Curriculum Vitae
Heiner Schanz studied forestry at the University of Freiburg and received his doctorate with a thesis on the concept of sustainability from a social science perspective.
His appointment as a research assistant at the Institute of Forest Economics at the University of Freiburg in 1996 was followed by appointments as a full professor in 1999 to the Chair of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy at the University of Wageningen/NL and in 2004 as head of the Chair of Markets in Forestry and Timber Economics at the University of Freiburg. In 2005, he initiated and led the international MSc program in Environmental Governance as founding director.
From 2008 to 2014, he served the University of Freiburg as full-time Vice-Rector for Studies and Teaching and initiated, among other things, the University College Freiburg.
Since 2014, he has held the Chair of Environmental Governance at the University of Freiburg and has also been Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources since 2019.
He has extensive international research and teaching experience and regularly participates in accreditation and quality assurance procedures at universities in Germany and abroad.
Research
Since completing his doctorate, Heiner Schanz has been conducting research from an interdisciplinary perspective on issues of natural resource governance and the sustainability management of public and private organizations.
His current research interests focus on the conditions and drivers of structural innovation processes for the sustainable development of complex economic systems, such as municipalities, regions, economic sectors and value chains.
Teaching
Bachelor’s degree
- “Governance of the environment and natural resources” (5 ECTS compulsory module in the BSc Environmental Sciences / BSc Forest Sciences, together with Prof. Dr. Michael Pregernig)
Master’s degree
- “Sustainability and Governance” (5 ECTS compulsory module in the MSc Environmental Governance, together with Prof. Dr. Michael Pregernig)
- “System Thinking, Planning and Transitions” (5 ECTS compulsory module in the MSc Environmental Governance)
- “Sustainable Regional Development, Focus on Rural Areas” (5 ECTS compulsory module in the MSc Environmental Sciences, profile line Land Use and Nature Conservation)
- “Introductory seminar on sustainability” (in the module ‘Biodiversity and Sustainability’ Master of Education subject Biology)
Contributions to modules
- “Research Skills for Environmental Governance” (MSc Environmental Governance)
- “Global Environmental Politics” (MSc Environmental Governance)
Publications (selection)
Current publications
- Mager, E., Gothár, E., & Schanz, H. (2026). Categorizing markets by resource value retention options from an industrial policy perspective: The case of wood-based industries. Journal of Cleaner Production,560, 148072. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.148072
- Mihai, R.-I., & Schanz, H. (2026). Modelling the conflict dynamics behind urban public green spaces as a Network of Action Situations: The case of Bucharest. Journal of Urban Management. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2026.03.001
- Frank, L. & Schanz, H. (2025). Policy for regime destabilisation in CAP Strategic plans assessing the transformative ambition of France’s and Germany’s implementations of the Common agricultural policy. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2523101
- Iurato, C., & Schanz, H. (2024). Industry associations as levers for the implementation of cascading – A longitudinal study of post-consumer wood recycling in Germany. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 207, 107594. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107594
- Gothár, E., & Schanz, H. (2024). Dynamics in the evolution of circular sourcing strategies: Evidence from German frontrunners sourcing for recycled plastics. Journal of Cleaner Production, 435, 140561. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.140561
- Mager, E., Ritter, M., Sipple, D., & Schanz, H. (2024). Mapping municipal food supply: A longitudinal-spatial case study in Southern Germany. Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems, 9(1), e20060. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20060
- Sipple, D., Wiek, A., & Schanz, H. (Eds.). (2024). Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernährungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien.
- Schanz, H., & Sipple, D. (2024). Ernährung als Aufgabe der kommunalen Daseinsvorsorge? In D. Sipple, A. Wiek, & H. Schanz (Eds.), Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernährungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung (pp. 1-20). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Sipple, D., & Schanz, H. (2024). Hebelpunkte der Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung zur nachhaltigen Gestaltung lokaler Ernährungssysteme. In D. Sipple, A. Wiek, & H. Schanz (Eds.), Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernährungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung (pp. 21-43). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Sipple, D., Ritter, M., & Schanz, H. (2024). Kommunale Unternehmen der Ernährungswirtschaft – Konzeptionelle Grundlagen am Beispiel des Geschäftsmodells einer Kommunalen Ernährungsmeisterei. In D. Sipple, A. Wiek, & H. Schanz (Eds.), Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernährungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung (pp. 93-114). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Sipple, D., Wiek, A., & Schanz, H. (2024). Perspektiven der nachhaltigen Gestaltung des lokalen Ernährungssystems durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung. In D. Sipple, A. Wiek, & H. Schanz (Eds.), Nachhaltige Gestaltung von lokalen Ernährungssystemen durch Kommunalpolitik und -verwaltung (pp. 115-123). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Mager, E., Iurato, C., & Schanz, H. (2023). Depicting wood-based sectors to inform policymaking: A structural modeling approach centering on networks of markets. Forest Policy and Economics, 157, 103078. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2023.103078
- Iurato, C., & Schanz, H. (2023). Systemic power relations of industry associations as an indicator of innovation potentials in market fields – An illustrative case. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 49, 100779. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100779
- Ritter, M., Volkmer, V., & Schanz, H. (2023). Mobility transition or just another business? Temporal and spatial analysis of the diffusion of station-based carsharing services in five German municipalities. Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning. doi: 10.14512/rur.219
Selected scientific publications
- Frank, L., & Schanz, H. (2022). Three perspectives on regime destabilisation governance: A metatheoretical analysis of German pesticide policy. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 44, 245-264. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2022.07.002
- Gothár, E., & Schanz, H. (2022). Bringing a governance perspective to plastic litter: A structural analysis of the German PET industry. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 31, 630-641. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.03.019
- Ritter, M., & Schanz, H. (2021). Carsharing Business Models’ Strategizing Mindsets Regarding Environmental Sustainability. Sustainability, 13(22), 12700. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12700
- Wilczynski, M., & Schanz, H. (2021). The role of market perceptions in bridging the innovation gap of bio-based markets: The example of Biomass-to-Liquid in Germany. Journal of Cleaner Production, 125926. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125926
- Sipple, D., & Schanz, H. (2021). Leverage points of local economies. Business closures in local artisan food production from a system perspective. Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning. doi:10.14512/rur.33 https://rur.oekom.de/index.php/rur/article/view/33/37
- Schanz, H.; Pregernig, M.; Baldy, J.; Sipple, D.; Kruse, S. (Hrsg.) (2020): Kommunen gestalten Ernährung – Neue Handlungsfelder nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung. DStGB Dokumentation, 2020, Nr. 153. Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund, Berlin. | Download
- Schanz, H., Federer, J., & Wilczynski, M. (2019). Markets as leverage points for transformations of economic systems: The example of the German bioeconomy. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, Online first doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2019.04.003
- López Hernández, V., & Schanz, H. (2019). Agency in actor networks: Who is governing transitions towards a bioeconomy? The case of Colombia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 225, 728-742. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.306
- Sipple, D., & Schanz, H. (2019). Nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung über kommunale Ernährungssysteme: Marktakteursnetzwerke als Ansatzpunkte zur Gestaltung und Steuerung [Sustainable urban development via municipial food systems: Market-Actor-Networks as leverage points for design and management]. Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie, 63(1) forthcoming
- Ritter, M., & Schanz, H. (2019). The sharing economy: A comprehensive business model framework. Journal of Cleaner Production, 213, 320-331. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.12.154
- Niciforel, L.; Schanz, H. (2011): Property rights distribution and entrepreneurial rent-seeking in Romanian forestry: a perspective of private forest owners. In: European Journal of Forest Research, 130 (2011): 369 – 381
- Yasmi, Y.; Schanz, H., Salim, A. (2006): Manifestation of Conflict Escalation in Natural Resource Management. In: Environmental Science and Policy, 9(2006): 538-546
- Pokorny, B.; Schanz, H. (2003): Empirical determination of political cultures as basis for effective coordination of forest management systems. In: Society and Natural Resources, 16(10): 867-908
- Schanz, H. (1996): ‘Nachhaltige’ Forstwirtschaft als Ausdruck gesellschaftlicher Normen- und Wertesysteme [‚Sustainable‘ forestry as an expression of norm and value systems in society]. In: Allgemeine Forst- und Jagdzeitung 167 (12): 238-243, in German with English and French summaries
Essays
- Schanz, H. (2022). Alles richtig gemacht, nichts bewirkt – eine kurze Anleitung zum Nichtnachhaltigsein. OrganisationsEntwicklung – Zeitschrift für Unternehmensentwicklung und Change Management, 22(3), 31-37. [Bitte verlinken: file:///C:/Users/hs24/Downloads/ZOE_2022_03_Schanz%20NEU.pdf]
- Schanz, H. (2021). 50 Shades of Green – oder warum Fakten verhandelbar bleiben müssen. OrganisationsEntwicklung – Zeitschrift für Unternehmensentwicklung und Change Management, 21(1), 39-42 [Bitte verlinken: file:///C:/Users/hs24/Downloads/Schanz_2021_50%20Shades_of_Green.pdf ]
- Schanz, H. (2015): Wissenschaft in der Weiterbildung – Modularisierung als integrale Strategie zur Stärkung der Weiterbildungsangebote von forschungsstarken Hochschulen. In: Besters-Dilger, J.; Neuhaus, G. (Hrsg.) 2015: Modulare wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung für heterogene Zielgruppen entwickeln. Formate – Methoden – Herausforderungen. Rombach Verlag, Freiburg, Berlin, Wien: 17-40
- Schanz, H.; Schoch, C. (2007): Die Dialektik (universitärer) Grenzen. In: Volz, K.-R. (Hrsg.) 2007: Das Humboldt-Labor – Experimentieren mit den Grenzen der klassischen Universität. Publikation zum Zukunftskongress der Universität Freiburg. Freiburg: 7-9
Initial Supervision of Dissertations and Habilitations
- Dr. Emma Gothár (2025): Fishing for Litter – Circular Sourcing Strategies in Networks of Markets (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz, Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. Daniela Kleinschmit / Universität Freiburg)
- Dr. Chiara Iurato (2024): The formation of cascading market linkages – An exploration into the role of industry associations in the case of the German wood-based sector (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz, Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. P. Morone, Unitelma / Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
- Dr. Marzena Wilczynski (2023): Market configurations in emergent value chains of the bioeconomy (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz, Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. D. Kleinschmit / Universität Freiburg)
- Dr. Martin Ritter (2022): Business Models of the Sharing Economy as Pathways to Sustainability? ((Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz, Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. S. Lengsfeld / Universität Freiburg)
- Dr. Sipple, David (2022): Markets as a key to a sustainable development of municipal food systems (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. M. Penker / BOKU Wien)
- Dr. habil. Ruppert-Winkel, Chantal (2020): Regional sustainability transitions – Evolution and yynamics in praxis and theory. Habilitation (Mentor and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-Mentor: Prof. Dr. G. Oesten / Universität Freiburg)
- Dr. Hoogstra, Marjanke A. (2008): Coping with the long term. An empirical analysis of time perspectives, time orientations, and temporal uncertainty in forestry. (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. B.J.M. Arts / Wageningen University)
- Dr. Verbij, Evelien (2008): Inter-sectoral coordination in forest policy. A frame analysis of forest sectorization processes in Austria and the Netherlands. (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. B.J.M. Arts / Wageningen University)
- Dr. Brodrechtova, Yvonne (2008): Export marketing strategy and its shaping factors in the context of transition. Theoretical perspectives and empirical testing in the forest products industries of Slovakia. (Promoter and First supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. Becker; Co-supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. G. Oesten / Universität Freiburg)
- Dr. Yasmi, Yurdi (2007): Institutionalization of conflict capability in the management of natural resources. Theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence in Indonesia. (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. B.J.M. Arts / Wageningen University)
- Dr. Marfo, Emmanuel (2006): Powerful relations – The role of actor-empowerment in the management of natural resources. A case of forest conflicts in Ghana. (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. B.J.M. Arts / Wageningen University)
- Dr. Egestad, Peter Stenz (2002): Trustful relations – The role of trust in building institutions for sustainable forest management. (Promoter and supervisor: Prof. Dr. H. Schanz; Co-promoter: Prof. Dr. M. Korthals / Wageningen University)