Inhaltspezifische Aktionen

Focus Area 1: Food and Energy Systems

Speaker: Prof. Martin Petrick, Vice Speaker: Dr. Marie Reusch 

Today, billions of people worldwide suffer from malnutrition, causing various negative health impacts. Across the globe, more than a billion people depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods. Land and biomass also figure prominently in the transition to environmentally more sustainable energy sources. For example, the transition from fossil to renewable energies represents a key strategy to reduce global warming. Food and energy systems thus play a central role in any transition to a more sustainable economy. Technological, economic and social change materialises within these systems. At the same time, the many dimensions and interrelations of food and energy systems create complex analytical and policy challenges. The ZEU Focus Area 1 addresses these challenges.

In our approach, food and energy systems include all the elements and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, and consumption of food and energy, and the results of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes. Natural resources, people, inputs, processes, technologies, infrastructures, institutions constitute the core elements.