The RIFS Fellow Programme
Apply for the RIFS Fellow Programme!
Deadline: 14 July
Saran Solar Farm in Kazakhstan’s coal-rich Karaganda Region. Saran Solar Farm (100 MW) in Kazakhstan’s coal-rich Karaganda Region. RIFS/Zabanova
Kazakhstan: Central Asia’s Energy Transition Pioneer
A blog post by Yana Zabanova
ACE Dialogue and Negotiations at SB60 in Bonn Are we really betting on climate action, or just shuffling the deck without ever dealing a hand? Deborah Lika / RIFS
Drawing the ACE Card – Are We Betting on Climate Action?
A blog post by RIFS Fellow Deborah Lika
Systemic Risks
Conference: Methods in Risk Research
Call for Abstracts
RIFS staff RIFS staff RIFS/Arne Weychardt
Research and Dialogue for Sustainable Societies
What RIFS stands for

Headline: Homepage

What we work on

Transformative Sustainability Research

RIFS conducts research with the goal of understanding, advancing, and guiding processes of societal change towards sustainable development. Our researchers collaborate with diverse actors from science, policymaking and public administration as well as business and civil society to develop a common understanding of sustainability challenges and generate potential solutions. The research approach is transformative, transdisciplinary, and co-creative.

About us

In brief

News

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Members of a Kiezblock initiative in Berlin-Lichtenberg present a collection of signatures to the district council.
Mobility transition

Civil Society Engagement as a Driver of Urban Transformation

Cities will need to change if we are to secure a sustainable future. Many people in Berlin have recognized this and cititzen-led initiatives have played a crucial role in driving transformations in recent years. This engagement strengthens resilience and ensures that communities are better equipped to tackle future challenges. But more can be done to involve different communities and improve cooperation with the city’s political institutions and policymakers.

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Dolphins off the coast of the Azores: Macaronesia is an important reservoir for marine biodiversity.
Fellowship

New Solutions for Marine Sustainability

The oceans are of crucial importance for the climate, ecosystems, food security, and trade. Despite this, the unsustainable use of marine resources is undermining the health and resilience of marine ecosystems and species around the world. What can be done to change this? Florian Lennert joined the RIFS as a Klaus Töpfer Sustainability Fellow in April 2024. In this interview, he explains his plans for a platform to develop sustainable marine technologies.

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The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen was once the largest colliery in the world. Today it is an industrial heritage site and a symbol of a past economic era.
Ruhr Region

Cities in Transition: Towards a Sustainable Future

While the cities of Duisburg and Essen in Germany’s Ruhr Region have a similar history, their plans for a post-coal future diverge: Duisburg is building on its industrial heritage and hopes to establish itself as an international hub for logistics and hotspot for green hydrogen. Essen, on the other hand, has developed a green vision for the future that centres on sustainable enterprises and cultural events. Both pathways present their own opportunities and challenges.

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Wind turbines in Tafilah: Jordan has outstanding potential for renewable energy generation.
Household Survey

Jordanians Keen to Harness Community Benefits of Energy Transition

Jordan has outstanding potential for renewable energy generation. Government backing for the country’s energy transition was strong through to 2019, but has dropped off since then. A household survey conducted by the Research Institute for Sustainability - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (RIFS) shows that citizens want to see this change: 91 percent of respondents expressed their support for an expansion of renewable energies in Jordan.

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Dossiers

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Discussion at the Citizens’ Assembly for Democracy in Leipzig.

Deliberative Mini-Publics Dossier

Deliberative mini-publics are participatory processes in which a randomly selected and heterogenous group of citizens cooperate for a period to develop recommendations, ideas or solutions on a specific issue. RIFS accompanies these processes in various roles.

The ocean is full of plastic waste.

Protecting the Marine Environment: An International Treaty on Plastic Pollution Dossier

Marine plastic pollution poses a threat to the marine environment and negatively affects human health. An international treaty is currently being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) to provide a comprehensive global legal framework addressing plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. Scientists within the Ocean Governance research group at RIFS are closely following the negotiation processes and exploring the role of the future treaty in ocean governance.

Felder, Wälder, Windräder: eine Landschaft in Brandenburg.

Sustainability in Brandenburg Dossier

Brandenburg is facing major sustainability challenges, such as agrarian transformation, energy transformation, mobility transformation, transformation of Lusatia, adaptation to climate change, promotion of rural areas, revitalisation of the economy after the Corona pandemic, and water supply and water protection. As a Potsdam institute, RIFS is actively involved in sustainability work in Brandenburg.

Tsunami - iStockphoto - estt

Systemic Risks Dossier

Modern societies are vulnerable to “systemic risks” such as pandemics, financial crises, or climate change. Due to their complex and interconnected nature, systemic risks pose a particular challenge to conventional approaches to risk analysis and management. The research group on systemic risks at RIFS analyses risks and opportunities around transformation processes for sustainable development and, in a second step, develops policy recommendations for the governance of systemic risks.