How does ZENARiO see itself?

ZENARiO sees itself as an interdisciplinary network in which spatial science expertise from planning, social, economic, legal and natural science disciplines at the University of Oldenburg and its surroundings are bundled. Research groups with their different work and experience backgrounds are actively involved in the centre. Together with the other member institutions, ZENARiO contributes to the goals and tasks of COAST, the overarching network of centres for the environment and sustainability at the University of Oldenburg.

ZENARiO pursues the goal of promoting sustainable regional development and initiating, scientifically analysing and supporting corresponding discourses. It is committed to the sustainability principles of the University of Oldenburg. ZENARiO's activities focus in particular on challenges in the north-west region, to which it aims to make suitable contributions. The centre assumes that the involvement of regional practice partners from administration, business and civil society is useful and necessary in the implementation of sustainable development approaches.

In addition to focussing on the regional level, the national and international levels also play an important role for ZENARiO. The European higher education area with its various partner institutions, with which ZENARiO maintains intensive contacts, offers a wide range of opportunities, particularly for comparative research projects. The latter also includes the exchange of lecturers and students within the framework of university teaching.

Spatial reference

The common focus of ZENARiO's activities is on topics and issues that have an explicit spatial reference. This focus is based on the idea that central challenges of sustainable development (also) imply a spatial level of action, which must be taken into account accordingly. The continuing scarcity of land as a resource, e.g. due to the ongoing consumption of land for settlement and transport purposes, the associated increase in land acquisition and lease prices, the ongoing occurrence of land use conflicts between competing interest groups and the massive consequential damage caused by unsustainable forms of use (intensive livestock farming, mass tourism, etc.) represent serious challenges that need to be addressed on the way to sustainable land use. Territorially defined organisational and action structures at a "regional level" (e.g. metropolitan regions, municipal associations, local action groups, protected area regions) also play an important role in the design of appropriate management approaches for sustainable development, particularly in the context of spatial planning and regional development. ZENARiO is particularly interested in the emergence, function and performance of such spatial governance structures.

Inter- and transdisciplinarity

The issues and problems of sustainable development do not stop at the disciplinary boundaries of the specialised sciences. On the contrary, the growing complexity of the challenges is increasingly recognising the need for interdisciplinary approaches. ZENARiO sees itself as an organisation that aims to take this into account by enabling different disciplines to work together on selected issues and generate scientific added value from this. This presupposes a willingness for mutual professional understanding, to question familiar research concepts and to learn new research approaches together. Wherever this makes sense and is possible, ZENARiO also seeks to develop transdisciplinary approaches to selected problems that systematically integrate the competences, perspectives and experiences of those affected and involve these groups in the design of research processes.

What are the tasks of ZENARiO?

The concrete organisation of ZENARiO's work is based on the one hand on the current problems and future challenges of spatial development, and on the other hand on the scientific expertise and experience available in ZENARiO. At the same time, ZENARiO is open to the further development of its thematic priorities and the integration of new partners in the north-west region.

ZENARiO's activities are currently focussed on the following four subject areas:

Renewable energies

The coastal region plays a central role in Germany's future energy supply and also fulfils an important hub function in Europe. The reorganisation of the energy system towards an increasing share of renewable energies is associated with considerable effects on economic, social and political development as well as on nature and the landscape. In this context, ZENARiO is primarily concerned with the ecological prerequisites and effects as well as the planning control of the restructuring of the energy system. Both the different forms of renewable energy generation (wind, solar, biomass) and the municipal organisational and control instruments are considered here. The planning of energy grids and issues relating to the realisation of storage technologies also play an important role in this context.

Climate change

According to all available projections, the north-west will be particularly affected by climate change. The particularly vulnerable coastal area is not only an important location for living, working and leisure, but is also of central importance for the protection of natural resources and the safeguarding of biodiversity.

Both climate change itself and climate protection and adaptation measures have a significant impact on land use and change the image of the region's cultural landscape. These spatial implications of climate change and the strategies for action geared towards them form one of the focal points of ZENARiO's work. The main focus is on the consequences of climate protection strategies (e.g. expansion of bioenergy) for the ecological quality and economic competitiveness of the region. At the same time, ZENARiO is increasingly focussing on the framework conditions and the spatial-structural consequences of climate adaptation measures as well as on the possibilities of exploiting synergies between climate protection and climate adaptation.

Nature conservation

The north-west of Lower Saxony is an area of particular ecological quality resulting from its natural diversity: the Wadden Sea with its coast and islands (national park, biosphere reserve, FFH area and World Heritage Site), the marsh with its distinct grassland areas, the Geest and its woodland sites (Hasbruch nature reserve and FFH areas, Neuenburger Wald etc.), the watercourses (e.g. Hunte) and the moors (e.g. Bourtanger Moor-Bargerveen nature park). The very diverse images of the historical cultural landscapes are still recognisable in large parts, but are subject to accelerated processes of change.ZENARiO is concerned with innovative and cooperative concepts for the preservation of historical cultural landscapes under today's economic and social conditions - in addition to the traditional protections. A second focus is on improving biotope network structures by establishing regional partnerships, also as a contribution to the National Biodiversity Strategy (hotspots Hunte-Leda-Moorniederung, Delmenhorster Geest and Hümmling). Safeguarding and further development of grassland with its great importance for the promotion of biodiversity and the preservation of the cultural landscape form a third focal point. The fourth focus is the development and public debate of guiding principles for "new landscapes" with the aim of integrating the requirements of nature conservation and aesthetics into today's economically characterised landscapes.

Regional governance

The challenges of sustainable spatial development, taking into account economic, social and ecological aspects, are associated with changing requirements for concepts, strategies, procedures and instruments of spatial management. The focus here is on the involvement and acceptance of the stakeholders concerned as well as the population, who are increasingly being included in design and decision-making processes at local-regional level by means of suitable forms of participation in the sense of regional governance. ZENARiO deals with the specific problems of constituting such regional governance constellations, analyses their emergence, composition, functioning and impact and develops recommendations for action to design or optimise suitable governance approaches in various subject areas for interested stakeholders and population groups in the Northwest region (e.g. climate protection, renewable energies).

What procedures and methods does ZENARiO use?

ZENARiO deals with the spatial-structural change processes in the region within the framework of expert opinions for specific projects and within the framework of inter- and transdisciplinary research projects and develops management concepts based on the principle of sustainability. ZENARiO can draw on a broad spectrum of specialised procedures and methods from the disciplines involved, which are used in various contexts in an application-oriented manner. Of particular importance are the competences that can be offered in the fields of geoinformation systems, regional statistics and environmental law. In addition, there is experience with various methods of monitoring abiotic and biotic assets (especially soil, water, flora, fauna, biotic communities), with qualitative methods of empirical regional research (e.g. expert interviews) and in the areas of moderation and mediation, which are bundled in ZENARiO. New initiatives and concepts for spatial development, including in particular the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects and the restructuring of the energy system, will only succeed if the stakeholders and population concerned are equipped with the information and knowledge they need to understand planning decisions and actively participate in planning processes. ZENARiO is therefore committed to the mission of education for sustainability and empowering people to participate in relevant decision-making processes at all levels.

Oldenburg, November 2012

The regulations of the Center for Sustainable Spatial Development Oldenburg - ZENARiO can be found here.