Prof. Dr. Dr. Martina Schäfer, ZTG, Head of Module 1

Martina Schäfer studied biology in Stuttgart-Hohenheim and earned her doctorate in environmental engineering and sociology at the TU Berlin. Since 2010, she has served as Scientific Director of the Center for Technology and Society. Since beginning her work at the ZTG in 1996, she has conducted and led numerous inter- and transdisciplinary research projects in the field of sustainability research. Her research interests are Sustainable Regional Development, Sustainable Consumption, Sustainable Land Use, and Methods of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research.

Experience

Seit 2010

Scientific Director of the Center for Technology and Society at the Technische Universität Berlin www.tu-berlin.de/ztg/menue/startseite_ztg
Leader of inter- and transdisciplinary projects in the fields of sustainable consumption, sustainable regional development and methods of inter- and transdisciplinary research.


Sample research projects:
▪ 2020-2023 tdAcademy - Platform for Transdisciplinary Research and Studies (BMBF), subproject societal impacts (development and testing of methods for impact analysis)
▪ 2019–2022 WE! Alliance region 4.0 Starter Project "InnoStrat - Improvement of the Innovation Strategy of the Alliance region 4.0" (BMBF) (Formative evaluation and Impact Orientation of the Transdisciplinary Innovation Processes)
▪ 2015–2019 TransImpact – Effective transdisciplinary research (BMBF) (research on the quality of research processes and the associated impact potential)
▪ 2014-2019 ginkoo – Designing integrative innovation processes: New institutional and regional forms of coordination for sustainable land management (BMBF)
▪ 2015-2018 IMKoN – Integration of employees as consumers in sustainability innovation processes

Education

1998

PhD as sociologist at the Technical University of Berlin

10/1987 – 07/1994

PhD in environmental engineering from the Technical University of Berlin

1984 – 1991

Degree in biology at the University of Hohenheim and the Technical University of Berlin

Other engagement (policy consulting)

Since 2019

Mitglied im Zukunftskreis im Rahmen des Foresight Prozesses des BMBF

2015 - 2019

Scientific expert in the Enquete Commission of the State of Brandenburg "Future of Rural Regions against the Background of Demographic Change"

2008 - 2014

Deputy chairwoman of the Sustainability Council of the Brandenburg State Government

Selected Publications:

  • Claire Hoolohan, Sigrid C. O. Wertheim-Heck, Fanny Devaux, Lorenzo Domaneschi, Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier, Martina Schäfer & Ulrikke B. Wethal (2022): COVID-19 and socio-materially bounded experimentation in food practices: insights from seven countries, Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 18:1, 16-36, DOI: 10.1080/15487733.2021.2013050
  • Schäfer, M., Bergmann, M., Theiler, L. (2021): Systematizing societal effects of transdisciplinary research Research Evaluation, Volume 30, Issue 4, October 2021: 444–499, doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvab019
  • Schäfer, M., Dantas de Figueiredo, M., Iran, S., Jaeger-Erben, M., Silva, M:E. Lazaro, J.C., Meißner, M. (2021): Imitation, adaptation, or local emergency? – A cross-country comparison of social innovation for sustainable consumption in Brazil, Germany, and Iran. Journal of Cleaner Production.
  • Grunwald, A., Schäfer, M., Bergmann, M. (2020) Neue Formate transdisziplinärer Forschung: Ausdifferenzierte Brücken zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis, in The Transdisciplinary Journal, GAiA 2, 2020, S. 106 – 114, oekom Verlag.
  • Lux, A., Schäfer, M., Bergmann, M., Jahn, T., Marg, O., Nagy, E., Ransiek, A.-C., Theiler, L. (2019) Societal effects of transdisciplinary sustainability research – How can they be strengthened during the research process? Environmental Science & Policy; Volume 101, November 2019, Pages 183-191.
  • Schäfer, M., König, B. (2018) The role of cooperation for sustainability innovations in the agriculture and food sector, Int. J. Agr. Ext., 65-78.
  • Süßbauer, E., Schäfer, M. (2018) ‘Greening the workplace: conceptualising workplaces as settings for enabling sustainable consumption’, Int. J. Innovation and Sustainable Development, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 327–349.