News

Check out the latest papers published by Verena:

van Zyl-Bulitta, V.H.; Patt, A.; Mudombi, S.; Fabricius, C. (2023). Unintended consequences of climate change
adaptation: African case studies and typologies on pitfalls and windfalls, Development Southern Africa, Routledge.

Abstract: Climate change adaptation concerns mechanisms for responding to local climate change impacts to improve livelihoods of and decrease risks to affected stakeholders. In this article, we present evidence and novel insights from selected climate change adaption cases studies in Sub-Saharan Africa with the aim is to foster awareness and comprehension for local, national and transnational actors, enabling better decision-making, project implementation and policy design. To achieve this, we describe and assess positive spillovers and negative externalities of climate change adaptation. We apply a typology classification to collected case studies related to the occurrence of (un)intended (side) effects. Furthermore, we adapted political economic research on the state-of-the-art ‘4E’– method (representing enclosure,
exclusion, encroachment, entrenchment) evident in the literature and case study applications to fit our research
questions. The factors we found relevant for explaining the typology include collaboration across scales, data
availability and learning, bottom-up involvement/participation. We also formulated the positive counterpart of each of
the four E dimensions. One finding was that the category lose-win, where the intended goal was not achieved, yet a
positive spillover occurred, would be more likely to emerge with the factors ‘bottom-up participation’ as well as
‘learning across scales’ being present.

Kouvara, A.; Priavolou, C.; Ott, D.; Scherer, P.; van Zyl-Bulitta, V.H. (2023). Circular, Local, Open: A Recipe for Sustainable Building Construction. Buildings 2023, 13, 2493.

Abstract: In response to the construction sector’s contribution to the climate crisis and exacerbation of social inequalities, we explore sustainable alternatives in building construction, informed by the illustrative case study of the Polycare
construction system. A Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows that the ecological footprint of circularity-oriented buildings
based on polymer concrete is significantly lower than that of conventional cement concrete buildings. Despite the
drawbacks of polymer concrete, its high-performance properties and the possibility to integrate secondary materials in
its recipe can result in a reduced carbon footprint. When coupled with design-embedded modularity that facilitates
circular processes, buildings similar to those in the case study demonstrate potential for transitioning towards
comprehensive sustainable building practices. Further, we discuss how this sustainability potential could be enhanced,
drawing from interviews with Polycare’s stakeholders and key literature findings. We provide a set of proposals
anchored in the argument that threefold “circularity, localisation, and openness” is vital for sustainable and affordable
alternatives, with openness being a crucial element for fostering innovation, adaptability, and scalability in building
processes.

The workshop offered the great opportunity to discuss the different elements, the advantages and disadvantages, definitionsand modes of the complex field of transformation-oriented research.

Transformative research (TS) focuses on understanding real-world problems of unsustainability and on developing knowledge to solve these problems by engaging with different societal actors in a co-creative research setting. It builds on the acknowledgement that real-world problems are persistent, complex, ambiguous and require fundamental societal change processes (so called “transformations”) to be overcome.

During the workshop, participants gained a better understanding of what we collectively mean by transformative research and advanced critical questioning and reflections regarding experiences from the field. Instead of developing clear and foreclosing answers, participants explored the multiple perspectives and understandings of transformative research.

Three key lessons have been drawned for the community, that led to follow-up questions and elaborations:

• Transformative research critically advances from collaborative questioning: Is it really a matter of combining efforts to formulate the right questions instead of generating fast knowledge and solutions?
• Transformative research benefits from a shared identity: Who are we and what does transformative research change for us in our role and every-day scientific practice?
• Embodying participatory practices is key for transformative research: What kind of attitudes and formats do we use to come together in meaningful ways?

Valerie Voggenreiter and Felix Beyers from the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) in Potsdam published a paper on the workshop "A Journey of Collective Scientific Learning: A Networking Event on Transformative Research Hosted by the Austrian Institute of Technology" (August 2023).

Master of Commerce graduate (Stellenbosch) Verena van Zyl-Bulitta continues her PhD studies, which she started at the University of Leipzig, now at the Chair of Sustainability and Transformation Research. Her research focuses on social-ecological and socio-technical aspects of energy transitions across the Global North-South divide. She investigates how allocation of responsibilities for flexibilization, commons governance mechanisms and the role of the co-prosumer could be framed from a commoning perspective. In her research she uses energy and flexibility justice concepts as well as political economic approaches.

The trinational summer school offered 20 PhD and master students from various disciplines, in the framework of Eucor Universities, the opportunity to learn interactively about innovative formats and methods of transdisciplinary research.

The sustainable transformation of our society does not only require the production of knowledge and the development of scientific solutions. In order to implement scientific findings successfully, it is necessary to deal with the social framework conditions. This requires close cooperation between science and society. The subject of transdisciplinary research is to design and structure this cooperation in a scientific and practice-oriented way.

During the summer school, the students discovered and tried out different transdisciplinary formats and methods based on a case study on climate adaptation of the city of Emmendingen (north of Freiburg, Germany). As the trinational Upper Rhine region is particularly affected by heat and as even higher temperatures and more frequent and longer heat periods are expected in the future, cities and municipalities are called upon to quickly develop adaptation strategies and measures. The PhD students tackled these issues concretely and in direct cooperation with the City of Emmendingen.

For more information see here.

Sarah Olbrich participated at the Beyond crisis/Beyond normal in Trondheim, Norway in September, 2023 with a presentation on "Policy Mix for energy sector integration in Germany - Challenges and Strategies". The conference explored aspects of sustainability across everyday life, politics, technology, art, and innovation through a broad range of disciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspectives.

Find the link to the Conference here.