Woodcut of Fish   Wolfgang Lucht   ·   Research
Logo of PIK Chair Research Domain I
Earth System Analysis
Logo of Potsdam University Alexander von Humboldt Chair
in Sustainability Science

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Sustainability Science
Sustainability starts and ends within society. In the age of global change, societies have to begin to take into account the Earth as a System if the environment is not to degrade into a miserable state, and with it human livelihoods. Material and informational flows are key to understanding the sustainability challenge.

Earth System Analysis
The science required for the self-education of humankind about its interaction with the planetary systems is Earth System Analysis, trying to understand how Geosphere, Biosphere and Anthroposphere are closely interlinked now.

Biosphere Transformations
Human are transforming the biosphere. Computer modelling of biogeochemical cycles (carbon and water, to begin with) on a global scale including human land use.

Landscapes, Culture and Symbols
Achieving sustainability requires a strong sense of place-based identity constructions and new cosmologies that link cultural narratives with Earth system science and that bridge the gap between global views and regional realities.

Managing PIK Research Domain 1
To chair a large research group with around 50 members poses challenges of a particularly fascinating kind: science is a work of social structuring, too.