Project

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires a far-reaching transformation of the economy and society. These requirements are also reflected in science policy, for example in the increasing mission-orientation of research. Socio-ecological research plays a special role in this context: it provides knowledge for the transition to sustainability and links ecological, social, economic and technological issues. At the same time, it is a very broad and dynamic research field, the themes, stakeholders and development of which have so far only been systematically monitored in a piecemeal manner. For research funding bodies, science policy-makers and stakeholders involved in workplace co-determination, however, such monitoring is important in order to better identify thematic priorities, research gaps and under-represented perspectives.

The aim of the project was to develop a well-founded overview of key research strands within socio-ecological research and related subject areas. The focus was on the question of which themes characterise socio-ecological research, how these themes evolve over time, and in which areas research gaps exist. Particular attention was paid to the visibility of labour- and worker-oriented perspectives, as well as to the question of which institutional actors shape social-ecological research in Germany and how they are networked internationally. The project thus provides an empirical basis for better contextualising the research landscape on social-ecological transformation and identifying starting points for future research funding.

Methodologically, the monitoring is based on a corpus of academic publications from SCOPUS, which were identified using a specific search strategy. The publications were analysed using semi-automated text analysis methods, in particular topic modelling and clustering, and consolidated into overarching thematic areas of the field. In addition, key terms, references to the Sustainable Development Goals and growth dynamics over time were analysed. The stakeholder analysis utilises the same corpus of publications and evaluates the institutional affiliations of the authors. This reveals which types of organisations and institutions underpin the field of socio-ecological research, what patterns of international cooperation exist, and how the gender distribution of authors varies across different thematic areas.

The analysis shows that socio-ecological research in Germany is strongly characterised by topics in the natural and engineering sciences, whilst labour- and employment-oriented perspectives have so far been only marginally represented. Topics such as battery technologies, wireless communication technologies, integrated governance, healthcare and public health, and food systems are developing particularly dynamically. The stakeholder landscape is dominated by higher education institutions, particularly large technical universities. Non-university research institutions, companies, public administration and civil society actors tend to make more specialised contributions. International collaborations focus primarily on Western and Northern European countries, the USA and China, whilst other regions of the world are less heavily involved. Furthermore, female authors are significantly under-represented in many technical and natural science clusters.

• Bodenheimer, M.; Zielinski, A.; Hohmann, C.; Ostertag, K.; Kunze, S.; Kroll, H. (2026): Monitoring Socio-Ecological Transformation. Topic-model-based analysis of socio-ecological research, Research Brief 1. Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI (Working Papers Sustainability and Innovation, S04/2026). DOI:10.24406/publica-8870.
• Ostertag, K.; Kunze, S.; Zielinski, A.; Bodenheimer, M.; Kroll, H. (2026): Monitoring Socio-Ecological Transformation. Stakeholder analysis of socio-ecological research, Research Brief 2. Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI (Working Papers Sustainability and Innovation, No. S05/2026). DOI: 10.24406/publica-8871.

1 April 2022 – 31 May 2026

• Hans Böckler Foundation

More information about the research project Monitoring socio-ecological transformation (in German).