Konrad Gürtler

Konrad Gürtler has worked with the Regional Sustainability Transformations project at RIFS as a research associate since 2022. His research focuses on sustainability and energy policy in coal phase-out regions, examining the conditions and dynamics that facilitate or hinder regional sustainability transitions. In his doctoral research at Radboud University Nijmegen (NL) and RIFS, he explores moral-spatial tensions in coal phase-out regions across Germany, Canada, and South Africa, analysing how justice claims are negotiated in these transitions. Since joining the institute in 2018, he has contributed to various projects, primarily in climate and energy policy. From 2019 to 2021, as part of the IASS project Social Transformation and Policy Advice in Lusatia, he investigated the governance dynamics of the coal phase-out and structural change. He has written and co-authored multiple publications on coal transitions in Germany and beyond, the role of municipalities in regional transitions, and EU just transition approaches. In addition to energy and climate policy, he is also interested in sustainability discourses and transformative research. Konrad Gürtler studied political science, environmental policy, and environmental planning at Freie Universität Berlin, the University of Winnipeg, Technische Universität Berlin, and Marmara University Istanbul.