RIFS Blog

Whether it’s electric cars, heat pumps, gender issues or migration: a deep rift runs through our society. At least, that is what 81 per cent of Germans believe. Or is this narrative simply being drummed into us? Polarisation, so the argument goes, threatens democracy and social cohesion. Increasingly, researchers are examining just how polarised German society is and how we can depolarise it through strategies such as public dialogue, media campaigns, and institutional reforms. But how helpful is it to view our society through the lens of polarisation? Is democracy really primarily threatened by an allegedly polarised society? Or is this idea a distraction from other important factors, such as a broader shift to the right or the erosion of the welfare state?

It is widely recognised at both the national and state level that financial participation is a crucial lever for advancing the energy transition in communities. The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) already includes the possibility of financial participation under Section 6 – albeit on voluntary basis. However, stakeholders from politics, business and civil society have frequently emphasised – in discussions and at events – that voluntarism isn’t enough. Rather, we need binding regulations for the financial participation of municipalities and local communities.

New Discussion Paper „Facilitation as composting the self“

In an era of contested multilateralism, calls for smaller, club-like alliances of countries have gained increasing traction. “Climate clubs” promise to overcome the inertia that has stalled progress in global climate policy. In a recently published article in Energy Research & Social Science, RIFS researcher Charlotte Unger argues that there is a persistent gap between the idealized potential of climate clubs and their actual performance.

A country without a military, a global leader in gender equality, and rivers so clean that you can drink straight from them – does this sound like something from a dream? In Iceland, it’s simply reality.
Following an invitation to contribute to the Nordic Lighthouse, a metaphor chosen by the Spirit of Humanity Forum (SoH Forum), I took part in an experimental gathering in Reykjavík aimed at helping leaders and activists to reconnect with their inner compass in order to navigate the complexity of transformation work.

In most countries today, war contributes to economic growth. This may sound counterintuitive, but it is a simple consequence of how we measure prosperity. Military expenditure counts toward Gross Domestic Product (GDP) just like education, healthcare, or renewable energy investments. The production of weapons increases GDP. Reconstruction after destruction increases GDP again. From a purely economic perspective, war can become productive. But what does that mean for how societies organize themselves?

What happens when human systems step back long enough for nature to respond? This question guided the photographic exhibition “Nature Reclaims: Images of Healing,” which recently concluded in Berlin at C-Space on March 8, 2026. The exhibition documented places where nature slowly returned after human-built environments had been neglected or abandoned: plants growing through cracks in pavement, moss covering scarred walls, roots reshaping brick and stone. At first glance, these scenes might appear as signs of decay. But the longer one looks, the clearer another story becomes: regeneration is not an exception in nature. It is the default, when conditions allow it.

On April 15th, 2026, the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) at GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences and the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted a webinar to discuss actionable recommendations in support of a rapid and sustainable hydrogen ramp-up. The event centered on the presentation of a new RIFS Policy Paper entitled "Strengthening Sustainability Governance for a Rapid Hydrogen Ramp-Up," which provides recommendations for European decision-makers to navigate environmental and social risks while accelerating the development of a hydrogen economy. The policy paper builds on a series of studies developed in the context of the RIFS project “Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: Sustainability Governance in the Hydrogen Sector (GET Sustainable Hydrogen)”, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

What the real mood in Germany is like

The EU’s environmental governance is characterised by a sectoral approach, with policy domains such as freshwater management and marine conservation formulated and implemented in isolation. The need for a more integrated approach has been recognised by the EU and expressed in policy initiatives, such as the European Green Deal. Yet, a complex array of policies, management bodies, and actors forms the basis of EU governance, which operates with limited integration and fails to account for the interconnectedness of terrestrial and marine environments.

Universities and research centers have long been built around the noble pursuit of generating new knowledge. New theories, new data, new insights are the engines that have driven scientific progress for centuries. But in an era defined by climate change, social fragmentation, technological disruption, and geopolitical instability, there is a question worth asking: Do we actually need more knowledge or should we start using more the knowledge we already have?

In February 2026, the research group “reIMAGINE Arctic Research” organized and hosted a workshop in Várjjat/Varangerbotn (in the municipality of Unjárga/Nesseby), Norway, in cooperation with the Saami Council. The workshop was conducted as part of the EU-funded BIRGEJUPMI project and explored young people’s visions of their future in Finnmark, the Norwegian county set on the land of Sápmi, the homeland of the indigenous Sámi people.