in municipalities be designed in such a way that they become attractive interfaces for sustainable multimodal mobility and at the same time can be experienced as diverse, lively places to stay? This is what ISOE is investigating on behalf of the German Centre for Rail Transport Research at the Federal Railway Authority and in cooperation with designated partners. The aim is to develop a modular catalogue of measures for the design of railway stations.
The research project SLInBio is investigating how the perception and valorization of insects can be increased in Frankfurt am Main and what contribution cities can make to the conservation of insect diversity. Therefore, social-ecological interactions between lifestyles and everyday practices of city dwellers and urban insect diversity are being analyzed.
Much of the plastic pollution in the oceans occurs on land. This is where the international research project “SCIP Plastics: Sustainable Capacity Building to Reduce Irreversible Pollution by Plastics” comes in. The research project is developing a master plan for the city of Khulna (Bangladesh) to sustainably transform the municipal waste management system. But a broad knowledge base is crucial for the success of the master plan in practice. Therefore, an inter- and transdisciplinary Knowledge Transfer Hub will be established, even beyond the project duration.
The three-year research project aims to investigate what kind of knowledge needs and barriers exist among municipal decision-makers and how the latter can then be addressed by means of better knowledge transfer. The intention is to support climate adaptation in Hessian municipalities.
We are currently observing a dramatic decline of biodiversity. The common focus on maintaining the status quo poses the risk of protecting landscape areas that are too small in the medium term. Superordinate ecosystem functions, which represent the natural basis of life for humans, animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms, meadows, waters, and forests, are thereby lost from sight. Using an interdisciplinary approach, RobustNature identifies the characteristics that determine the robustness of ecosystems and guarantee their functionality in the event of disturbances by means of dynamic compensation.
The joint project CapTain Rain aims to develop appropriate climate services for assessing and forecasting flash floods and to identify measures for the adaption to climate change and the mitigation of disaster damages. This includes measures to collect and drain water during heavy rainfall events.
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.
Regional competitions over the resource water are not uncommon. Due to climate change, urbanization and pollution of water resources, these conflicts of use could intensify in the coming decades. Even in Germany that is rich in water, conflicts of use are becoming more frequent. This is why new concepts and processes for water reuse are needed.
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.
In the LogMob research project, the implementation of an integrated mobility and logistics concept for major events is being studied taking the German Protestant Church Congress (DEKT) as an example. The aim is to estimate the effects of this concept, particularly regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and also in order to examine the transferability to other major events.
