AquaGene

The Thünen Institute

It is important for all people in society: We use our environment sustainably. This means: We do not want to consume more raw materials than can also grow again. Raw materials are, for example, wood or oil. There should still be enough of them for the future.

It is also important for society: Rural areas are developing well. Rural areas are, for example, areas for agriculture and nature.

We want to achieve these goals. The government has made rules for this. Experts also keep checking: Are the rules still good? Do we need to change anything in the rules?

To do this, we keep asking ourselves various questions. For example:

• How should we adapt our forests to climate change? Due to climate change, the temperatures on earth are changing. This has many bad consequences for nature and people.
• What are the consequences of a nature reserve for the amount of fish, that live in the water there?
• What should be the rules for agriculture, so that we can achieve different goals? Different goals are for example: We want to produce enough food in agriculture. But the environment should not be destroyed in the process.
• Why are some rural regions developing very well? And why are other rural regions doing badly?

We want to find scientific answers to these questions. That's what the Thünen Institute is for. The Thünen Institute is a scientific research institution. The Thünen Institute works independently. That means: Politicians are not allowed to tell the Thünen Institute: This is how you must do your work. The Thünen Institute is the link between science, politics and the people in society.

What are the tasks of the Thünen Institute?

We observe various processes. We think about: What are the best next steps? We consider: What consequences can this have for people?

We collaborate with over 500 other research institutions from all over the world.

We participate in scientific competition.

And we work for the promotion of young of personnel in our field of work. This means: We are committed to: More people want to work in this field.

We publish the results of our research in scientific journals. And we also publish the results for the public, politics and business. In doing so, we pay attention: We write the texts in a way that is understandable for people without specialist knowledge.

How is the Thünen Institute structured?

The Thünen Institute consists of 15 specialized institutes. Each institute works in a specific area.

Our employees are well acquainted with natural science, technology and socio-economics. Socio-economics is about: The focus is not only on profit and money alone. but the consequences of work for people in society are also important. are also important.

The 15 specialist institutes work together in 19 different thematic areas.

We have developed a plan for the next few years: The Thünen Medium-Term Concept 2021. There we describe: This is how we want to do our work in the coming years.

You can find information about our work and research results on our website. You can look at the 15 specialist institutes. Here you will only find information from the individual institutes. Or you can look at the 19 thematic areas. Here you will find the information from the specialized institutes, which work together on one topic area.