Prof. Dr. Görge Deerberg

(in the fields covered by the research center)

The extraction and use of natural resources, the processing and use of chemicals, and also the handling of residual materials are often triggering factors for environmental problems. The resulting social conflicts often stem from the use of technologies that are being used to satisfy existing needs but also generate environmentally significant emissions or are perhaps profligate in their use of resources.

Consequently, the analysis, evaluation and modification of these technologes as well as the development of sustainable alternatives are all tasks that fall under the auspices of environmental science. It is thus also important these days to consider these technologies in terms of sustainability, in other words, their economic, environmental and social impact. In this respect, it is not only the purely technological aspects (e.g., in terms of efficiency or emissions) that are important, but the issue of how these technologies affect people and the environment, social acceptance, as well as the level of participation and aspects of equity, is also highly relevant.

The department focuses on environmentally relevant technologies, chiefly in the areas of environmental technology, production and energy; questioning, analyzing and revealing their scientific/technological bases, with the aim of integrating the methods and findings of the humanities and social sciences standpoint in order to create as holistic a picture of the situation as possible.

The mapping and evaluation of these processes is to be achieved using quantitative methods (e.g., mathematical and agent-based models) and also with the methodologies of scenario planning and scenario analysis. These combine competencies from the realms of environmental, process and energy technology and science with insights into influencing factors from the field of humanities and social sciences. This will provide the basis for a digital collaboration platform which will enable holistic inter-/transdisciplinary environmental research and teaching.