Since the middle of the 20th century, human society experiences a "Great Acceleration" manifesting in historically remarkable growth rates that create severe sustainability problems. The globally exploding potentials of information and knowledge exchange have been and are vital drivers for this acceleration. Society has now come to the point that it requires a "Great Transformation" towards sustainability to ensure the viability of the planet for a vital society. The energy transition plays a central role for this transformation. In this context, human society has developed a comparably good understanding of the necessary infrastructural changes of this transition. For transforming the patterns of energy production and use in an energy transition as part of the "Great Transformation", this process of change now needs to strengthen its focus on information, communication, and knowledge systems. Human society needs to establish a knowledge system that has the potential to create usable knowledge for sustainability solutions. This requires organizing a communication system that is sufficiently complex, interconnected, and, at the same time, efficient for integrating reflexive, open-ended, inter- and transdisciplinary learning, evaluation, and knowledge co-production processes across multiple levels. This challenge opens a wide field of research.
This cumulative dissertation contributes to research in this direction by applying a systemic sustainability perspective on the content and organization of communication in the field of research on sustainable energy and the operational level of municipal climate action as part of the energy transition. Regarding sustainability, this thesis uses strong sustainability and its principles as a frame for evaluating the content of communication. Regarding the systemic perspective, the thesis particularly relies on the following theories: (i) the human-environment system model by R. Scholz as an overarching framework regarding interactions between humans and nature, (ii) social systems theory by N. Luhmann to reflect the complexity of society, (iii) knowledge management to consider the human character of knowledge and a practice-oriented perspective, and (iv) management cybernetics, in particular, the Viable System Model by S. Beer as a framework to analyze and assess organizational structures. Furthermore, the thesis leverages the potential of text mining as a method to identify and visualize patterns in texts that reflect prevalent paradigms in communication.
The thesis applies the above conceptual and methodological basis in three case studies. Case Study 1 investigates the measures proposed in 16 municipal climate action plans of regional centers in Lower Saxony, Germany. It uses a text mining approach in the form of an Summary interpretation network analysis. It analyzes how different societal subsystems are connected at the semantic level and to what extent sustainability principles can be recognized. Case Study 2 analyzes and reflects paradigms and discursive network structures in international scientific publications on sustainable energy. The study investigates 26533 abstracts published from 1990 to 2016 using a text mining approach, in particular topic modeling via latent Dirichlet allocation. Case Study 3 turns again to the cases of municipal climate action in Lower Saxony examined in Case Study 1. It examines the involvement of climate action managers of these cities in multilevel knowledge processes. Using design principles for knowledge systems, it evaluates to what extent knowledge is managed in this field across levels for supporting the energy transition and to what extent local innovation potential is leveraged or supported.
The three case studies show that international research on sustainable energy and municipal climate action in Germany provide promising contributions to achieve a transformation towards sustainability but do not fully reflect the complexity of society and still support a growth paradigm, in contrast to a holistic sustainability paradigm. Further, the case studies show that research and local action are actively engaging with the diversity of energy technologies but are lagging in dealing with the socio-epistemic (communication) system, especially with regard to achieving cohesion. Using the example of German municipalities, Case Studies 1 and 3 highlight the challenges of achieving coherent local action for sustainability and bottom-up organizational learning due to incomplete or uncoordinated multilevel knowledge exchange. At the same time, the studies also point out opportunities for supporting the required coherent multilevel learning processes based on local knowledge. This can be achieved, for instance, by strengthening the coordinating role of intermediary organizational units or establishing closer interactions between the local operational units and the national level.
The thesis interprets and synthesizes the results of the three case studies from its systemic sustainability perspective. On this basis, it provides several generalized recommendations that should be followed for establishing viable communication systems, especially but not exclusively in policy-making:
Systemic holism: Consider matter, energy, and information flows as an integrated triplet in the context of scales, structures, and time in the various subsystems. Knowledge society: Focus on the socio-epistemic (communication) system, e.g., using the perspective of knowledge systems and associated design principles considering, for instance, working environments across horizontal and vertical levels, knowledge forms and types, and knowledge processes. Sufficiency communication: Emphasize sufficiency approaches, make it attractive, and find differentiated ways for communicating them. Multilevel cohesion and innovation: Achieve cohesion between the local and higher levels and leverage local innovations while avoiding isolated local action. Organizational interface design: Define the role of organizational units by the interactions they create at the interfaces with and between societal subsystems. Local transdisciplinarity: Support local transdisciplinary approaches integrating various subsystems, especially industry, while coordinating these approaches from a higher level for leveraging local innovation. Digital public system: Exploit existing digital technologies or infrastructures in the public system and recognize the value of data in the public sphere for achieving cohesion. Beyond the above recommendations, this thesis suggests that potential for further research lies in: Advancing nature-inspired systemic frameworks. Understanding the structure and creation of human knowledge. Developing text mining methodologies towards solution-oriented approaches.
Elektro- und Elektronikaltgeräte zählen zu den am schnellsten wachsenden Abfallströmen in Europa. Reparatur und Wiederverwendung können durch eine Verlängerung der Produktnutzungsdauer dazu beitragen, dass weniger Abfall entsorgt werden muss und Ressourcen durch die Vermeidung von Neuproduktion eingespart werden. In der Europäischen Abfallrahmenrichtlinie (2008/98/EG) wird der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung" ein hoher Stellenwert eingeräumt; die Abfallvermeidung hat, gefolgt von der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung", eindeutig Priorität gegenüber dem Recycling. Die Abfallhierarchie verspricht zwar implizit ökologische Vorteile der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung", allerdings wurden die institutionell-ökologischen Zusammenhänge des Konzepts in der Forschungsdebatte bislang vernachlässigt. Somit sind die tatsächlichen Ressourceneinsparpotenziale der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung" noch weitgehend unerforscht. Vor diesem Hintergrund zielt das Dissertationsprojekt darauf ab, ein Verständnis dafür zu entwickeln, wie spezifische Kontexte (beispielsweise die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen, ökonomische oder informatorische Aspekte) die "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung" von Produkten aus der Ressourcenperspektive beeinflussen. Dafür wurden die institutionell-ökologischen Zusammenhänge der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung" integrativ betrachtet, und zwar mit Fokus auf ausgewählte Geräte - Flachbildmonitore (FlaMo's), Kaffeefiltermaschinen (KaFil's), Kaffeepadmaschinen (Ka-Pad's), Lautsprecherboxen (LauS) und Waschmaschinen (WaMa's) - und im Sinne einer vergleichenden Analyse von zwei abfallstrukturell-charakteristischen Regionen - Flandern und Nordrhein-Westfalen. Die interdisziplinäre Fragestellung der Arbeit erforderte die Anwendung qualitativer Methoden für die tiefgründige Untersuchung der "Vorbereitung zur Wiederverwendung" in den verschiedenen institutionellen Systemen, aber auch quantitative Methoden im Hinblick auf die zahlenmäßige Bewertung der Ressourceneinsparpotenziale. Zentrale Datenerhebungsinstrumente waren fallbeispielbezogene öffentliche Dokumente und Webseiten, die Analyse betriebsinterner Dokumentationen, Literaturauswertungen, Stichprobenerhebungen, Beobachtungen und Experteninterviews.
Um die Klimaschutzziele der Bundesregierung zu erreichen sind im Rahmen der Energiewende die CO2-Emissionen besonders in den Sektoren Strom und Wärme durch geeignete Maßnahmen zu reduzieren. Aus diesem Grund liegt der Fokus auf einer Steigerung des Anteils regenerativer, CO2-freier Erzeugungsanlagen an der Energieversorgung. Kann man im Stromsektor bereits auf ein beachtliches Wachstum des Anteils erneuerbarer Energien in der Erzeugung zurückblicken, so stagnieren die Werte im Wärmebereich, obwohl dieser ein hohes Einsparpotenzial aufweist.
Zur Aktivierung der Wärmewende ist eine Vielzahl an Maßnahmen von Nöten. Eine Möglichkeit, erneuerbare Wärme in die Wärmeversorgung dicht besiedelter Stadtgebiete zu integrieren, stellen Wärmenetze dar. Die verlustarme Verteilung über weite Strecken ermöglicht eine verbrauchsferne Erzeugung, wodurch auch Gebiete ohne verfügbare Flächen beispielsweise mit solarthermischer Wärme versorgt werden können. Des Weiteren vereinfachen Wärmenetze die Kopplung der Sektoren Strom und Wärme, da sie durch die Brennstoff- und Erzeugungstechnologieoffenheit verstärkt durch Wärme aus Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsanlagen (KWK) und Power-to-heat-Systeme gespeist werden können. Die fluktuierende, nichtregelbare Erzeugung und Einspeisung erneuerbarer Energien stellt die Netzbetreiber allerdings vor neue Herausforderungen zur Sicherstellung eines stabilen Netzbetriebes.
Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den Auswirkungen der vermehrten Einspeisung erneuerbarer Wärme auf alle weiteren Komponenten eines Energiesystems, welches aus Erzeugungs-, Verteilungs- und Speicherungsinfrastruktur besteht. Erneuerbare Wärmeerzeuger, insbesondere Solarthermieanlagen, sind durch eine fluktuierende, dargebotsabhängige Erzeugung charakterisiert. Aus diesem Grund sind der konventionelle Betrieb sowie bei Neubauprojekten die Auslegung der regelbaren KWK-Anlagen dahingehend anzupassen, dass ein möglichst hoher Anteil erneuerbare Wärme in die Versorgung integriert werden kann, ohne dass es zu wirtschaftlichen Einbußen für den Versorger kommt. Ebenso ist ein effizienter und stabiler Netzbetrieb zur Gewährleistung einer kontinuierlichen Versorgungssicherheit von höchster Priorität. Zu diesem Zweck erfolgt im Rahmen dieser Arbeit die Erarbeitung von zwei Simulationsprogrammen, mit denen zum einen Wärmenetze verschiedenster Größe und Topologie sowie zum anderen regelbare und regenerative Erzeugungsanlagen sowie alle weiteren Komponenten eines Energiesystems zur Betriebssimulation abgebildet werden können.
Die Auswahl von drei geeigneten Simulationsszenarien und aussagekräftigen technischen sowie ökonomischen und ökologischen Kennzahlen ermöglicht neben einer umfassenden Bewertung ebenso die Ableitung von Handlungsmaßnahmen, die eine verstärkte Einbindung der Wärmewende in die Energiewende ermöglichen.
Social business innovations
(2018)
This research project approached the emergence of social business innovations from the periphery, working towards the core: the first article features the representation of the concept of Social Business City, which was newly implemented by Wiesbaden in 2010. Here, social businesses are to be founded with the help of a network based on both public and private institutions. At the time of conducting the research, three such Social Business Cities existed: Wiesbaden (Germany), Fukuoka (Japan) and Pistoia (Italy); in 2016 Barcelona joined the list of Social Business Cities. The second article analyses the ways in which microfinance organisations that are based on the concept of social business according to Yunus differ from one another. Included in this research was Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Social Business Women in Germany and Grameen America in the United States. Subsequently, a third article investigates the similarities and differences to be found between social businesses and charities. The research focuses on advantages and disadvantages on both sides and aims at answering the questions: which approach is appropriate under what circumstances and which aspects could be adopted by the other?
Finally, we investigated the various cooperation of the Grameen Group with global players such as Danone, Veolia and Intel in Bangladesh and the particular challenges which result therefrom.
The earth as we know it can only continue to exist if humanity finds a way to switch to a sustainable use of energy and resources. This work contributes to the research carried out to achieve this goal by improving the coating of adsorptive materials. These are used in heat transformation and drying processes that allow for efficient temperature and humidity control in buildings. A central component of these adsorptive coatings is the binder that acts as "glue" in the manufacturing of the coating. In this work the methods to evaluate binder performance regarding their thermal stability under the process conditions, their mechanical stability and their influence on the adsorptive properties of the coating were established. The coatings have to meet special requirements due to the thermal stresses and low pressure atmosphere they experience in these applications. A selection of silicone binders was then characterized with the established tests according to these requirements. Additionally a selection of inorganic binders was investigated because they allow for the use of high desorption temperatures and thus a high energy efficiency of the process. Out of these binders Silres® MP50E emerged as the most promising one due to very good adsorptive properties of the coating, its good temperature stability and ease of use. While some of the inorganic binders showed very good adsorptive properties and temperature stability the mechanical stability of all inorganic binders was not sufficient for their use in adsorption heat transformation technology. This is the first time that a broad selection of binders was evaluated with regards to adsorptive coatings and the results published in literature. With a suitable binder identified, the next step was to optimize the coating of the heat exchangers in order to work out how to manufacture the most efficient and powerful heat exchangers. Samples with different coating thicknesses were manufactured in small scale and full scale and their adsorption behavior was characterized. It could be shown for the first time that it is possible to increase energy efficiency by improving the mass ration of adsorber to coating and increase the delivered power at the same time. This was shown for small and full scale samples. It was shown that under the corresponding conditions the heat transfer from the coating layer to the adsorber metal substrate is the limiting step in the process. These results can now be used for the planning and construction of adsorbers. With knowledge of a suitable binder and how to coat efficient, powerful adsorbers, the coating process itself was improved to allow for industrial scale manufacturing. A central point here is the ability to control slurry rheology. Out of many rheology additives those that are suited for the application in adsorption heat transformation were identified and their influence on the slurry rheology thoroughly characterized. Additionally the process of slurry preparation could be simplified for several different adsorbents. Here it was shown that the supersonic deagglomeration step is not necessary to prepare a slurry. Extending the possible coating techniques and in addition to the dip coating process used so far, the spray coating of adsorptive coatings was established for the first time in literature. This process is widely used in the industry and allows for easier plugin into existing coating processes. For the coating of high resolution patterns a proof of concept of the screen printing process was carried out.
Enhancing cross-functional integration in new product development becomes increasingly important for industrial players to keep up with shorter product life cycles in technological innovation dynamics. Abundant research reflects the topic's significance, yet ambiguity in empirical results persists and industrial adoption of existing methods remains incremental. This thesis employs a qualitative approach to build a case study at the design-manufacturing interface of new product development of electrified cars. Cross-functional coopetition, as the joint occurrence of cooperation and competition, is adopted to generate an in-depth understanding of integration dynamics. Socio-organizational and contextual aspects are found to shape integration in a new product development context substantially. A model of interface dynamics is developed which provides for analysis and prediction of these aspects' impact on effective integration. A grounded theory approach to enhance integration is explored that introduces constraints as stimuli to consider manufacturability aspects in the design process. Constraint introduction is found to positively impact both cross-functional integration and creativity, with eight characteristics of constraint quality identified as moderating factors. A theoretical model is contributed which outlines cause-effect relationships of constraints' impact on antecedents of new product development success. It substantiates constraints' role in innovation contexts and encourages application for design-manufacturing integration as well as for other interfaces or purposes.
Der Umbau des Bahnhofsbereichs in Wuppertal und die damit verbundene dreijährige Vollsperrung der Hauptverkehrsstraße Bundesstraße 7 wird in dieser Dissertation als ein urbanes Mobilitätslabor genutzt. Darin wird untersucht, wie sich eine Verkehrssystemstörung auf die Resilienz des Systems Stadtverkehr auswirkt. Insgesamt analysiert diese Arbeit die Auswirkung dieser Sperrung auf ein Konglomerat von zusammenhängenden Systemelementen. Die Herangehensweise zur Ermittlung des Gesamtbildes geschieht mit einem Multi-Methoden-Mix. Zu den wichtigsten Ergebnissen zählt, dass die B7-Sperrung trotz anfangs gegenteiliger Befürchtungen zu keinem Verkehrszusammenbruch führte und die Resilienz des Systems Stadtverkehr dafür verantwortlich zu machen ist. Das Nicht-Eintreffen eines Verkehrszusammenbruchs ist bedingt durch die Anpassungs- und Lernfähigkeit, die Robustheit und die Gewöhnung des Systems Stadtverkehr. Die B7-Sperrung war ein Auslöser für die Re-Evaluation des eigenen Mobilitätsverhaltens. Die Auswirkung auf die Luftqualität wird an Hand von Stickstoffdioxid beurteilt. Die Zu- und Abnahmen der NO2-Werte kongruieren mit den Zu- und Abnahmen der Verkehrsstärken. Dies kann darauf hindeuten, dass sowohl die Sperrung als auch die Wiedereröffnung einen Effekt auf die Luftqualität haben könnten. Das Interesse der lokalen Medien ließ parallel zur Eingewöhnung nach. Die Forschungsarbeit zeigt einen in den Verkehrswissenschaften neuartigen Ansatz, Verhaltensbeobachtungen während eines widrigen Ereignisses durchzuführen und messbar zu machen. Mit dieser Arbeit lässt sich belegen, dass nachhaltige Transformationsprozesse im Verkehr im Hinblick auf die Autonutzung gestaltbar sind - eine wichtige Erkenntnis mit hoher Bedeutung für die Raum- und Verkehrsplanung.
This doctoral research is located in the branch of sustainability sciences that has the realisation of sustainable development as its core subject of research. The most broadly accepted notion of sustainable development is that which evolves along the resolutions, declarations, and reports from international processes in the framework of the United Nations (UN). The consensual outputs from such processes feature global-generalised and context-free perspectives. However, implementation requires action at diverse and context-rich local levels as well. Moreover, while in such UN processes national states are the only contractual parties, it is increasingly recognised that other ("nonstate") actors are crucial to sustainability. The research presented here places the attention on bottom-up initiatives that are advancing innovative ways to tackle universal access to clean energy and to strengthen small-scale family farmers. This means, the focus is on bottom-up initiatives advancing local implementation of global sustainability targets, more precisely, targets that make part of the Sustainable Development Goals two and seven (SDG 2 and SDG7). The research asks how such bottom-up initiatives can contribute to the diffusion of sustainability innovations, thereby also contributing to social change.
Die Dekarbonisierung des deutschen Wohngebäudebestandes stellt einen wichtigen Baustein zum Gelingen der Energiewende dar. Politisches Ziel ist ein "nahezu klima-neutraler" Gebäudebestand bis 2050. Trotz Erfolgen in der Vergangenheit und eines umfangreichen Policy-Mix verbleibt die energetische Sanierungstätigkeit sowohl hinichtlich der Sanierungstiefe als auch der Sanierungsbreite unterhalb des politisch geforderten und ökologisch notwendigen Maßes. Die Arbeit widmet sich daher der Frage, unter welchen individuellen und quartiersbezogenen Rahmenbedingungen Immobilieneigentümer energetische Sanierungsmaßnahmen durchführen und wie die energetische Sanierungstätigkeit durch Multi-Level-Governance gesteigert werden kann. Die Analyse erfolgt fallstudienbasiert für die Eigentümergruppe der privaten Kleinvermieter, die rund 37 Prozent des deutschen Wohnungsbestandes bewirtschaften. Anhand eines mixed method-Ansatzes wird zunächst durch problemzentrierte Interviews ein Modell zur Beschreibung des Investitionsentscheidungsprozesses entwickelt, was anschließend durch eine schriftlich-postalische Befragung und ihre regressions-analytische Auswertung bewertet wird. Durch die Triangulation können förderliche und hemmende Einflussfaktoren identifiziert werden. Aufbauend auf den theoretischen Vorüberlegungen sowie den empirischen Ergebnissen werden anschließend politische Handlungsempfehlungen abgeleitet.
The transformation of cities towards sustainable and inclusive development is a key objective of the New Urban Agenda (United Nations 2017). Transport infrastructure is a critical factor in shaping cities, determining the energy intensity of mobility and providing access to essential social and economic opportunities. The sector also plays an important role in global climate change mitigation strategies, as it currently accounts for about 23% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (IPCC 2014).
There is substantial potential to improve urban access, air quality, safety and the quality of life in cities along with reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions if an integrated policy approach is applied that combines all intervention areas for transport policy and involves all levels of government. A package that achieves low-carbon transport and fosters sustainable developed includes avoided journeys through compact urban design and shifts to more efficient modes of transport, uptake of improved vehicle and engine performance technologies, low-carbon fuels, investments in related infrastructure, and changes in the built environment. From a governance perspective, all relevant political institutions at the local and national level need to be involved in the coalition building along with key societal actors, such as unions, industry and civil society organisations. Bringing the policy objectives of these actors together with an integrated policy package is a vital step towards a low-carbon, sustainable mobility system.
Policy design and governance are critically interlinked as the ability of institutions to find a political consensus and to maintain policy stability heavily influences the success of measures to shape the transformation pathway towards sustainable mobility. This thesis aims to analyse these linkages and highlight the role of different policy and governance approaches. This analysis builds on transport and urban development research, but takes a transdisciplinary research perspective, building on the Multi-Level-Perspective on sustainability transitions (Geels 2002) and aims to highlight the potential for a consensus oriented policy approach (Lijphard 1999) that builds on co-benefits among key policy objectives and coalitions among key political actors, which leads to the main question for this thesis and the focus areas for the analysis.