News

In a joint paper with the ILS – Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, now published in the Journal of Rural Studies, Annett Steinführer, Aura Moldovan, and Joachim Kreis analyse how internal migration patterns in Germany have changed and which reasons are decisive move to rural…

Reducing food waste together: Leading agricultural scientists are also meeting on the margins of the G20 summit to develop strategies against food waste, for example. Support comes from the Thünen Institute.

Increasing drought is threatening harvests, even in our latitudes. Where will plants get water to grow and thrive in the future? From the subsoil, for example. Unused water and nutrient reserves lie dormant there.

In an interview with agrarheute, Andreas Klärner from the Thünen Institute of Rural Studies states: there are regional differences in services of general interest and quality of life, but no fundamental urban-rural divide.

The international research symposium AgriGHG-2024 will put the focus on agricultural climate change mitigation: from 21 to 23 October 2024, around 200 experts will meet in Berlin to discuss solutions for reducing GHG emissions in agriculture.

The Thünen Institute is expanding its cooperative relationships in spatial research: The Thünen Institutes of Rural Areas and of Rural Economics are now part of the Leibniz R Research Network.

An interdisciplinary research team demonstrated in their new study that harmful phthalates and endocrine disruptors are released from common soft plastic baits

In a recent statement, the German Advisory Council of Rural Development (SRLE) at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture recommends a quick implementation of the recently adopted Federal Government's Democracy Strategy and gives further advice with respect to rural areas.

The 26th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) starts on Sunday in Stockholm. For one week, forestry experts from more than 220 countries will come together to shape a sustainable future for forests and society.

In 2021, a treasure turned up at the Thünen Institute of Wood Research: a collection of insects from the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection had been stored unnoticed in the cellar for years. Now a book has been published with stories about historical personalities, places and special objects…

Today, the Walther Herwig III begins its several-week research survey in the Atlantic Ocean.

This week, members of the Global Soil Partnership gathered in Rome to highlight the role of healthy soils as a foundation for food security. Scientist Nicole Wellbrock was also there to share her expertise as a soil specialist.

In a recent statement, the German Advisory Council of Rural Development (SRLE) at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) explains how the opportunities for people and communities associated with the expansion of renewable energies can be better exploited.

Thünen Institute organizes expert exchange on the University of Nairobi campus

The cod stock in the eastern Baltic Sea has been in crisis for years. Despite historically low fishing pressure, the stock is not recovering. Until now, there has been no conclusive explanation for this. Researchers have now shown for the first time that cod lack food in regions with increased…

The book "A Place of Research", published in March 2023, about the history of the Braunschweig-Völkenrode research site - now the headquarters of the Thünen Institute - is now also available digitally.

From 19 to 28 January, the International Green Week, the world's largest food and agricultural trade fair, will take place in Berlin. The Thünen Institute is involved in many ways.

The 7th workshop of the Thünen-coordinated MACS-G20 initiative against food waste took place in cooperation with India.

Can we report what we don't know? This question was asked by 25 scientists worldwide. Their answer is clear: yes, we can.

The German Fertilizer Law needs to be amended. In addition to licensing issues for fertilizers, two points are at stake: the introduction of impact monitoring and the further development of the substance flow analysis. The Thünen Institute considers both to be useful.

In the discussion about climate change mitigation, technical terms are not always used correctly. This can have unintended consequences.

The operator of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima damaged in March 2011, plans to start discharging water containing radioactive tritium into the Pacific Ocean in August 2023. The following text provides an assessment of possible impacts on the marine environment.

The European eel is acutely threatened. While scientists have been calling for a complete ban on fishing for years as well as for the improvement of water quality and fish passage, politicians are struggling with it. What is the reason for this? And could the eel still be saved at all?

June 24th is the birthday of Johann Heinrich von Thünen - agricultural scientist, economist, social reformer. He was born in 1783, 240 years ago.

Again high risk of forest fires. There is a lot of dry wood in the forest and the trees are severely affected by the drought of the past years. What you personally can do when discovering a fire.

Six major reforms in the last 30 years and the next one is already being prepared: The reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), established in 1962, was described as a "never-ending story". Researchers at the Thünen Institute have been involved in these discussions for a long time.

Bird populations benefit significantly from agricultural fallows, especially in landscapes with medium structural complexity

Using agricultural land for energy production is often criticised because it takes up valuable arable land. In our fact check, we examine which form of energy supplies the greatest amount of electricity and heat for households and transport, and how much land is needed for it (in German).

Every year the Thünen Institute compiles an overview of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and the LULUCF sector as well as ammonia emissions from agriculture. The current data for 1990-2021 and the previous year estimate for 2022 are now available.

Amendment of the law allows simplified procedure for ground-mounted photovoltaics along motorways and railways - how much area is affected? A study by the Thünen Institute provides initial answers.

The Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems publishes for the first time national forest maps of Germany based on current satellite imagery and terrestrial data from the 2012 National Forest Inventory.

German research team reveals the molecular basis of the fight between English oaks and their herbivores.

Does rural life make you happy? It is not only since Corona that many city dwellers have recognised the advantages of the countryside. Although the current wave of people moving to the countryside is nothing new for science, it is an opportunity for rural areas, say the guests in our podcast.

After a break due to Corona, the International Green Week is taking place again this year in Berlin as a trade fair for the general public. The Thünen Institute will participate with various activities.

Climate change is taking its toll on forests. There is no question: the forests must be made fit for the challenges of the coming years. But what will the forest of the future look like? Will there still be beech, oak, pine and spruce? Or will exotic species take over?

In his keynote address at Harvard Business School in Boston, Christian Hundt, director of the Thünen Institute of Rural Economics, presented research findings on the economic development of rural areas in Germany.

The coalition agreement of the current federal government provides for a stop of logging in old, near-natural beech forests in public ownership. This is intended as a contribution to both climate protection and biodiversity conservation. What can we expect from this measure? An assessment.

UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 in Montreal: Until December 19, delegates are working on an agreement on global biodiversity conservation. Our new podcast episode is all about biodiversity in the field and how agriculture can and should promote biodiversity.

When fishing for pelagics with midwater trawls, in most cases only one species is caught at the same time. The situation is different in bottom trawl fisheries where the catch consists of a mix of species. If the stock status differs among these species, fisheries management becomes challenging.

More and more consumers consider sustainability when shopping. Various labels promise orientation, but only provide information on specific aspects. The idea is that a national label should cover all aspects of a sustainably manufactured product. Can this work?

An estimated 1.6 million tonnes of munition from the world wars are still stored on the seabed of German waters in the North and Baltic Seas. The Bundestag has now approved a 100 million euros action programme to recover contaminated sites. The Thünen Institute provides important data for this.

30 percent organic farming by 2030! Not least since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, there has been criticism of the German government's goal. In our new podcast we ask: Is organic farming suitable for the masses?

First studies on the enrichment of humus by flower strips

The Thünen Research Prizes 2021 for an outstanding science-oriented achievement and for excellent target group-oriented work have now been awarded at the Thünen Institute.

In its annual advice, ICES provides an overview of the status of exploited fish stocks in the northeast Atlantic and publishes recommendations for future sustainable fishing opportunities. We explain what the advice means for German fisheries.

So far, there is no national animal welfare report in Germany. The National Animal Welfare Monitoring (NaTiMon) project is developing the foundations for this.

On 20/21 August 2022, visitors were able to take a look behind the scenes at the BMEL's Open Day in Berlin. The Thünen Institute was also there with exciting topics.

Scientists of the Thünen Institute do not expect a significant decrease in consumption of wood products in the EU, but an increase in production in non-EU countries

Russia's war against Ukraine has implications for the global food and commodity supply situation. In the following, we have outlined possible effects on agricultural markets, fisheries and timber markets.

Researchers discover a connection between deep-sea fish and the impacts of climate change at the surface

Scientists from the Thünen Institute have demonstrated that the domestic shark species displays a change in swimming behavior when migrating from the shallow North Sea into the ocean

Thünen Institute proposes concepts for joint land use by wind farm operators and fisheries