topic Research

Economic sciences for sustainability

The economic sciences are leaving their model world and are facing up to the real challenges of globalization, of socio-demographic change and the need for ecological modernization. Concrete solutions for tackling these challenges of the future will be developed under the funding priority "Economic Sciences for Sustainability".

Sustainability research touches upon ecological, economic and social questions. In spite of promising individual contributions, few proposals from the economic sciences are available to date as to how sustainability can be put into operation and shaped comprehensively from an economic perspective. The "Economic Sciences for Sustainability" funding priority is developing relevant solutions for central issues of the future on the basis of the framework programme "Research for Sustainability":

• What economic, social and ecological guidelines does a globalized economy need?
• How can our social and welfare state be prepared for the future above and beyond questions of finance?
• From an economic point of view, what are the approaches for a successful environmental policy for today and tomorrow?

The aim of the funding priority is thus, on the one hand, to give economic research a new direction based on questions of a policy of sustainability and, on the other hand, to enhance sustainability research by adopting realistic economic approaches. Economists are working with relevant partners from everyday practice in the areas of the economy, administration, civil society and the media. Together, they are developing empirically founded and interdisciplinary strategies for action.

The research projects of the first announcement are developing economic concepts for a socially and environmentally friendly globalization and strategies to activate and disseminate more sustainable styles of consumption within the framework of an "economy of sustainable consumption". They are using integrated models to study the economic, ecological and social interrelations which must be considered for sustainable development, to develop new methods to evaluate natural capital and ecosystem services and to evaluate and develop ecological management criteria through an environmental policy.