Leuphana University Lüneburg appoints junior professor Maureen Schulze

After studying agricultural economics in Kiel, Maureen Schulze completed her doctorate in Göttingen in 2020 on transformation processes in agricultural livestock farming. She then conducted post-doctoral research on sustainable consumer behaviour at the Copenhagen Business School. She publishes in internationally recognised journals, including Technological Forecasting and Social Change and Business Strategy and the Environment. She takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining agricultural sciences, marketing, economics and psychology, to deepen our understanding of sustainable purchasing and consumption decisions in innovative ways.

‘In western industrial nations, a consumer behaviour has become established that is having an increasingly negative ecological and social impact,’ explains Maureen Schulze. ’Most of the everyday purchasing decisions are made by consumers in the food retail sector. This makes it an influential player in the sustainable transformation of the entire sector due to its ability to shape the purchasing environment.’ The EDEKA-sponsored professorship aims to address important future issues in the long term and to explore the conditions for sustainable behavioural change in connection with food retailing and the strategic consequences for companies.

Promoting research into responsible consumption

‘As a leading food retailer, it is important to us to take responsibility for environmental and climate protection. For years, we have been committed to more sustainable supply chains based on scientific research. It is crucial for the success of our measures to take our customers with us on this journey. This makes research into consumer behaviour all the more important. We are very pleased about the appointment of Maureen Schulze and look forward to exciting research results,’ says Claas Meineke, board member of the EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG. As one of the leading food retail companies in Germany, EDEKA aims to support the acquisition of scientific knowledge for the sustainable development of society by establishing the endowed professorship, and in doing so, improve scientific exchange in this field both nationally and internationally. In addition to funding the professorship, EDEKA plans to provide further research support.

The research environment of the new professorship in the Faculty of Sustainability and in cooperation with the Faculty of Management and Technology at Leuphana University Lüneburg opens up a multitude of trans- and interdisciplinary cooperation opportunities. ‘The transformation knowledge from the innovative research questions of the professorship benefits students in their studies, who are specifically prepared for the challenges of sustainable entrepreneurship in future labour markets,’ says University President Sascha Spoun. With this appointment, the Leuphana University of Lüneburg once again underlines its pioneering role in sustainability-oriented research and teaching.