Report 2008: Preface and Focus of Research:
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Forschungsgruppe
Soziale Ökologie (1997): Soziale Ökologie. Gutachten zur
Förderung der sozial-ökologischen Forschung in Hessen.
Frankfurt/Main,
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(German Language)
Executive Director
Scientific Advisory Board
Scientific Advisory Board Chair
Prof. Dr. Bernd Hansjürgens, UFZ
Institute Associates Board Speaker
Prof. Egon Becker
History
The Institute for Social Ecological Research (ISOE) was founded in Frankfurt am Main in 1989 as an interdiscplinary, independent research facility. The way was paved in advanced by the ‘Social Ecology Research Group’, commissioned by Hessen's state government to compile an expertise on social-ecological research Gutachten zur sozial-ökologischen Forschung (in German Language) in Hessen.
The starting point for research was and still is the observation that in times of ecological crisis, social action patterns and interrelated natural effects emerge on a reciprocal basis, thus triggering a critical dynamic. The interlinked problem areas can thus only be tackled with a research approach that incorporates natural and social scientific disciplines on an equal footing from the word go. This is why at our Institute one finds scientists from various natural and social scientific disciplines working together on interdisciplinary environmental research geared to problem-solving and practical implementation.
At the Institute, this social-ecological research approach is undergoing consolidation and further development, both in individual studies and in conceptual, methodological and theoretical groundwork. Since 2001, and with the particular help of its ‘Cognitive Integration’ project, the Institute has been working on how, as a transdisciplinary facility, it can create a conjoint interdisciplinary and inter-project knowledge base with which to secure and further develop a sound working basis for research in the long term.