ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt am Main is one of the leading independent institutes for sustainability research. For more than 30 years the institute has been developing scientific bases and future oriented concepts for politics, civil society and the economy – regionally, nationally and internationally. Our research topics include water, energy, climate protection, mobility, urban spaces, biodiversity and social-ecological systems.

First professorship for social ecology and transdisciplinarity in Germany +++ Retrospect of the ISOE symposium on the farewell of Thomas Jahn: Crisis, catastrophe, normality – the responsibility of science for shaping the future +++ Launch of German-Jordanian research project on disaster management during heavy rainfall +++ Large-scale implementation of vegetable production utilizing water reuse +++ Models for measuring sustainability do not sufficiently depict societal well-being +++ Technology and knowledge transfer for sustainable water infrastructures +++ ISOE now member of Sustainable Development Solutions Network Germany +++ Research cooperation with Bangladesh for better emergency medical care during floods +++ ISOE Blog +++ Publications

Inaugural Lecture of Flurina Schneider at Goethe University Frankfurt First professorship for social ecology and transdisciplinarity in Germany
		In the winter semester of 2021/22, Flurina Schneider, scientific director of ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research, will take up her professorship for Social Ecology and Transdisciplinarity at Goethe University Frankfurt. The joint professorship of the independent research institute ISOE and the university is the first with this particular focus in Germany. The inaugural lecture...Read more

Retrospect of the ISOE symposium on the farewell of Thomas Jahn Crisis, catastrophe, normality – the responsibility of science for shaping the future
		On October 1, 2021, ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research solemnly bid farewell to its co-founder Thomas Jahn as scientific director. In addition to a festive event, a symposium took place under the title “Crisis, Catastrophe, Normality – the Responsibility of Science for Shaping the Future”. The focus was on the following question that was already asked before the Corona pandemic: What...Read more

Risk prevention Launch of German-Jordanian research project on disaster management during heavy rainfall
		Jordan is one of the world's most arid countries and is particularly affected by climate change and extreme weather events. Heavy rain and flash floods repeatedly lead to high property damage and fatalities. A research network led by ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research is pursuing the goal of identifying measures for reducing disaster damage in Jordan that are also suitable for...Read more

Adaptation to climate change Large-scale implementation of vegetable production utilizing water reuse
		From pilot project to large-scale implementation: The process of agricultural food production with water reuse successfully developed in the HypoWave research project is entering large-scale application for the first time. In the course of the follow-up project HypoWave+, the research network has started preparations for hydroponic vegetable production with recycled irrigation water on a...Read more

Sustainable Development Goals Models for measuring sustainability do not sufficiently depict societal well-being
		Heat waves, floods and storms – recent extreme weather events have highlighted what the IPCC’s current 6th Assessment Report describes scientifically: The Earth system is in turmoil, its planetary boundaries have been reached. Not only the climate is affected, but also biodiversity, freshwater and land systems. As a result, humanitarian catastrophes are becoming more frequent. How can we make sure...Read more

Research project AQUA-Hub India Technology and knowledge transfer for sustainable water infrastructures
		India’s cities are rapidly growing and need an efficient infrastructure for water supply and wastewater disposal. However, current infrastructure development can hardly keep up with population growth. Therefore, a research cooperation composed of ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research, Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB, Landesagentur Umwelttechnik BW...Read more

Sustainable Development Solutions Network Germany ISOE now member of the network of leading German knowledge organizations
		ISOE has been accepted into the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Germany (SDSN Germany). Since its foundation in 2014, leading German knowledge organizations and partners from business and society have been cooperating in this network with the aim to promote sustainable development in Germany and to advance the German commitment to sustainable development within the European Union (EU)...Read more

Research cooperation with Bangladesh for better emergency medical care during floods Strengthening disaster management worldwide and learning from one another
		Within the research project “FlutNetz”, the aim of the scientists from Goethe University Frankfurt, RWTH Aachen University and ISOE – Institute for Social-Ecological Research in Frankfurt is to cooperate with partners from Bangladesh to improve emergency medical care during flood disasters in the country. In 2020, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) pledged 2.4 million...Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has vividly demonstrated the susceptibility of fieldwork activities – which play a key role in social-ecological research – to sudden crisis events. This contribution is reflecting on the question of how researchers can constructively deal with such challenges and in what respect this might also constitute a chance to promote a more inclusive and equitable research landscape ... Read more

Groundwater is the main source of drinking water and irrigated food production worldwide. The invisible resource is, however, under stress from climate change, societal water withdrawals and long-distance effects – telecouplings. Virtual water trade, that is the water contained in traded products, and remote water supply are two examples of how society manages groundwater in such de-localised contexts ... Read more

Addressing complex sustainability problems requires more than scientific knowledge. Researchers must collaborate with societal actors from government, business and civil society, and engage in the co-production of knowledge and action. Sustainability-oriented networks can help to foster this co-production as they link different types of actors across various scales. But how can such networks effectively facilitate co-production? ... Read more

Brand, Ulrich/Barbara Muraca/Éric Pineault/Marlyne Sahakian/Anke Schaffartzik/Andreas Novy/Christoph Streissler/Helmut Haberl/Viviana Asara/Kristina Dietz/Miriam Lang/Ashish Kothari/Tone Smith/Clive Spash/Alina Brad/Melanie Pichler/Christina Plank/Giorgos Velegrakis/Thomas Jahn/Angela Carter/Qingzhi Huan/Giorgos Kallis/Joan Martinez-Alier/Gabriel Riva/Vishwas Satgar/Emiliano Teran Mantovani/Michelle Williams/Markus Wissen/Christoph Görg (2021): From planetary to societal boundaries: an argument for collectively defined self-limitation. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 17 (1), 265-292

Danet, Alain/Florian D. Schneider/Fabien Anthelme/Sonia Kéfi (2021): Indirect facilitation drives species composition and stability in drylands. Theoretical Ecology 14 (2), 189-203

Drees, Lukas/Robert Lütkemeier/Heide Kerber (2021): Necessary or oversimplification? On the strengths and limitations of current assessments to integrate social dimensions in planetary boundaries. Ecological Indicators 129 (October), 108009

Eisenberg, Bernd/Carlo Morandi/Philipp Richter/Friederike Well/Martina Winker/Ralf Minke/Heidrun Steinmetz/Ferdinand Ludwig (2021): The Impulse Project Stuttgart-Stimulating Resilient Urban Development Through Blue-Green Infrastructure. In: Hutter, Gérar/Marco Neubert/Regine Ortlepp (Hg.): Building Resilience to Natural Hazards in the Context of Climate Change. Knowledge Integration, Implementation and Learning. Studien zur Resilienzforschung.

Ellison, James/Katja Brinkmann/Rodrigue V.Cao Diogo/Andreas Buerkert (2021): Land cover transitions and effects of transhumance on available forage biomass of rangelands in Benin. Environment, Development and Sustainability

Fischer, Corinna/Immanuel Stieß (2021): The Role of Consumers: Social Participation Beyond Work and the Market. In: Seidl, Irmi/Angelika Zahrnt (Hg.): Post-growth work: Employment and meaningful activities within planetary boundaries. London: Routledge, 57-71

Fischer, Michaela/Thomas Dockhorn/Martin Zimmermann/Martina Winker (2021): Water reuse in hydroponic plant production: a new facet in agricultural food production. Book of Abstracts. 4th IWA Resource Recovery Conference - IWARR2021 Turkey (Virtual), 5.9-8.9.2021, 168-170

Frick-Trzebitzky, Fanny/Robert Lütkemeier (2021): Groundwater: De-localized Resources in the Anthropocene. ISOE Blog Soziale Ökologie. Krise - Kritik - Gestaltung

Friedrich, Thomas/Immanuel Stieß (2021): Social acceptance of innovative RE H/C systems: barriers, hindrances, drivers and incentives. Brüssel: European Commission

Friedrich, Thomas/Immanuel Stieß (2021): Enhancing stakeholders' acceptance of trigeneration heating and cooling systems: Recommendations from the TRI-HP stakeholder process. Brüssel: European Commission

Grossmann, Katrin/James JT Connolly/Malgorzata Dereniowska/Giulio Mattioli/Luca Nitschke/Nicola Thomas/Anais Varo (2021): From sustainable development to social-ecological justice: Addressing taboos and naturalizations in order to shift perspective. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

Hummel, Diana (2021): The nexus between climate change, migration and gender. In: Eastin, Joshua/Kendra Dupuy (Hg.): Gender, Climate Change and Livelihoods. Vulnerabilities and Adaptations. Oxfordshire/Boston: CABI, 159-173

Lehmann, Gerlind U.C./Nikita Bakanov/Martin Behnisch/Sarah J. Bourlat/Carsten A. Brühl/Lisa Eichler/Thomas Fickel/Matthias F. Geiger/Birgit Gemeinholzer/Thomas Hörren/Sebastian Köthe/Alexandra Lux/Gotthard Meinel/Roland Mühlethaler/Hanna Poglitsch/Livia Schäffler/Ulrich Schlechtriemen/Florian D. Schneider/Ralf Schulte/Martin Sorg/Maximilian Sprenger/Stephanie J. Swenson/Wiltrud Terlau/Angela Turck/Vera M.A. Zizka (2021): Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA): an interdisciplinary German research project. Biodiversity and Conservation 30 (8-9), 2605-2614

Lundsgaard-Hansen, Lara M./Florence Metz/Manuel Fischer/Flurina Schneider/Win Myint/Peter Messerli (2021): The making of land use decisions, war, and state. Journal of Land Use Science

Lütkemeier, Robert/Fanny Frick-Trzebitzky/Dženeta Hodžic/Anna Jäger/David Kuhn/Linda Söller (2021): Telecoupled Groundwaters: New Ways to Investigate Increasingly De-Localized Resources. Water 13 (20), 2906

Mortelmans, Dieter/Thomas Fickel/Edward Ott/Francis Turkelboom/Marion Mehring/Monika Suškevics/Philip K. Roche (2021): IMAGINE COOKBOOK SERIES N°5 Policy Coherence analysis (PoICA): methodological approach.

Nitschke, Luca (2021): Processes of re-embedding in non-commercial car-sharing. Applied Mobilities

Peter, Sophie/Gaetane Le Provost/Marion Mehring/Thomas Müller/Peter Manning (2021): Cultural worldviews consistently explain bundles of ecosystem service prioritisation across rural Germany. People and Nature

Rauchecker, Markus (2021): Transgenic soy as a political crop and a resistance crop in Argentina-The struggle around control and rent appropriation between the state, seed corporations and soy farmers. Geoforum

Schäfer, Martina/Matthias Bergmann/Lena Theiler (2021): Systematizing societal effects of transdisciplinary research. Research Evaluation , rvab019

Schneider, Flurina/Theresa Tribaldos (2021): Finding ways to sustainability through the "network compass". Bern, Switzerland: Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern

Wiederkehr, Charlotte/Kathleen Hermans (2021): What can social-ecological research learn from the COVID-19 pandemic? Reflections and recommendations. ISOE Blog Soziale Ökologie. Krise - Kritik - Gestaltung

Zimmermann, Lisa/Zdenka Bartosova/Katharina Braun/Jörg Oehlmann/Carolin Völker/Martin Wagner (2021): Plastic Products Leach Chemicals That Induce In Vitro Toxicity under Realistic Use Conditions. Environmental Science and Technology

Further publications can be found at www.isoe-publikationen.de.