In Germany, over 2,000 citizens' energy communities with more than 500,000 members are an important driver of the decentralized energy transition. Citizens join forces and jointly operate renewable energy plants. Through [...]
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On foot, by bike, bus, or train: active mobility is the key to a climate-friendly and healthy mobility transition. But how can we make the switch? And what will active mobility look like as cities adapt to heat, droughts, and [...]
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Currently, rented apartment buildings are still rarely ambitiously renovated in terms of energy efficiency. Landlords perceive such refurbishments as challenging, not least because the economic benefits are low, and the [...]
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Whether it's ice cream tubs, potted herbs in the supermarket or to-go salads, food is often packaged in plastic that is only used for a short time and is rarely reused or recycled. In addition to the considerable consumption [...]
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Housing companies play a decisive role in achieving the goal of a climate-neutral building stock. Unlike private actors, they always have the entire portfolio in mind when it comes to energy-efficient refurbishment and [...]
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In the textile industry, considerable amounts of waste are produced before the products are marketed. A large proportion of this is waste such as offcuts, fibres and yarn remnants (post-industrial waste) as well as excess [...]
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Biochar can remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store carbon in the long-term. In the pyrolysis production process, biomass residues are converted into coal at high temperatures and in the absence of oxygen. Pyrolysis also [...]
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Public procurement has the greatest economic leverage for transforming product markets in Germany towards sustainability among all policy instruments in the domain of “sustainable consumption and production”. The OECD [...]
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The resource crisis is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century, significantly driving both species extinction and the climate crisis. Over 90 percent of biodiversity loss and water scarcity, along with [...]
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Many people participate in energy cooperatives or community-supported agriculture, repair everyday items in repair cafés, or live in communal housing arrangements. What all these social innovations for sustainable consumption [...]
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The effects of climate change are already visible in the Stuttgart Region today – primarily through increasing heat stress and frequent heavy rainfall events. In the ISAP I project an online information and advisory system [...]
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Urban green spaces offer a variety of ecological benefits beyond recreational areas, particularly concerning the impacts of climate change. During heatwaves, they contribute to cooling and mitigate flooding during heavy [...]
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The consequences of climate change pose enormous challenges for urban regions in particular, such as dealing with heavy rainfall. In order to avoid flooding and overflows in the combined sewer system, the concept of the [...]
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More extreme weather events, health risks and economic uncertainties: Germany must prepare for the consequences of climate change. As decided in the 2021 coalition agreement, the German government therefore wants to develop a [...]
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The civil society movement "Bits & Bäume" (B&B) works at the nexus of digitalization, sustainability, human rights and democracy. Ten NGOs and scientific organizations from the sustainability and/or digitalization scene, [...]
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Allotment gardeners show how it's done: they harvest part of what they need every day to live. The situation is similar with energy production. More and more households not only consume energy, but also produce it themselves [...]
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As a renewable energy source, geothermal energy can increasingly replace fossil fuels and thus contribute to climate protection and create added value locally. Despite great potential, the share of heat from deep geothermal [...]
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The Environmental Awareness Study by the German Environmental Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) has been surveying environmental [...]
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To ensure the success of the energy transition, it is not enough to simply “create acceptance” or “bring people on board”. As a societal challenge, the energy transition requires broad segments of the population to actively [...]
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The Elbe-Elster region in the south of the state of Brandenburg is affected by the phase-out of lignite mining and the associated change processes. It is part of the structural change region of Lusatia. Based on the status [...]
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Rural regions can be faced with major economic and social challenges. Due to a wide range of structural challenges, some regions have had to be creative in finding new development pathways and developing new forms of [...]
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JustWind4All aims to support the acceleration of on- and offshore wind energy through just and effective governance. To this end, JustWind4All develops knowledge, practical guidelines, instruments, strategies, and trainings [...]
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From coffee to soy and timber, consumers in the Global North use resources grown or extracted in parts of the world where biodiversity is in drastic decline. The Global South, where the most biodiverse ecosystems are located [...]
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The heating transition in the building sector is picking up speed. However, building owners are not sufficiently aware of this: New and far-reaching requirements of federal funding for efficient buildings and the Building [...]
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A structural strengthening through the energy transition ”can only succeed together with the people for whom the regions are part of their identity and home with tradition and future”. This call by the Coal Commission to [...]
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The energy sector is in a transition around the world with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. Measured against the politically set goals, however, this development is progressing too slowly – also in Germany. The management [...]
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Humanity is facing a millennium challenge: the transformation of state, industry, and society towards zero CO2 emissions. This goal can only be achieved if the necessary financial resources are made available. The financial [...]
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Heating networks play an important role in climate-neutral heat supply. The project aims to provide scientific support for the implementation of a grid-connected supply approach in the center of Leeste in the Lower Saxon [...]
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From both a social and an ecological perspective, the current economic and lifestyle practices in industrialized countries have serious negative impacts. They exploit the environment and pollute the climate and at the same [...]
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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) aims to equip people of all ages with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes needed to shape a sustainable and just future. Young people have a crucial role to play in [...]
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SOILGUARD envisages a future where the conservation of soil biodiversity and the environmental, economic and social wellbeing of EU biogeographical regions is guaranteed. Unsustainable management and climate change are [...]
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A shift towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns is essential for a sustainable development. Due to its market power, the public sector can develop a high potential for reducing the burden on the [...]
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In contrast to other modes of transport such as roads or railways, federal waterways and their catchment areas are not only transport routes, but also ecosystems. They make a valuable contribution to biodiversity, the water [...]
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Due to the Corona pandemic, there has been movement in the perception and use of home office and teleremote working. In this joint project, the energetic and non-energetic implications of this change that are relevant for the [...]
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The centralised fossil energy system is going to be replaced by decarbonisation, decentralisation and digitalization. Actors from science and civil society have called for attention to the often neglected social dimensions of [...]
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The Environmental Awareness Study by the German Environment Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) has been surveying environmental [...]
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The Einstein Research Unit “Climate and Water under Change” (CliWaC) is a transdisciplinary research initiative of the Berlin University Alliance to investigate water-related risks under climate change. In an innovative [...]
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Since January 2023, many to-go providers must offer reusable packaging: The Packaging Act requires restaurants, caterers and delivery services to provide a reusable option for plates, bowls and cups, for example. How can [...]
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Cities and municipalities are feeling the effects of climate change, for example in the form of heat stress, water shortages and flooding. This damages buildings, infrastructure, health, and nature. Natural climate protection [...]
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Around half of Berlin's CO2 emissions are attributable to the heating sector. Its sustainable transformation is therefore fundamental to the city's climate neutrality target by 2045. Heat storages are an important component [...]
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The Green Economy Report of North Rhine-Westphalia presents the economic and ecological significance of the state's Green Economy. It supports the Ministry for the Environment, Nature and Transport in implementing the [...]
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Cities are a central starting point for solving environmental challenges, particularly with regard to the climate mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement. The mission of a socio-ecological transformation of urban spaces [...]
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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it will be necessary to actively remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere to effectively limit global warming to a maximum of 1,5 degrees. To this end, [...]
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Home gardens have a great potential to protect and promote biodiversity. Around 17 million home gardens occupy just under two percent of Germany's total area. However, biodiversity in home gardens is dwindling due to a steady [...]
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The project of the BMBF Research Initiative for the Conservation of Biodiversity (FEdA), which was preceded by a one-year conception phase, aims to preserve and promote biodiversity in the extraction sites of the building [...]
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Which options are there for flood protection in the tidal area of the Elbe in light of the effects of climate change? The TideelbeKlima project aims to identify and analyse conceivable options and to evaluate them [...]
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Education, knowledge transfer and capacity building on climate change impacts and adaptation options are key foundations for building a climate-resilient society, environment and economy. A lack of knowledge and a shortage of [...]
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Urban gardens and public parks compete with other uses for scarce space. However, they play a central role in sustainable urban development. They increase the resource efficiency of urban districts and fulfill a variety of [...]
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Sustainable consumption is an important task within the transformation to an economy and society following the sustainable development goals. In Germany, sustainable consumption has been systematically promoted through the [...]
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Digitization is leading to profound changes in many sectors and in modern societies as a whole. The transformation is in full swing and offers many open questions and design options that need to be researched [...]
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