IRI THESys - Transformations of Human-Environmental Systems

The planned IRI THESys will be a HU integrative research institute, jointly run by researchers from the University's three locations (Campus Mitte, Campus Nord and Campus Adlershof). The IRI THESys will conduct interdisciplinary research aimed at reaching a better understanding of societal opportunities and limitations within the context of current transformation processes in human-environmental systems.

How can decarbonisation of society be speeded up to reduce the impact of climate change? How will the rapidly increasing demand for bioenergy change global land use systems and influence the supply security of food and clean water? Which role does an ever-more urbanised world play in preserving or restoring ecological system performance, and how can it reduce climate change impact? How can the use of natural resources be harmonised with the conservation of biodiversity?

To answer such questions, researchers in the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences are working together in the IRI THESys. This new research alliance will allow them to pool their expertise on sustainability, land use, climate impact and globalisation. Lead by the Department of Geography, the joint project will bring together, for the first time, researchers from the University's three campuses: Mitte, Nord and Adlershof. One of the core elements of the IRI THESys is the FutureLand Graduate School, which has been proposed under the Excellence Initiative. This school is targeted at young researchers with interdisciplinary skills and trains them in matters of sustainable land use. To help promote interdisciplinary and inter-departmental research that incorporates young researchers, Junior Research Groups will be set up at areas of intersection between the participating disciplines.

The intra-university collaboration will be supported by a strong national and international network. The researchers involved in the IRI THESys are already working intensively in alliances on sustainability and climate-impact research in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. Cooperation agreements currently exist with three centres in the Helmholtz Association and six institutes in the Leibniz Association.

International partners of THEsys and the FutureLand Graduate School are three of the world-leading research institutions working in the field of sustainability: the School of Sustainability in Tempe, Arizona (USA), the Lund University Centre of Excellence for Integration of Social and Natural Dimensions of Sustainability (Sweden), and the Research School for Socio-Economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment in Wageningen (The Netherlands).

Contact

Prof. Patrick Hostert
Department of Geography
patrick.hostert@geo.hu-berlin.de