How much do we really need for a good life? Which services and infrastructures enable a sufficient standard of living, consumption, or nutrition?
The concept of sufficiency promotes prosperity and quality of life without the constant growth of resource consumption. The idea of “more and more” is replaced by “enough” or “the right amount.” Sufficiency advocates for the reduction of energy and resource use, aiming to enable a good life within ecological limits.
The increasing consumption of energy and materials, the wasteful use of products, and a high dependency on fossil fuels represent lifestyles of non-sufficiency. These practices contribute to the depletion of natural resources and exacerbate global crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss.
“Improving efficiency reduces the costs of products and services, often leading to increased consumption. Due to these rebound effects, sufficiency strategies are a crucial element on the way to sustainability.”
Dr. Immanuel Stieß, Head of the Practices and Infrastructures Hub
Sufficiency involves both changing individual behavior and creating innovative offerings, such as redesigning production methods and infrastructures that enable sufficiency-oriented behavior in the first place. This applies to everyday behaviors, municipal public services, and business activities.
We develop concepts for resource-efficient living, consumption, and nutrition. Through our research, we create spaces for learning and experience, demonstrating how institutional and organizational conditions can be established to enable and support sufficient actions. A key question in this process is how to ensure social participation for vulnerable groups in essential public services such as housing, mobility, and nutrition.
Homeowners are key players in the implementation of municipal heat planning. The project investigate sustainable heating solutions and exploring new participation formats.
