Trans­dis­cip­lin­ary Sus­tain­ab­il­ity Re­search: „We need more cour­age to change things“

With a focus on environmental management, Jens has been concentrating on sustainability and digital communication already during his studies in Pforzheim and Heilbronn – business administration with a focus on market and communication research, B.Sc., and sports, culture and leisure management, M.A. Since 2016, he is combining these two pillars in his position as a research assistant at HNU, which has made sustainability a cornerstone of its mission statement. Over the years, says Jens, who examines promoters and inhibitors in change management in his dissertation, his professional projects have also had an increasing impact on his private life: "Everyone probably knows that the more you deal with a topic, the more you take it into your private life, even unconsciously. Things like sustainable food or fair prices for organic farmers have increasingly become an immanent part of my life".

Laurens also applies for jobs in the field of climate protection and sustainability after his studies of energy and resource management (B.A.). He finally ends up in Heidenheim, where he works in the hydroelectric power industry in the field of sustainability and is doing a Master in International Management on the side. He then moves on to Biberach University of Applied Sciences, where he is working on the transfer of research results on energy system transformation at the Institute for Building and Energy Systems (IGE) since 2018. "Climate protection is currently the most important topic for me – and not only for me, but for the whole of humanity. The earth may survive, but will we humans still be around then? This question became the driving force behind my professional career".

 

[1]

Sensitizing for sustainability: Also a question of the right way of communicating science

The fact that the concept of sustainability is currently used so inflationarily is not necessarily a disadvantage in Jens' eyes. "Yes, the word does of course appear everywhere and all the time," he confirms. "But at the same time it also means that the threshold for new projects is comparatively low." And ideas for new projects – that's something the two scientists have more than enough of. They are also driven by the desire to make an active contribution to the social discourse on sustainability. Jens and Laurens agree that making scientific findings comprehensible to everyone must be a crucial task for science and scientists. "Ideally, the findings should be formulated in such a way that they could appear as a scientific headline in the BILD newspaper. That is exactly what we need; this is what the broad masses read, believe and want to hear. If complex topics - and climate change and global warming are very complex, it has to be said - are presented in such a way that they can be understood by many groups, then science will make a major contribution," says Jens. With their scientific work, the two of them are determined to move beyond the academic filter bubble. "You have to address all levels of society, from small consumers to industry, and take all groups with you. The energy transition touches all areas – transformation must happen everywhere, and as quickly as possible," Laurens emphasizes.

[2]

Social transformation: Local opportunities and political necessities  

One of the many possible interfaces in this context is Jens' focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ^INFOBOX. "I am always pleased when regional companies approach me and want to make a long-term commitment. For example, we develop cooperative theses from which the company can derive concrete measures and take ideas for further social projects," he says. Laurens also sees his role anchored in the local area: "I am interested in playful approaches: Can gamification^INFOBOX also be used to raise awareness of new energies? This is how we approach political decision-makers and sound out possible cooperation". Jens and Laurens are convinced that good will and commitment on the part of individuals and groups is necessary for social transformation, but in the end it is not enough on its own. As Laurens explains, many reservations can be easily overcome – in the area of the energy transition ^INFOBOX, for example, economic ones: "The new energy supply is, in the overall balance, simply a profitable solution for the national economy. Of course, the shift may be more expensive in the short term – but it pays off in the long term. It's now or never".

Jens Boscheinen: I would like to see more courage to make unpopular decisions at the local level as well. [...] There are remarkable examples from European cities that show, for example in the area of the mobility transition, that it can be a solution to completely calm traffic in city centers, to develop alternative traffic concepts and to make city centers liveable again. [...] Of course, that doesn't make you popular at first, you might offend people. It is difficult to change the behavior of individuals - you can observe this with yourself. If it rains, I will just get into my car instead of taking the bus. That is myopic thinking and doesn't make much sense, but I do it, I'm a creature of habit and it's comfortable - and as I'm paying for a car, why should I pay for the bus?

Laurens Bortfeldt: One has fixed costs anyway!

Jens Boscheinen: That's it. But if the city of Ulm provides me with a parking space and tells me that it costs 20 euros per hour - as Amsterdam, for example, handles it in a similar way – then nobody will drive into the city and park. Nobody wants that. In this way you automatically create a change in society through political will. Of course, not everyone approves of this, but in the end, society benefits from it in the long term. This has to happen in many areas, and it is simply not possible without political pressure, without guidelines in some areas.

Laurens Bortfeldt: In addition, you also have to make the strategic investments. Companies need realiable planning, and if something changes every four years, they won't invest for the time being – they wait and see. You have to provide security to companies, tell them, "yes, that's exactly where we want to go!". If, for example, the price of CO₂ was, let's say, 180 Euro – which, according to the Federal Environment Agency, would be at least the cost of the damage caused by a ton of CO₂ – then companies would pay for themselves, and suddenly they might start investing in things that were not profitable before.

[3]

Fridays for Future and crisis awareness: "Something has happened".

"Now or never" is also the motto of the climate movement that Jens and Laurens are investigating in their current project. The survey focused on the basic motivation of Fridays for Future activists: What sustainability behavior do they display, for what reasons, and what – also political – motives do they have for becoming actively involved?

In the course of his work, Jens recently got into conversation with a young climate activist who had been living at the climate camp on Ulm's Rathausplatz for a good four weeks. He is impressed by how well he can exchange on climate change with Laura, a good 15 years younger than him, and how much in-depth knowledge the Fridays for Future member has acquired. "Fridays for Future has succeeded in doing something that so many local groups and politicians have been trying to do for years and failed to do: Drawing attention to an issue and making decisions with a lot of force – whether or not these are sufficient is open to question, but something has happened," Jens notes. So far there is hardly any reliable data on this still young movement; the mood picture they would like to create with their study should close this research gap to a certain extent. To this end, the two researchers had developed a comprehensive questionnaire that they distributed to Fridays for Future activists in countless WhatsApp groups throughout Germany – a Sisyphean task, as they soon discovered. "After all, there were almost 800 chats in which we had to actively communicate," explains Jens. "For four days I sat only at my tablet." But the effort was worth it, the study has been evaluated – and communication is one of their hobbies anyway. "The intensive exchange with others and the direct feedback give me a lot in such projects. Of course, there is always the faction that clicks away the hundredth study unread, but there are also those who tell us: 'It's good that you're investigating this, it's incredibly important to shed light on this point'," says Jens.  

[4]

Transdisciplinary collaboration as a productive learning process – a plea for "wild alliances"

The fact that they can combine different expertise and perspectives under the umbrella of the energy industry in their joint projects is an invaluable advantage for both of them. 

"For me, transdisciplinary work is always a learning process for both sides, because it breaks open one's own bubble, broadens one's horizon - and that is still done far too rarely," Jens notes. Laurens also appreciates the synergy effects that arise from the cooperation between different departments. He argues that "wild alliances" should be formed much more frequently in science: "Jens and I, for example, are still travelling in a relatively similar way despite our different priorities – we both think as energy economists. One could bring completely different disciplines on board here: A sociologist or anthropologist would perhaps approach all this in a completely different way".

It will be interesting to see which (wild) alliances Jens and Lauren will forge in the future – but sustainability will probably always play an important role in this.

The study by Jens Boscheinen and Laurens Bortfeldt on the Fridays for Future movement will be published soon. Further information will also be available at this point.

Jens Boscheinen: Ten years from now? I will either be a university professor – or a dropout. I can well imagine both scenarios...

Laurens Bortfeldt: The drop-out life has something for itself! Of course, it is often underestimated, it is hard work.

Jens Boscheinen: Yes, it's not an easy road.

Laurens Bortfeldt: One always imagines it to be so paradisiacal. But it's an exciting thing, this self-sufficient life – or at least getting close to it: Producing a lot yourself, e.g. electricity, maybe some food. Being completely self-sufficient is difficult, of course, because you are too integrated into your structures. In the medium term, I'll stay with science for the time being. In ten years, I hope I have made a social impact and will recognize an output; see that something is happening in the field.