Cooperation extended: UNU-FLORES and IOER jointly develop integrated approaches to sustainability

In the context of the International Land Use Symposium (ILUS) organised by the IOER, Professor Edeltraud Günther, Director of UNU-FLORES, and Professor Marc Wolfram, Director of the IOER, signed an updated cooperation agreement. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) marks an important milestone in the scientific collaboration between the two institutions. The agreement is valid for five years. It aims to expand and deepen the effectiveness and scope of the research and transfer work of both institutions in key areas.

One focus is on promoting systemic approaches to thinking and action as well as governance models that enable integrative and sustainable resource use. In line with the Nexus approach pursued by UNU-FLORES, which addresses the interrelationships between various types of resources such as energy, water, food, soil, materials and biodiversity, the IOER is also working intensively on their spatial and systemic interdependencies.

A central element of the collaboration is the exchange of knowledge and the joint implementation of research projects. In addition, UNU-FLORES and IOER will coordinate their networking activities more closely and, for example, organise joint conferences and events and make the results of their work available to a broad public. The cooperation also includes joint activities in the field of education and training, such as the development of e-learning programmes, guest lectures and the supervision of doctoral students – for example, as part of the scholarship programme NEXtra (Resource Nexus for Sustainability Transformations), which has been running since 2023.

Since 2015, the IOER and UNU-FLORES have jointly organised the international Dresden Nexus Conference (DNC) on several occasions. The series of events will be continued and expanded in future through the new MoU as part of the "Dresden Nexus Community" – a platform for national and international experts from science, politics and civil society who work on the sustainable use of resources with reference to the nexus concept and jointly seek new solutions.

“The close collaboration with UNU-FLORES is an expression of a shared commitment to a sustainable future,” says Professor Marc Wolfram, Director of the IOER. “While the work at UNU-FLORES focuses in particular on resources and their use, the IOER primarily pursues issues of urban and regional development. We are linking the respective strengths of the two institutions here and can thus exploit significant synergy effects. The aim of the IOER is to make a greater contribution to the sustainable transformation of cities and regions, also in an international context.”

“Our collaboration ranges from research collaborations and the joint supervision of doctoral researchers to co-organizing major conferences like the Dresden Nexus Conference. We are eager to deepen and expand this partnership by developing the Dresden Nexus Community as a network of scholars working on the interconnectivity of environmental resources such as water, soil, biota, material, climate, space, waste, energy, food on land and on sea, the Resource Nexus. With the complementary competencies, IOER and UNU-FLORES bring to the collaboration, I am convinced that individual scientists but also the broader community of DRESDEN-concept e.V. will benefit from our achievements,” explains Professor Edeltraud Guenther, Director of UNU-FLORES.

About UNU-FLORES

The United Nations University Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) exists to contribute to the mandate of UNU as a research institute with an agenda guided by policy relevance; to be seen as a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organisation as well as a hub for advanced training, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination. Through the Resource Nexus — a holistic framework addressing interconnections and trade-offs among environmental resources such as water, soil, material, biota, climate, and space, as well as food, waste, and energy on land and on sea.

Learn more: https://unu.edu/flores

Scientific contact at the IOER
Prof. Dr. Marc Wolfram (Director), e-mail: m.wolframioer@ioer.de