Team

Dr. Engelbert Schramm

Associate Research Scientist
+49 69 7076919-0 schramm@isoe.de

Engelbert Schramm is co-founder of ISOE and was a member of the institute's executive board from 2014 to July 2018. He is responsible for scientific publications and is a member of the research unit Water Infrastructure and Risk Analyses. He studied biology, chemistry and education at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main. Engelbert Schramm received his doctorate in 1995 from Darmstadt Technical University, with a thesis on the history of the concept of circulation.

ResearchGate

Focus of research

  • Water and material flow
  • Participative scenario development

Publications

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Current Publications

Projects

  • Biodiversity and Climate: Socio-ecological Biodiversity Research
    Biodiversity

    Biodiversity and Climate: Socio-ecological Biodiversity Research

    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.
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  • Transdisciplinarity in biodiversity research
    Biodiversity

    Transdisciplinarity in biodiversity research

    The project is developing new approaches to comprehensively research biodiversity, ecosystem services and human interventions on ecosystems.

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  • BioFAVOR II – Low-tech recycling of faeces from decentralised sources
    Sufficiency

    BioFAVOR II – Low-tech recycling of faeces from decentralised sources

    The research network in the BioFAVOR II project demonstrates the technical feasibility of a novel low-tech process for converting faeces from composting toilets into products that are hygienically and ecologically safe.

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  • NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area
    Water

    NiddaMan – Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Nidda Catchment Area

    The aim of the joint project is the development of strategies for a sustainable management of the water resources in the Nidda catchment area. These strategies are to serve as a planning instrument for practical water management.
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  • Semizentral – Infrastructure systems for cities of the future experiencing rapid growth
    Water

    Semizentral – Infrastructure systems for cities of the future experiencing rapid growth

    Within the CLIENT joint project “Semizentral: Resource-efficient and flexible supply and waste disposal infrastructure systems for rapidly growing cities of the future – Phase 2” ISOE is supporting the implementation of a project that is testing the semicentral freshwater supply and wastewater treatment in a new district of Qingdao/China.
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  • netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector
    Water Climate Adaptation

    netWORKS 3 – Sustainable concepts for the municipal water sector

    The goal of the research collaboration netWORKS is to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for the municipal water and wastewater sector. The netWORKS 3 project is designed to help municipalities adapt to the changing determining conditions in the water and wastewater sector.
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  • NaCoSi – Sustainability controlling of the domestic water management
    Water Chemical Risks

    NaCoSi – Sustainability controlling of the domestic water management

    The goal of the joint project is to develop a sustainability controlling for the domestic water management, thus minimising the risks that compromise sustainable development and improving the viability of the water sector.
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  • KREIS – Innovative municipal wastewater system in ‘Jenfelder Au’
    Water

    KREIS – Innovative municipal wastewater system in ‘Jenfelder Au’

    The innovative drainage and energy-generating concept HAMBURG WATER Cycle is being implemented in a new urban district of the city. ISOE is analysing the scheme in terms of user behaviour and sustainability.
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  • IWRM in Isfahan – Sustainable Water Management in Iran
    Water

    IWRM in Isfahan – Sustainable Water Management in Iran

    The team of the German-Iranian IWRM project in Isfahan is developing a concept for integrated water resource management (IWRM) in the region around the Zayandeh river.
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  • Eliminating micropollutants in sewage plants
    Chemical Risks Water

    Eliminating micropollutants in sewage plants

    This project looks into how active drugs substances and micropollutants can be extracted via sewage plants. The part played by ISOE is to investigate how such inputs can be avoid.
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  • Expert report on the carbon balance of forests
    Biodiversity

    Expert report on the carbon balance of forests

    On behalf of the HSE Südhessische Energie AG, ISOE is involved in compiling an expert report on the carbon balance of carbon-offset forestry projects.
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  • Sustainability Performance in the Water Supply
    Water

    Sustainability Performance in the Water Supply

    In order to render the sustainability performance of German water utilities measurable and evaluable, the team identified operational figures which it compiled into a catalogue.
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  • Knowledge Communication

    Knowledge Communication

    In the "Knowledge Communication" project, the team developed an essential basis for the effective and target-group-related communication of scientific findings at ISOE.
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  • netWORKS – Transformations in Network Related Infrastructure Sectors
    Water Climate Adaptation

    netWORKS – Transformations in Network Related Infrastructure Sectors

    The goal of the project group was to develop strategies and instruments that enable municipal decision-makers to take forward-looking action in the current process of transformation to the infrastructure systems.
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  • Support for the Projects for Sustainable Economies

    Support for the Projects for Sustainable Economies

    ISOE provided support for the “Regional Approaches to Sustainable Economic Development” initiative funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.
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  • Exploratory Studies on SÖF

    Exploratory Studies on SÖF

    The first phase of the "Social Ecological Research" (SÖF) funding programme of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) was concerned first and foremost with conducting exploratory studies. Innovative approaches from these studies were identified and collated for the funding programme. The interdisciplinary project group did a systematic evaluation of the findings from the exploratory projects in order to develop the funding programme further.
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  • Concept for the Framework Programme "Social-ecological Research" SÖF

    Concept for the Framework Programme "Social-ecological Research" SÖF

    The intention was to supplement the BMBF "Research for the Environment" programme with a new funding programme by the name of 'Social-Ecological Research". ISOE was commissioned to devise the conceptual framework. On this basis, 2000 saw the start of the 10-year funding period for all three funding programmes in three areas (integrated research, infrastructure funding, and the promotion of young scientists). It was the aim of this particular funding programme to strengthen Germany's expertise in social-ecological research and thus – taking special account of the potential available at non-university, independent research institutes – in transdisciplinary environmental and sustainability research as a whole.
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  • Forecasts of Social-Ecological Transformations

    Forecasts of Social-Ecological Transformations

    In the exploratory study, links between society, the supply system and Nature were examined. Scientists looked at how the uncertainty involved in forecasting complex interrelations could be reduced through the use of suitable models. In the modern water supply system, for example, natural and social processes are closely interwoven; in the language of physics, one would say they are "strongly coupled": for instance ecologically motivated savings by consumers, the falling away of water-intensive industries, or capacity problems in supply networks due to demographic change. Models can prove helpful in dealing with couplings of this kind.
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  • Substitution of Environmental Relevant Flame Retardants
    Chemical Risks

    Substitution of Environmental Relevant Flame Retardants

    The team investigated the use of flame retardants in Germany on the basis of selected products. These included products from the categories of insulating material and polyurethane foam, construction materials for rail vehicles, printed circuit boards, basic materials for electronics housing, and mattress/upholstery fabrics.
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  • Knowledge Transfer for Ecological Innovations

    Knowledge Transfer for Ecological Innovations

    During the two years of research, a consumption-related "innovation probe" was developed, with which to utilise consumers' demands for ecologically innovative products and services. The "knowledge transfer" between consumer and manufacturer so far has to pass between the bottleneck of market research. A broader approach is called for if ecological aspects of relevance to everyday life are to be identified alongside purchase behaviour and market preferences.
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  • Efficient Use of the Hessian Groundwater Fee
    Water

    Efficient Use of the Hessian Groundwater Fee

    The project tracked the deployment of funds from the Hessian groundwater fee in Hessian communities, evaluating it for efficiency. The interdisciplinary research group was able to ascertain overall success for the initiative within the funding criteria.
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  • Water Cycle an Urban-Ecological Development
    Water

    Water Cycle an Urban-Ecological Development

    The project team investigated the connection between the social, technical and ecological aspects of a future approach to urban water usage. It focused its research on the water cycle in the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. The scientists came up with sustainable strategies to form a scenario capable of tackling the water-related problems and socio-ecological hot spots in urban industrial regions.
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  • Stormwater Infiltration in Wiesbaden
    Water

    Stormwater Infiltration in Wiesbaden

    ISOE subjected parts of Wiesbaden city to an initial water management appraisal. Here, scientists categorised which surfaces were suitable for decentralised infiltration of precipitation. The surfaces were evaluated with a view to groundwater protection (pollutant input and filtering qualities of the soils) and their infiltration capability.
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  • Material flows of environmentally relevant chemical substances: product line controlling
    Water

    Material flows of environmentally relevant chemical substances: product line controlling

    Using fire protection as an example, the project team investigated the possibility of implementing an ecological scheme to manage material flows along the value chain. In preventative fire protection, plastics are often treated with flame retardants containing problematic substances.

    Based on a product tree analysis, the potentials and restrictions of ecological innovations in the field of fire protection were examined. Personal computers and car seats were the product lines of reference here. At ISOE, actor-oriented studies were carried out to establish people's knowledge about substances, risk awareness, usage patterns and innovation routines.
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