Beschreibung: "Transformative science" is a concept that delineates the new role of science for knowledge societies in the age of reflexive modernity. The paper develops the program of a transformative science, which goes beyond observing and analyzing societal transformations, but rather takes an active role in initiating and catalyzing change processes. The aim of transformative science is to achieve a deeper understanding of ongoing transformations and increased societal capacity for reflexivity with regard to these fundamental change processes. The concept of transformative science is grounded in an experimental paradigm, which has implications for (1) research, (2) education and learning, and (3) institutional structures and change in the science system. The article develops the theoretical foundations of the concept of transformative science and spells out the concrete implications in these three dimensions.

Beschreibung: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive background and overview of key issues, debates and positions related to the international regulation and application of intellectual property rights over biological resources, including biotechnology, and the use and protection of the traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities. It explores the linkages among biological diversity, rural livelihoods, biotechnology developments and intellectual property with specific view on the relationship between access to biological and genetic resources, agriculture systems, food security, and increased poverty levels around the world. The paper starts by outlining the background and evolution of intellectual property rights. It then provides two case studies on how intellectual property rights affect biodiversity and traditional knowledge. In the main part, the paper indulges on the international governance of biodiversity and intellecutal property rights, especially focussing on the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), the World Intellecutal Property Organization (WIPO), and the World Trade Organization with its Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellecutal Property Rights (TRIPS). However it also sheds light on the increasing impacts of bilateral agreements that govern intellectual property rights in conjunction with the plurilateral International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), and it analyses their relationship with the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the CBD. The paper finishes by sketching out ideas for a way forward.

Beschreibung: In early September 2014, about 4.000 scientists, activists and artists at the 4th International Conference on Degrowth sent out two messages. 1. Industrialized societies will change, either by disaster or by design. Accelerated resource exploitation and climate change can force societies into a transition. Or they swiftly develop new forms of economic, political and social organization which respect the planetary boundaries. 2. "Degrowth" has become a new social movement which translates scientific insights into cultural change, political change and social practice. Hence, the conference itself was an experiment on the potentials and limits of share economy, commoning and sufficiency. A team of young scholars and activists from different German research institutes and non-govern- mental organisations prepared the conference. The team of the Wuppertal Institute was partly involved in the preperation of the conference. Scientists from all research groups took part in the conference, presenting and discussing project results. The publication is a collection of contributions of the Wuppertal Institute to the conference and covers pivotal issues of the degrowth-debate: indicator development (Freyling & Schepelmann), working time reduction (Buhl), feminist theory (Biesecker & Winterfeld), and urban transition (Best).

Beschreibung: Another summit of change, known as Rio+20, has passed in summer 2012, nourishing the rumours of a green economy. Building up a green economy seems to be the all over recipe for different crises of capitalism, among them climate change and resource scarcity. Yet efficiency and consistency, as their main strategies, do not suffice to reach sustainable levels, as they cause rebound effects and keep stimulating economy growth. Obviously, there are limits to green growth, too. Can we conceive an economy, and respective economic institutions, that serve human needs and wealth without a built-in necessity to grow? What kind of political, mental, and individual changes does a sufficiency economy require? And what are perspectives and policies to actually start implementing it? Just before Rio +20 the symposium "Economy of Sufficiency", devoted to Wolfgang Sachs on the occasion of his 65th birthday in 2011, examined these questions in three dimensions. Accordingly this selection of contributions to the symposium follows the chapters "Wealth in diversity" (Ashok Khosla, Marianne Gronemeyer, Vandana Shiva), "Enjoyable limits" (Richard B. Norgaard, Tim Jackson) and "Creating commons" (Ezio Manzini, Silke Helfrich). The essays indicate the historical development of the ideas on a sufficiency economy. Wandering through discourses of sustainable development for several decades, the authors map the range of perspectives, practices as well as barriers and bridge them between cultures, agencies and schools.

Beschreibung: Effective policies to mitigate climate change need to be accompanied by a socially just transition. Based on experiences of past and ongoing transition policies in coal regions in Europe and with indications to the specificity of framework conditions and challenges and to the potential effectiveness and transferability of approaches, this paper presents lessons learnt which can be inspirational for similar transitions in other coal regions and for transitions in other sectors.

Beschreibung: This case study examined the structural change in Lusatia caused by the system change from a centrally planned economy to a market economy in the period 1990-2015. It analysed the structural change process and the structural policies implemented as a reaction to this process with the objective to make this knowledge available for future structural change processes in other (coal) regions by deploying various qualitative and quantitative methods of empirical social and economic research. A discourse analysis helped to recognise who supported which structural policy approaches and why - and thus gives indications of the possible relevance of experiences for other regions.

Beschreibung: Our perception of design is changing, for design today is no longer concerned only with aesthetics. Now the key factors are interdisciplinary competence and approaches to problem solving. Both politicians as well as businesses recognise design's hybridity and increasingly implement it as a driver of sustainable development (see Chap. 2: Design as a Key Management Factor for Sustainability). But what exactly does "sustainability" mean? What does it mean in this specific context? People must make use of natural resources to meet their basic needs. In this process, resources are transferred into commercial circulation and usually transformed into products with a particular function. Yet the environment is limited and humanity uses more resources than the Earth can sustainably provide. It is time to rethink and generate the same usage while consuming fewer resources (see Chap. 3: Environmental Space - Challenging Transitions). Most countries have incorporated sustainability strategies into their political agendas in order to counteract the threats of climate change caused by the overuse of natural resources, high CO2 emissions, and other factors. The indicators for these strategies vary greatly from country to country (see Chap. 4: Sustainability - Challenges, Politics, Indicators). These indicators need to be taken into account if we are to successfully implement a product or service within a specific context. A concept can only be successful when country-specific indicators are taken into account and the societal context is incorporated into the plan right from the start. The goal is to develop services that support national sustainability targets in production and consumption systems (see Chap. 5: Managing Sustainable Development). When it comes to companies, these changes can simply be introduced in the form of services or products. In the end, it is the users who decide on the success or failure of innovative solutions by either integrating them into their daily lives or ignoring them. Solutions will only be integrated into users' lives when their role within the social framework remains unchallenged by behavioural transformations caused by use of the solution. In order for users to be able to adopt innovations, sustainable development must take place simultaneously on many different levels. These multi-levelled transitions allow for the transformation of society as a whole. Designers can act as agents of change by providing the needed innovations (see Chap. 6: Transition Requires Change Agents for Sustainability). If we are to develop suitable solutions and new approaches, the real needs have to be analysed at the beginning of the development process. New physical products, which frequently result in auxiliary products, are often developed without taking into account the overall context, whereas the development of service-orientated solutions is ignored. A physical product is not absolutely necessary. A service (which is naturally dependent on physical products) can usually fulfil the need just as well - or perhaps even better and at a lower cost – while using fewer or no resources (see Chap. 7: Needs & Services - An Approach). There are a variety of possible approaches to integrate sustainability into the design process (see Chap. 8: Design Process). Precisely which solution is "most or more sustainable" (this is dependent on the defined targets and the indicators used) is often not immediately obvious, and we must turn to a set of methods for a transparent and tangible assessment (see Chap. 9: Sustainability Assessment in Design - Overview and Integration of Methods).

Beschreibung: Coral reef ecosystems in Indonesia are under threat due to changes in the environment driven by global climate change, along with local disturbances such as sedimentation and eutrophication. Consequently, comprehensive coral reef monitoring \nactivities have been initiated at numerous locations across Indonesia. In this study, the \nfindings from coral reef health surveys across 14 reef sites (within 40 hectares) in the \nBintan area (Riau Archipelago, Indonesia; 100\xe2\x80\x89km southeast of Singapore) revealed a \npotentially novel epizoic yellow sponge species (Phorbas sp.) that overgrows coral colonies. This species, tentatively classified as a new Phorbas sp. (order Poecilosclerida: \nfamily Hymedesmiidae), was identified through a combined approach employing classical taxonomic methods along with DNA barcoding using the cytochrome c oxidase \nI (COI) gene. At every site, three permanent 20-m transects were established to annually monitor live coral coverage and species composition between 2014 and 2017. \nThe survey indicated a notable change in the overall coral cover during this period. \nThe abundance of coral diseases was investigated in 2014 and 2017. Additionally, the \nprogress of Phorbas sp., was closely monitored (i.e., every second day for one week) \nat Bintan Island (site 11) during the dry season in August 2017. This approach aimed \nto approximate the relative impact of each incident on the coral\'s condition. The results indicated that the most comprehensive change occurred due to the overgrowth \nof Phorbas sp., which affected 12 scleractinian coral species across eight genera in \nalmost all sites except one. The abundance of this epizoic sponge infestation was \nhighest at Pulau Beralas Pasir (site 10), constituting 22.9% of all recorded life forms, \nand lowest at Pulau Pangkil-Besar (site 13), with only 0.7%. The expansion of the thin \nyellow sponge tissue was estimated to increase by up to 0.51\xe2\x80\x89\xc2\xb1\xe2\x80\x890.48\xe2\x80\x89cm2 \n per day on \nPorites coral.

Beschreibung: Ziel dieses Berichts im Rahmen des Projekts "Erfolgsbedingungen für Systemsprünge und Leitbilder einer Ressourcenleichten Gesellschaft" ist es, eine solche Ressourcenleichte Gesellschaft zu definieren. Hierzu wird zunächst der Rahmen für eine Ressourcenleichte Gesellschaft durch Aufbereitung der relevanten Diskurse bestimmt. Kapitel 1 zeichnet die zeitgeschichtliche Entwicklung des ressourcenbezogenen Nachhaltigkeitsdiskurses von 1972 bis in die Gegenwart nach. Aus dieser Analyse werden relevante Gesichtspunkte für eine Ressourcenleichte Gesellschaft identifiziert und am Ende des Kapitels in einer Übersicht dargestellt. Das zweite Kapitel entwickelt darauf aufbauend den bereits genannten definitorischen Rahmen, d.h. es erfolgt eine grundsätzliche Erarbeitung der normativen Kriterien, die eine solche Gesellschaft ausmachen sollte. Kapitel 3 skizziert dann existierende Zugänge zur Ressourcenleichten Gesellschaft und zeigt wichtige Merkmale dieser Ansätze auf, welche zur Entwicklung der Ressourcenleichten Gesellschaft durch Kontrastierung oder Übernahme von Merkmalen beitragen können.

Beschreibung: Zentraler Ausgangspunkt des Vorhabens war die Frage nach der Rolle und Bedeutung von transformativem Lernen im Kontext sozial-ökologischer Transformationen und wie dieses im Rahmen schulischer und außerschulischer Umweltbildung und BNE ermöglicht und von der Umweltpolitik gestärkt und adressiert werden kann. Dazu entwickelte das Projekt in Kooperation zwischen Schulen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Nachhaltigkeitsinitiativen Lernwerkstätten im Modus des Service Learning und erprobte mittels Reallaborforschung, wie gesellschaftliches Engagement von Jugendlichen an Orten sozialer Innovationen mit fachlichem Lernen im Unterricht verknüpft werden kann. Der Schlussbericht präsentiert die zentralen theoretischen und empirischen Erkenntnisse des Projekts und liefert zudem eine umfassende Literaturanalyse zu bestehenden konzeptionellen Lerntheorien und Ansätzen um transformatives Lernen, BNE und Service Learning. Die Empfehlungen zur Förderung von Lernen im Kontext sozial-ökologischer Transformationsprozesse richten sich an Entscheidungsträger*innen in Umwelt- und Bildungspolitik und zeigen, dass hierfür das Lernen durch Engagement an Orten sozialer Innovationen als auch das Lernen in Kooperationen besonderes Potential haben.