How plant roots communicate

The Danish plant physiologist Tonni Grube Andersen is one of this year's winners of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. With the award money of 1.65 million euros, he is setting up his own research group at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne. Andersen is particularly interested in how plants interact underground with their surrounding root microbes. Tonni Andersen moved to the University of Lausanne in 2014 as a postdoctoral fellow with a Marie Curie fellowship.

New solutions to reduce packaging waste

No other country in Europe produces as much packaging waste: With 230 kilograms per inhabitant in 2017, Germany is the front-runner. Innovative solutions are needed to reduce the use of plastic packaging in particular. This is where the "Innoredux" joint project comes in, supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with EUR 1.5 million. Under the leadership of Frieder Rubik, partners from science, industry and municipalities are testing innovative business models to reduce plastic waste.

The dairy cow of the future

The German Livestock Association umbrella organization for the production of cattle and pigs in Germany. Within the association, the Förderverein Bioökonomieforschung e.V. (FBF) deals with modern breeding research and insemination. The research activities are supported by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Federal Ministry of Research, among others. The veterinarian Jens Baltissen is the provisional managing director of the FBF and explains which traits are in the focus for breeding dairy cows now and in future.

nova-Institut (2019): Sugar Sustainability Study

According to the study, first-generation fermentable sugar is just as advantageous for a sustainable raw materials strategy of the European chemical industry as second-generation sugar.

FAO (2019): The State of the World’s Biodiversity

Based on information from 91 countries and 27 international organizations, analysis of global literature and data, as well as contributions from over 175 authors and reviewers, "The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture" assesses biodiversity and its management worldwide. Important drivers for both positive and negative trends in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity are identified and production practices that promote biodiversity are presented.

adelphi (2019): Circular Economy in the Textile Sector

This question was investigated by a team from the Berlin research and consulting institute adelphi and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). In their study "Circular Economy in the Textile Sector", published at the end of March, they examined the options for establishing closed fibre cycles in the clothing and fashion industry. The authors analyzed how the process stages of textile production and processing can be transformed from a linear process into a closed loop economy.

Bertelsmann Foundation (2019): Sustainable Development Report

The current SDG report shows that the international community is talking a lot about sustainability goals, but is not investing enough in their implementation.

WWF (2019): Global forest report (Copy)

It is the first study of its kind. It is specifically dedicated to the development of global animal populations in forests. The authors cite the loss of habitat caused by humans as the main cause of the decline. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for 60% of the collapse of animal populations. The development in the tropics is particularly dramatic.

WWF (2019): Global forest report

It is the first study of its kind. It is specifically dedicated to the development of global animal populations in forests. The authors cite the loss of habitat caused by humans as the main cause of the decline. Deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for 60% of the collapse of animal populations. The development in the tropics is particularly dramatic.

Thünen-Institute (2019): Reducing food waste

According to the Federal Government, food waste at retail and consumer level is to be halved by 2030. Scientists from the University of Stuttgart, the Max Rubner Institute, the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Centre and the Thünen Institute have joined forces in the REFOWAS project to investigate how to achieve this. On the one hand, the project calculated the current quantities of avoidable food waste. On the other hand, it investigated the effects on the environment associated with food production and waste.