Chair of Environmental Governance

Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources

Chair of Environmental Governance

Abkürzung der Fakultät für Umwelt und Natürliche Ressourcen "unr" in der Farbe sand auf grünem, kreisförmigen Hintergrund

The Chair of Environmental Governance is focused on the achievement and safeguarding of ecological sustainability goals within spatially, politically, or functionally demarcated social subsystems, including cities and regions, economic sectors and industries, as well as companies and organizations.The focal point of the research interest is the intricate interplay between the economy, state, and civil society (= governance).The objective is to explore the conditions and strategies that facilitate the long-term economically and ecologically sustainable and socially acceptable utilization of natural resources.

News

Study and Teaching

Excursion to the Wehr Cavern Power Plant and the Wyhlen Energy Campus

On Friday, 8 May, 52 students from a total of 23 nations and two different master’s programmes visited the Wehr cavern power plant operated by Schluchseewerk AG and the Wyhlen Energy Campus operated by naturenergie holding AG as part of an excursion. The excursion took place in the context of the module “System Planning and Transition” and aimed to examine key elements of the energy transition from a systemic perspective.
At the Wehr site, the focus was on the role of pumped storage power plants within an increasingly renewable energy system. The students gained insights into the technical functioning of the facility as well as its importance for energy storage and grid stability. It became clear that storage technologies cannot be considered in isolation, but are closely linked to electricity generation, grid management, political frameworks and social acceptance.
The discussion on the planned Atdorf pumped storage power plant highlighted the complexity of large-scale energy infrastructure projects. Approval procedures, conflicting objectives between climate protection and nature conservation, as well as regional interests show that technical solutions are always embedded in social, ecological and political systems. The discussion also illustrated how the interaction of different actors and framework conditions shapes the implementation of transformation processes.
At the Wyhlen Energy Campus, the focus shifted to the integration of different energy infrastructures. The students visited, among other facilities, the hydropower plant, fish ladders, the substation and hydrogen production facilities. In particular, the combination of established hydropower and new hydrogen technologies demonstrated that future energy systems will consist of diverse, interconnected components.
Overall, the excursion showed that the energy transition is not driven by individual technologies alone. Rather, what is decisive is the interaction between infrastructure, regulation, environmental concerns, social acceptance and long-term planning. The visit therefore provided a practice-oriented perspective on the central questions addressed in the module “System Planning and Transition”.

PhD thesis successfully defended

Agricultural policy and the destabilization of socio-technical regimes

Studies on the governance of sustainability transformations often focus on innovation, in line with the general orientation of transformation research. However, the possible consequences of the persistence of existing socio-technical regimes for sustainable change in various sectors, as well as possible measures to destabilize them (e.g., through exnovation or phase-out measures), have received significantly less scientific and political attention to date. However, these factors can sometimes be just as important for the success of the politically desired change as innovations, as demonstrated by the example of the nuclear phase-out in Germany. In his dissertation project, Dr. Leonard Frank examined the extent to which concepts and approaches for destabilizing existing socio-technical regimes in agriculture are taken into account in the reformulation of European agricultural policy and what this says about the chances of realizing the promised agricultural transition.

Research

Our research focus and current projects

Teaching

Our courses and information about theses

Publications

Overview of our publications and media contributions

Our Team

Introduction of our team members with short bios

The local food system as a lever for sustainability management in municipalities

Within the framework of the transdisciplinary research and development projects “KERNiG” and “Wissens.KERNiG”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the question of how local authorities can set and achieve sustainability goals in the field of nutrition was investigated in cooperation with cities and municipalities over a period of six years. The key findings for municipal policy and administration have now been published as an open access book.

Buchdeckel Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernaehrungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung