Social innovations for sustainable consumption – integration of consumer orientation and knowledge transfer taking into account sociographic options for action and information needs of private households

Zeitraum September 2015 – November 2017

Auftraggeber BMUB, UBA

Kooperationspartner Karin Ottmar, sociodimensions, Institute for Socio-cultural Research, Selbach Design

The project builds on the work and results of the BMUB- and UBA-funded research project “Sustainable Consumption through Social Innovation – Concepts and Practice” and extends it to include the perspective of consumers.

The main aim here is to include their competencies and everyday lifestyles in the further development of the typology of social innovations of sustainable consumption. The central goal here is to promote the diffusion of different types of innovative, sustainable forms of consumption by better understanding their appropriation and routinization by consumers and thus better enabling them.

Dr. Melanie Jaeger-Erben and Prof. Dr. Jana Rückert-John will participate with a lecture in the workshop “Verbrauchkritische Projekte und Praktiken: Goals, Patterns and Consequences of Collaborative Consumption” (program) at the University of Bremen on the 23rd and 24th of June 2016.

Weitere Projekte

November 2021 – September 2024

Process evaluation of the National Food Waste Reduction Strategy

In February 2019, the German Federal Cabinet approved the National Strategy for Reducing Food Waste presented by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).

December 2022 – May 2025

Integrated sustainability assessment of alternative protein sources and analogs and transformation pathways of two selected alternatives.

Against the background of a growing global demand for proteins and at the same time significant negative impacts of the production of animal products, the focus of the project is on the exploration of alternative protein sources and analogues. The aim is to obtain an overview of current processes, raw materials and products for the provision of alternative proteins and analogues and to investigate, on the basis of a selection, how likely and desirable the diffusion of these alternatives is.

March 2024 – June 2027

The importance of civic engagement in strengthening local communities for sustainable urban development: a real-world laboratory in Dessau-Roßlau

Civic engagement is becoming increasingly important for sustainable urban development geared towards the common good. With their interest in liveable, everyday urban spaces, active citizens are driving forward sustainable, cooperative forms of building, living, consuming and working. In doing so, they contribute (at least implicitly) to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, environmentally friendly production processes and the protection of biodiversity. Although civic engagement is recognized as having great potential, it often remains disconnected from administrative processes: Both sides do not come together sufficiently in municipal governance, which reduces the impact of engagement.