News
06.01.2025: Neue Publikation von Malte Möck und Peter Feindt zu Politik-Lernen am Beispiel der Wolfspolitik
Eine Publikation von Malte Möck und Peter Feindt zu Policy-Lernen in der Wolfspolitik ist erschienen.
Möck, M., Feindt, P. H., 2025: Policy Learning in the Face of Ambiguity: Puzzling and Powering in Multiple Streams, International Review of Public Policy, 6(2), https://doi.org/10.4000/130zk
08.11.2024: Keynote von Pascal Grohmann zur Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik der EU beim Genoverband e.V.
Am 8. November hat Pascal Grohmann auf Einladung des Genoverband e.V. eine Keynote mit dem Titel: "Wirksamkeit und Praktikabilität der GAP - lässt sich das verbessern?" im Rahmen der Eröffnung der Winterschulungen für Agrargenossenschaften (GenoConnect) gehalten.
Link zur Pressemitteilung des Genoverband e.V.:
12.11.2024: BioMat, Feedback zur Studie zu Digitalisierung und Diversität
Reges Interesse und positives Feedback zur BioMat-Studie zu Digitalisierung und Diversität!
Nun sind zwei kleine Berichte erschienen:
- "Immer ohne die Kleinen", Agrarzeitung,
https://www.agrarzeitung.de/technik/nachrichten/digitalisierung-immer-ohne-die-kleinen-115759 - "Digitalisierung und Diversität in der Landwirtschaft" in der Bauernstimme der AbL,
https://www.abl-nrw.de/spezialseiten/abl-artikel/details?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=6520&cHash=cf9cace7e4dc2fae4a94bed8683ee2cd
Außerdem erschienen vor ein paar Monaten:
- "Big Data in der Landwirtschaft" in den Blättern für deutsche und internationale Politik,
https://www.blaetter.de/ausgabe/2024/mai/big-data-in-der-landwirtschaft
07.11.2024: "Critical Policy Inquiry" by Frank Fischer published
The volume “Critical Policy Inquiry. Interpreting Knowledge and Arguments” by Frank Fischer has now been published with Elgar. More information here: https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/critical-policy-inquiry-9781789900804.html
06.11.2024: Video jetzt verfügbar: Kosmos Lecture von Philippe Baret
Video jetzt verfügbar: Kosmos Lecture von Philippe Baret: From Policies to Practices: An Agroecological Approach to Transition, Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Senatssaal, 9. Oktober 2024, Moderation: Peter H. Feindt.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnMxC8Qp85Q
09.09.2024: Neue Publikation aus dem IFST-Projekt erschienen...
...Darin haben wir einen Fragebogen zu Einstellungen zu sozialem Zusammenhalt mit einer mehrjährigen Panel-Studie der Charite kombiniert:
Thu Huong Nguyen, Laura Pletsch-Borba, Peter H. Feindt, Caroline S. Stokes, Anne Pohrt, Nina M. T. Meyer, Charlotte Wernicke, Miriam Sommer-Ballarini, Konstantina Apostolopoulou, Silke Hornemann, Tilman Grune, Tilman Brück, Andreas F. H. Pfeiffer, Joachim Spranger, Knut Mai (2024): The Effect of Individual Attitude toward Healthy Nutrition on Adherence to a High-UFA and High-Protein Diet: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial, Nutrients 2024, 16, 3044, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16173044.
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/17/3044
PDF Version: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/17/3044/pdf
26.08.2024: New publication on smallholder farmer protest in low-income countries
A new article by Nicolai Goritz (né Schulz) was published in the Journal of Comparative Politics on 24 August 2024. The article challenges the common notion that smallholder farmers in low-income countries lack the capacity to collectively resist adverse policies. It argues that smallholders can collectivize if they are able to attribute price distortions to government policies. However, apart from direct taxes, this is only likely to happen if traders inform smallholders of unfavourable policies. If traders are also significantly harmed by a price-distorting policy (e.g. by an export ban), they will be motivated to use their networks and financial resources to inform farmers about protests. If traders can pass on price distortions to farmers (as in the case of low export taxes), they will not do so. The article probes this argument through a controlled comparative case analysis of export bans and taxes on raw cashew nuts in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.
Nicolai Schulz (2024) ‘Prompting Peasant Power: Cashews, Coalitions, and Collective Action in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire’. Comparative Politics
31.07.2024: Neue Veröffentlichung on the bioeconomy and resilience
Eine neue Publikation mit dem Titel „Explaining low salience of environmental resilience challenges in bioeconomy strategies: A cross-regional comparative analysis“ von G. Varanini, M. Proestou, N. Goritz und P. H. Feindt wurde in der Zeitschrift Earth System Governance veröffentlicht.
Das Papier untersucht, warum die umweltbezogene Resilienzherausforderungen in Bioökonomiestrategien nur geringe Salienz aufweisen. Es präsentiert eine explorative vergleichende Analyse der Gestaltungsprozesse von Bioökonomiestrategien in sechs Ländern: Malaysia, Südafrika, Vereinigtes Königreich, Irland, Italien und Deutschland. Die Ergebnisse legen nahe, dass die primär ökonomische Motivation der führenden Behörden und die Unterrepräsentation von Umweltakteuren in den politischen Gestaltungsprozessen entscheidende Faktoren für die geringe Bedeutung umweltbezogener Resilienzherausforderungen sind.
Das vollständige Paper ist unter diesem Link verfügbar. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2024.100218
13.08.2024: New publication on state-farmer relations
A new open access article by Pascal Grohmann and Peter H. Feindt was published on 13 August 2024 in the Journal of Rural Studies. The authors have analysed how changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) affect the role of farmers in society. Using the implementation of direct payments in the CAP for 2023 to 2027 as an example, the study shows that the increasing linkage of income support in the CAP to categorical and behavioural conditions is realigning the relationship between the state and farmers.
Grohmann, P. and P. H. Feindt (2024). "Realigning state-farmer relations in agricultural post-exceptionalism: Direct payment implementation in the Common Agricultural Policy post-2022 in Germany." Journal of Rural Studies 110: 103363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103363.
Link to the press release (in German): https://www.hu-berlin.de/de/pr/nachrichten/august-2024/nr-24819
27.05.2024: Sitzung des Living-Lab-Beirates Havelniederung im Projekt GreenGrass
Am 27. Mai hat sich im Forschungsprojekt GreenGrass der Living-Lab-Beirat in der Region Havelniederung in Brandenburg zu seiner siebten Sitzung getroffen. Als eines von drei solchen regionalen Gremien fungiert der Beirat als Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis und ermöglicht eine Ko-Kreation der technischen und sozialen Innovationen für die Weidetierhaltung der Zukunft. Diese Woche standen die virtuellen Zäune und das im Projekt entwickelte PastureGuide-System im Mittelpunkt von Austausch, Diskussion und Weiterentwicklung. Wir danken ganz herzlich allen Mitwirkenden aus Praxis und Konsortium und der Agrargesellschaft Emster Land, auf deren Betrieb wir zu Gast sein durften.

09.10.2024: KOSMOS Lecture with Philippe Baret
In his KOSMOS lecture “From Policies to Practices: An Agroecological Approach to Transition“, Prof. Philippe Baret will talk about the future of food systems from the perspective of agroecology.
From Policies to Practices: An Agroecological Approach to Transition
09.10.2024, 18.00-19.30
HU Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, Senatssaal
Agroecology offers a framework to rethink agriculture within the broader context of food systems and proposes a pathway to reconcile agricultural practices with environmental dimensions. This KOSMOS lecture argues that reconfiguring agricultural practices requires a transformation of dietary patterns and the evolution of environmental policies. Elements of intermediation between policy and practice, such as agricultural advisory services, value chains, and territorial policies, are essential to develop multi-level governance dynamics towards a sustainability transition.
Philippe Baret is a Professor of Genetics, Systems Analysis, and Agroecology at Université de Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. He holds an Agricultural Engineering degree (1986) and a Ph.D. in Quantitative Genetics (1998) from UCLouvain.
Moderation: Peter H. Feindt, Professor of Agricultural and Food Policy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
About the lecture series
The KOSMOS Lecture Series is a joint initiative of Open Humboldt – the “contact zone” at HU Berlin for more exchange between science and society – and IRI THESys. On two evenings per semester, researchers from a wide range of disciplines talk about anthropogenic environmental and climate change in an understandable way and invite the broad public for discussion.
Entrance is free of charge.
More information: https://www.iri-thesys.org/news/public-event-kosmos-lesung-by-prof-philippe-baret/
08.07.2024: Excursion to Brussels with Master's students
Photo: Pascal Grohmann
Last week we spent four exciting days in Brussels as part of an excursion with students from the Masters programmes in Agricultural Economics and Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM).
During the visit, our students had the opportunity to engage in intensive exchange with representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament and a Member of Parliament, the European Council as well as various civil society and private stakeholders on current topics in European agricultural and food policy.
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to meet with us and the students for their excellent contributions to the discussions.
24.05.2024: Visit from Technological University of Pereira, Colombia
We were very happy to welcome a visiting group from Technological University of Pereira, Colombia on 24 May 2025. The visit was supported by a DAAD travel grant. It included an exchange on research and teaching at TU Pereira, the Thaer Institute and IRI THESys, and a tour through the main building and the HU-curated exhibition “After Nature” at the Humboldt-Forum.

19.04.2024: Gutachten zur Renaturierung veröffentlicht
Der Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen, der Wissenschaftliche Beirat für Biodiversität beim BMEL und der Wissenschaftliche Beirat für Waldpolitik beim BMEL haben ein gemeinsames Gutachten zur Renaturierung veröffentlicht.
24.04.2024: Invitation to a guest talk by Axel Don “Challenges in proving climate mitigation with carbon farming measures” on 24 April 2024, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. CET
Soils store large amount of carbon and can act as carbon sinks. However, not all measures to enhance soil carbon results in carbon sinks and not all carbon sinks result in negative emissions or climate change mitigation. Carbon farming is a promise to farmers and society to elevate the potential of soils to reverse greenhouse gas emissions. The pitfalls and challenges in achieving this goal will be presented and discussed in this talk by Prof. Dr. Axel Don (Thünen-Institut) from a soil scientist’s perspective.
The Public Lecture will be held online and can be joined using the following link:
https://hu-berlin.zoom-x.de/j/69779693456
Wednesday, 24. April, 2024, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. CET
Invitation as pdf
14.03.2024: Neue Publikationen von Sarah Hackfort on data in agriculture and precision technologies in the bioeconomy
Hackfort, S., Marquis, S., & Bronson, K. (2024): Harvesting value: Corporate strategies of data assetization in agriculture and their socio-ecological implications
Big data & Society 11(1)
In the paper, we examine corporate strategies for transforming agricultural data into value. Our results contribute to the critical food and data studies literature on agricultural big data by identifying three main strategies of assetization: securing relationships and dependence, price-setting and data sharing, and product development and targeted marketing.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241234279
Hackfort, S. (2024): Democratization through precision technologies? Unveiling power, participation, and property rights in the agricultural bioeconomy
Front. Polit. Sci., Sec. Politics of Technology
This perspective piece addresses the political dimension of sustainability in the agricultural bioeconomy by focusing on power, participation, and property rights around key technologies.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2024.1363044