Research seminar project: sustainability transitions in the federal state of Brandenburg (2023-2025)

Funding: Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching  (Viadrina PROKODIL Programme), MA European Studies at the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)

Principle investigator: Amelie Kutter

Research assistant: Lena Koperek

Abstract: In recent years, the European Union has increasingly focused its investment and cohesion policies on sustainability and climate neutrality, for example with the European Green Deal. The German federal government and the state government of Brandenburg have launched policies and instruments, too. But how is the transition to sustainability being implemented on the ground, and what is the significance of these policies from a bottom-up perspective? The project ‘Sustainability transitions in the federal state of Brandenburg’ analyses how actors in the region implement or contest sustainability policies in the areas of water, forests, energy and food. What ideas and practices do experts, governments and local future-makers develop when establishing new ways of living and producing in the region?

The project is based on a series of research seminars that draw on the philosophy of challenge-based learning. Students explore challenges and scenarios for problem solution in fields of their choice, in collaboration with local stakeholders, using the methods of document analyis, interviews, and field trips. The results are being presented at follow-up seminars and, at the end of the series, to the wider public. The seminar series is accompanied by the Viadrina Centre for Teaching and Learning and is financially supported by the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching and the European Studies Master’s Programme at Viadrina.

Funding: Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching  (Viadrina PROKODIL Programme), MA European Studies at the European University Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder)

Principle investigator: Amelie Kutter

Research assistant: Lena Koperek

Abstract: In recent years, the European Union has increasingly focused its investment and cohesion policies on sustainability and climate neutrality, for example with the European Green Deal. The German federal government and the state government of Brandenburg have launched policies and instruments, too. But how is the transition to sustainability being implemented on the ground, and what is the significance of these policies from a bottom-up perspective? The project ‘Sustainability transitions in the federal state of Brandenburg’ analyses how actors in the region implement or contest sustainability policies in the areas of water, forests, energy and food. What ideas and practices do experts, governments and local future-makers develop when establishing new ways of living and producing in the region?

The project is based on a series of research seminars that draw on the philosophy of challenge-based learning. Students explore challenges and scenarios for problem solution in fields of their choice, in collaboration with local stakeholders, using the methods of document analyis, interviews, and field trips. The results are being presented at follow-up seminars and, at the end of the series, to the wider public. The seminar series is accompanied by the Viadrina Centre for Teaching and Learning and is financially supported by the Foundation for Innovation in University Teaching and the European Studies Master’s Programme at Viadrina.