SUSKULT

A key driver of ecological overshoot is today's agricultural systems, which contribute significantly to exceeding planetary boundaries, particularly with regard to changes in phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, climate change and water consumption. Against the backdrop of finite phosphate resources and energy-intensive fertiliser use, the question of how future yield increases can be achieved under sustainable conditions is becoming increasingly urgent.

SUSKULT addressed this issue in its first funding  phase with the aim of developing innovative systems for urban, circular-based agricultural production and contributing to the future bioeconomy industry. In a hydroponics-based, regenerative production system, it was technically demonstrated that the recovery of essential resources from a ‘sewage treatment plant of the future' can be used for high-quality, resource-saving and regional food production.

In a second funding phase SUSKULT broadens the focus: instead of the technical fundamentals, the emphasis is now on the evaluation, further development and embedding of such systems in ecological, economic and political structures.
The Wuppertal Institute is involved in sub-project 4, "Environmental and System Analysis," and is leading the work package on transformative and prospective sustainability assessment. The focus is on developing desirable future scenarios in the sense of a transition design, deriving sustainability-relevant assessment criteria, life cycle analyses and macroeconomic studies of global environmental impacts, identifying economically relevant influencing factors for various scenarios, and deriving sustainability policy recommendations for further shaping this transformation path.