Toward a Regenerative Society

Field of Research

Description

Potential Supervisors

Regenerative education

Current education systems have been shown to have several negative impacts on many learners (e.g. mental wellbeing, gaps in motivation, or achievement reproducing social inequalities). This PhD project explores how educational settings can be transformed to have more regenerative effects on learners. The project uses an interdisciplinary approach (educational research, psychology, sustainability science) to improve our understanding of (a) the characteristics and processes of regenerative learning, (b) how it can be promoted, and (c) its potential to empower learners and promote regenerative sustainability competencies.

Daniel Fischer, Maria von Salisch

Regenerative management and entrepreneurship

Organizing in harmony with nature is of increasing importance. This PhD project applies an exploratory qualitative research design, (e.g. interviews, observations) to better understand 1) regenerative thinking of entrepreneurs and/or sustainability manager; 2) regenerative practices and business models of pioneering sustainability enterprises, and 3) regenerative system dynamics that these enterprises are embedded in. 

Steffen Farny, Stefan Schaltegger

Regenerative food systems

Regenerative food systems are important alternatives to conventional (largely polluting) ones, with a view to producing food that is more nutritious and safer for everyone. In this context, the main objective of this proposal is to improve soil health from the ground up, which already increases the quality of water, vegetation and land productivity in a symbiotic way, through greener and more socio-sustainable processes and materials. Considering Europe's farm-to-fork strategy, the questions arise: How can the sourcing, processing, consumption and management of food be improved through the design and application of technologies and materials that promote biodiversity, access to healthier food, while minimising or even eliminating negative socio-environmental impacts? How will climate projections affect food production and consumption in the future? What is the role of digitalisation in building and properly maintaining regenerative food systems, focusing on more sustainable chemicals and related processes? What are the desirable foods that promote human and environmental health and/or their regeneration, and how can they be obtained (in terms of ingredients, contaminants, additives etc.)? 

Vânia Zuin Zeidler, Dave Abson, Stefan Schaltegger, Steffen Farny

Regenerative material systems

Diversity and complexity of chemicals, materials and products is an increasing challenge for recycling. 1) How is acceleration influenced by increased scale of product flows and their constituents in combination with increasing innovation rates? 2) Which role do chemodiversity and complexity play in this context? Examples of plastics and electronic waste will be used. 3) Which are the general conclusions to be drawn based on the findings? 4) How can these findings be used to improve greenness and sustainability of recycling and circular economy and to avoid rebound effects?

Klaus Kümmerer, Dave Abson, Stefan Schaltegger, Steffen Farny

Regeneration in governance and law

Jelena Bäumler, Alexander Stark

Regeneration in social-ecological systems

The project will address three broad objectives: 1) Analysis of how regeneration is situated within the broader scholarship on social-ecological systems thinking, from both theoretical and methodological perspectives; 2) Analysis of (place-based) case studies of regenerative SESs – including their key characteristics, drivers, and indicators of success; and 3) Scale, teleconnections and system boundaries in relation to regenerative SESs.

Dave Abson, Henrik von Wehrden

Biocultural regeneration

The recent IPBES Thematic Assessment Report on the Underlying Causes of Biodiversity Loss and the Determinants of Transformative Change and Options for Achieving the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity (hereafter referred to as IPBES Transformative Change Assessment) has identified regenerative strategies of biocultural diversity as a promising action for sustainable and just transformations. This PhD project will research regenerative strategies that protect and promote both biological and cultural (biocultural) diversity simultaneously and compare them with ecological restoration strategies. In doing so, this PhD project will advance the understanding of regeneration by identifying the differences between restoration and regeneration. We hypothesize that biocultural regeneration has more transformative potential than (classical) ecological restoration. Please note that the focus will be on German landscapes, so an ability to speak German will be a major advantage.

Vicky Temperton, Berta Martin-Lopez