Transformative Environmental Governance

Governing the commons for just and resilient futures

The challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution cannot be solved by technology alone. They require new forms of governance (including staleholders, policy and financing mechanisms) that enable societies to collectively steward the ecosystems and resources on which life depends. Transformative environmental governance rethinks how decisions are made, how responsibilities are shared, and how institutions can support long-term sustainability and resilience.

At the Chair of Landscape Planning, we investigate governance approaches that strengthen the commons—such as water, biodiversity, landscapes, and climate—as shared resources and collective responsibilities. Our research explores how institutions, policies, and planning processes can foster cooperation across sectors and scales, integrate scientific and local knowledge, and enable adaptive responses to complex socio-ecological challenges.

A particular focus lies on participatory, trans- and multidisciplinary, and co-creative methods that bring together communities, practitioners, business sector, scientists, policymakers, and civil society. We study how collaborative governance and inclusive decision-making can build trust, resolve conflicts, promote environmental justice, and support the long-term stewardship of shared natural resources.