Projects supported by TRA Sustainable Futures

The CRC 1502 investigates the hypothesis that humans - through decades of changes in land use and intensified water use and management - have caused permanent modifications in the coupled water and energy cycles of land and atmosphere.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA member: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kusche

COVID-19 and the disruptions caused by the measures to contain the pandemic have impacted marginalised population groups in Ethiopia. The project addresses research gaps related to the impact of the pandemic on livelihoods, agricultural production and market relations and resulting changes in the food system.

Support from TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA members: Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn, Dr. Girma Kelboro Mensuro

The CRC-TRR 228 aims to understand the future of Africa and how it is "created" in rural areas through the study of land use change and socio-ecological transformation.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for external funding application (2nd phase CRC).

Responsible TRA member: Prof. Dr. Detlef Müller-Mahn

AID4Crops brings together research about what can be sensed with what should be sensed applied to horticultural crops. To do this, AID4Crops will develop novel AI algorithms to enable autonomous monitoring (sensing) and management (forecasting and decision making).

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA members: Prof. Dr. Chris McCool, Prof. Dr. Maren Bennewitz

How does international trade in agricultural and forestry products affect biodiversity? CLEVER is investigating this question, particularly with regard to animal feed, energy crops, tropical timber and aquaculture.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA member: Prof. Dr. Jan Börner

Sustainable nutrition plays a decisive role in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals. COPLANT is the largest planned cohort study on plant-based nutrition in the German-speaking region to date. The aim is to gain new insights into the advantages and disadvantages of plant-based diets.

Support from TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for the establishment of the study centre

Responsible TRA member: Prof. Dr. Ute Nöthlings

"Invisible" plastic - nanoplastics to be precise - is not only found in the sea, but also in our soil. This is a problem because it can be absorbed by plants and thus enter the food chain. Dr Melanie Braun wants to develop an analytical method to quantify such small plastic particles in the soil.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Klaus Töpfer Research Award

Responsible TRA member: Dr. Melanie Braun

Though night is a critical time and space for cities, its role in imagining and realising sustainable urban futures is often overlooked. "Rewilding the Night" initiates an experimental research project that brings together an interdisciplinary team of collaborators to explore the future of cities after dark.

Support from TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA members: Dr. Taylor Stone, Prof. Dr. Ribana Roscher

The main objective of RE4GREEN is to complement an ethics and integrity framework for research and innovation activities in the European Research Area (ERA) by aspects for climate and environmental ethics, aiming at supporting the transition to a sustainable economy and society as envisaged in the European Green Deal.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Seed funding for third-party funding application

Responsible TRA member: Prof. Dr. Dirk Lanzerath

In this project, a systematic literature review will be conducted to identify the health effects of the variables of different environmental compartments, to highlight interactions between them and to discuss the limitations of the corresponding models.

Support from the TRA Sustainable Futures: Initiating the development of a new research field and publication funding

Responsible TRA members: Dr. Timo Falkenberg, Dr. Insa Thiele-Eich