Team

PD Dr. Thomas Kluge

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

Thomas Kluge is one of the co-founders of ISOE and was member of the executive board until March 2014. He was part of the research unit Water Resources and Land Use, and has been an associate research scientist at ISOE since 2016. Thomas Kluge studied Law and Sociology at the Goethe University Frankfurt and received his doctorate there in 1984 for his thesis on "Society, Technology, Nature ‑ A Life-Philosophical Critique of Technology and Society." After post-doctoral work, he received, in 1999, the title of "Privatdozent" (privat lecturer) from the University of Kassel, with a thesis on "Water and Society. From Hydraulic Machinery to Sustainable Development." Since his post-doctoral qualification he has been teaching at the University of Kassel.

Focus of research

  • Water research
  • Environmental planning
  • Regional sustainability

Publications

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Current Publications

Projects

  • EPoNa – Water Reuse in Northern Namibia
    Water

    EPoNa – Water Reuse in Northern Namibia

    The aim of the project is to improve the performance of wastewater pond facilities. To this end, ISOE is investigating aspects of governance and developing management structures and financial controlling procedures.

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  • SASSCAL – Water-related vulnerabilities and risk in Southern Africa
    Water Land Use

    SASSCAL – Water-related vulnerabilities and risk in Southern Africa

    The project team is analysing to what extent water-related vulnerabilities and risks for the population and ecosystems are developing within the context of global change and how these might conceivably be reduced.
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  • CuveWaters – Sustainable Water Management in Namibia
    Water

    CuveWaters – Sustainable Water Management in Namibia

    The aim of CuveWaters is to support and improve Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the northern Namibian Cuvelai-Etosha Basin. ISOE is supervising and co-ordinating this international joint project.
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  • SASSCAL – Research Infrastructure in Africa
    Water Land Use

    SASSCAL – Research Infrastructure in Africa

    In July 2010 the launch of the new BMBF initiative "Climate change and adaptive land management in Africa" took place. The goal is to build up a long-term research infrastructure in Africa via regional competence centres.
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  • Structural concept for Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg
    Water

    Structural concept for Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg

    In this project a structural concept for the future water supply was developed on behalf of the water utility Trinkwasserversorgung Magdeburg GmbH (TWM).
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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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  • Water demand forecast 2030 (base year 2005) for Hamburg
    Water

    Water demand forecast 2030 (base year 2005) for Hamburg

    In the Wasserbedarfsprognose 2030 project ('Water Demand Forecasting 2030'), ISOE and COOPERATIVE Darmstadt drew up a forecast for water demand in the area supplied by the Hamburg Waterworks (HWW).
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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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  • Privatisation in the Water Sector
    Water

    Privatisation in the Water Sector

    ISOE compiled this exploratory study for the "Social Ecological Research" funding programme of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The scientists ascertained research needs for sustainable development in water resource management.
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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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  • Sustainability Audit
    Transformation

    Sustainability Audit

    In collaboration with the Ökobank, ISOE penned some preliminary ideas for a sustainability audit. The “normal” EC Eco-Audit aims at process-driven improvements in a company's immediate environmental impact, for instance reduced consumption of paper and energy or a reduction in CO2 emissions. The sustainability audit combines the Eco-Audit with a social audit.
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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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  • Regional Sustainability in Water and Land Use
    Water

    Regional Sustainability in Water and Land Use

    Regional sustainability as a research topic raises many questions regarding methodology and subject matter. In this proprietary project, ISOE developed a concept for regional sustainability around the example of water.
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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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