As part of an organizational development process, we at ISOE have engaged intensively with our research, our goals and values, and our organizational structure. As a result, we have realigned ourselves strategically, substantively, and structurally. This process aims to enhance our ability to shape sustainability transformations more effectively. To mark this shift, we are introducing a new institute strategy along with a new corporate design.
In our Institute Strategy 2024–2030, we set out our vision for this transformation in detail. We firmly believe that to preserve the foundations of life in the long term and enable people to live well within planetary boundaries, profound and multifaceted changes are essential. Technological innovations will play a role, but given the many challenges of sustainability, fundamental transformations of current lifestyles and economic practices are also urgently required.
Sustainability Crises are Becoming More Complex
For over three and a half decades, our research teams have been developing solutions for such transformations in collaboration with practitioners. They examine the relationships between society and nature, as reflected in resource use – such as energy, water, and land – consumption patterns, mobility and leisure behaviors, and approaches to managing environmental risks.
However, sustainability crises are becoming more complex, as seen in the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. At the same time, new challenges are emerging: While the scientific consensus on the urgency of transformation is almost unanimous, resistance to new approaches and measures that demonstrably advance social-ecological change is growing in parts of society.
Risks and Conflicts in Transformation Processes
For this reason, we have closely examined how necessary transformations can still be realized in a society facing intensifying conflicts and inequalities. We are convinced that addressing the risks and trade-offs of change is just as important as recognizing synergies and opportunities for social participation in sustainability transformations. If long-term transformations toward sustainability are to succeed, people in all their diversity must be actively involved in a constructive negotiation of conflicts.
This means that if we are to develop scientifically sound and practical solutions to today’s environmental and climate policy challenges, we must take people’s concerns, fears, and needs seriously and foster dialogue on both the opportunities and obstacles to societal, political, and economic action. Our new claim, “Advancing Knowledge for Sustainability,” reflects our commitment to integrating these aspects and generating the essential knowledge needed for sustainable transformation processes through our research.
New Website After a Comprehensive Relaunch
At ISOE, this strategic realignment also means that we have sharpened our research profile to better highlight the pressing scientific questions associated with current societal transformation processes. Accordingly, we have further focused our research topics on transformation processes and optimized our workflows through an extensive organizational development process.
With a comprehensive relaunch, reflected in a new logo, a new corporate design, and the launch of our new website today, we aim to make the outcomes of this internal process visible to the outside world.
We invite you to explore our perspective on sustainability challenges, our vision for solutions, and our mission, values, and research work. We look forward to engaging in dialogue with you.
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