The Research Institute for Sustainability conducts research with the goal of understanding, advancing, and guiding processes of societal change towards sustainable development. Our research approach is transformative, transdisciplinary, and co-creative.
Transformative sustainability research aims to bring together all relevant forms of knowledge generated both within and outside science in order to understand the problems of sustainable development, identify appropriate solutions, and support their implementation in cooperation with relevant actors and affected communities. RIFS involves these stakeholders in its transdisciplinary and co-creative research processes from the outset and does not view them as mere addressees of its research findings.
RIFS conducts research on three overarching themes: Sustainability Transformations and Society, Transforming Human-Earth Interactions, Advancing Transdisciplinarity and Co-Creation. These activities are complemented by a Fellow Programme, which fosters global dialogue and connects researchers working in the field of transformative research for sustainable development.