The concept of 'stocks' as a decision-making aid for sustainability policy

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Political measures for ensuring sustainable development must take into account various factors such as climate, biodiversity, existing industries, energy supply, transport systems, types of settlements, the demands of people, organisations, institutions, laws and much more. Particular attention must be paid to the momentum or inertia of existing structures of this type. These factors, their dynamics and interaction are however virtually incalculable on a long-term basis.
As a result, sustainability policy is actually a dynamic development process that unfolds against a backdrop of extreme complexity and uncertainty and a vast lack of knowledge. A comprehensive operational foundation that puts stakeholders and scientific advisors in a position to connect sustainability policy at conceptual and systematic level to the complexity of reality has been lacking to date.
The aim of this project is to make important innovative contributions to the development of an operational methodology for a successful sustainability policy. An interdisciplinary theory will be developed that will enable the assessment of ecological, economic and social interrelations in time-related terms such as their inertia and their change dynamics. This theory will be based on an expansion of the concept of 'stocks' which the project will also apply to immaterial structures such as institutions and preferences.

 

Project partners:

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Dr Schiller
Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Professor Dr Ott
University of Heidelberg, Dr Jöst
Further information is available on the project website.

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