Institute of

LV Rural Studies

Projects

Projects of Fields of Activity

Field of Activity: Monitoring, indicators, regional analyses

Field of Activity: Basic service provision

Field of Activity: Social structure and social inclusion

Field of Activity: Settlement development and spatial mobility

Field of Activity: Governance and civic engagement

Field of Activity: Land use and protection of natural resources

Field of Activity: Policy impact assessment and evaluation

5-Länder-Evaluation: What are the effects of financing rural development on agriculture, on environment and well-being in rural areas?

In cooperation with the Thünen-Institute of Farm Economics, the Thünen-Institue of International Forestry and Forest Economics and entera the Thünen-Institute of Rural Studies evaluates rural develpoment programmes and measures within a multi-disciplinary team and approach. The Institute of Rural Studies is the leading partner. Main tasks are analyses regarding programme delivery and implementation, enviromental issues, the support of human capital and cooperation activities as well as rural development including the LEADER approach.

AGRUM Germany

The objectives of the EU- Water Framework Directive have not yet been fully achieved in many regions of Germany. This is due in particular to diffuse nutrient inputs from agriculture. "AGRUM-DE", will therefore create a nationwide, consistent method to monitor nitrogen emissions to water bodies. Based on this, measures for better water quality are derived and their impacts will be assessed.

An Evaluation of the Common Agricultural Policy from the Perspective of Environmental Protection

In this research project we examine the CAP reform of 2013 with respect to aspects of environmental protection. Specifically, we analyse how land-use has changed, how political instrument affected land-use, and how this, in turn, affected abiotic resource protection.

Automatic determination of grassland use intensities by means of satellite image time series

Nationwide information on grassland use intensity is still unknown in Germany. Remote sensing data can help to close this knowledge gap in the future.

Baseline with market models

Many agri-food markets are hallmarked by dynamic expansions – some driven by changed demand concerning energy plants while others markets are withering. Will this development persist in future? Then we need to capture this developments for policy advisory work, to reflect its implications.

CatchHedge - Carbon sequestration of hedgerows and field copses

Hedgerows contribute to mitigating climate change - new plantings of hedgerows on arable land have great potential to contribute to climate protection. Hedgerows store nearly as much carbon per hectare as forests.

Causes and impacts of developments on agricultural land markets

Along with a rising competition for agricultural land, policymakers are called upon for more governmental regulation on the land market. We analyse land market developments in order to assess relevant causes and impacts. This allows for an evaluation of governmental regulatory instruments.

Changing provision of services of general interest in rural areas

The school shuts down, the village shop has closed a long time ago and wastewater taxes are rising year in and year out. Residential vacancies increase and municipalities only govern the scarcity of funds. Changing services of general interest may look like that. In order to supply the population, new solutions are needed.

Civic engagement in rural areas

In rural areas, civic engagement is considered essential for individual social integration, social cohesion and a democratic political culture. However, there are hardly any empirically valid results on this; rather, neither the distribution and development of people's engagement in rural areas nor its actual significance for the (political) community have so far been adequately researched. The research project aims to analyze the extent and distribution of civic engagement in rural areas and to research its role for social cohesion and political culture.

Coming, but not staying? Living conditions of workers from Southeastern EU countries in rural areas of Germany

Labour migration from EU countries, primarily from Southeast Europe, is increasingly shaping rural areas in Germany. The project researches the living conditions of migrant workers who do not intend to stay long-term.

Common Agricultural Policy – Future developments of the 2. Pillar of CAP?

The 2. Pillar of CAP belongs to the Common Agricultural Policy, but simultaneously addresses the Cohesion Policy. It is situated between the poles of sector-related and regional policy. Furthermore, it must contribute to the overall climate and environmental EU-objectives. We analyse in our project current policy instruments and elaborate proposals for future adjustments.

Continuity and Change in Living Conditions in Rural Areas: Explorative Analyses of German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP) data

What new insights into living conditions in rural areas do data from the Socio-Economic Panel, a representative survey of private households in Germany, offer? This question is the focus of a project at the Thünen Institute.

Digitalisation of basic services in rural areas

Digital technologies can contribute to improve basic service provision, even in sparsely populated and peripheral regions. At the same time, there are obstacles to the creation of new types of digitally-based solutions, such as a lack of broadband connections, human resources or technical knowledge. With a focus on the field of medical care, the project will analyse which actors, processes and structures have a significant influence on the digitisation of basic services in rural areas at the local, regional and supraregional level and how innovative solutions can be supported.

EigLanD-E: farmland ownership structures in Germany

How is farmland ownership in Germany distributed? How can differences in the distribution across Germany be explained and what are their effects? To answer these questions, we analyze ownership data of agricultural land for a sample of municipalities.

F.R.A.N.Z. - Future Resources, Agriculture & Nature Conservation

The joint project F.R.A.N.Z. develops and tests practically and economically sustainable measures for more biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. The accompanying research addresses ecological and socio-economic questions.

Families in rural areas

Families are subject to constant change, which is also of sociopolitical relevance. This project examines the living conditions of families in rural areas.

Further development of eco-schemes (ÖR+)

Eco-schemes are a key element of the new green architecture of the Common Agricultural Policy to promote more sustainable land management. We develop scientifically grounded decision support tools for their further development.

Giving Rural Actors Novel Data and Re-Usable Tools to Lead Public Action in Rural Areas (GRANULAR)

Rural areas in Europe face various demographic, economic, ecological and social challenges. An in-depth understanding of the characteristics and diversity of rural regions is required to address them. The GRANULAR project contributes to this by providing new data and tools for monitoring rural areas. Our focus is on the subjective wellbeing of the population.

Greenhouse Gas Neutral Germany: Effects on the Economy and Living Conditions in Rural Areas

The 2021 Federal Climate Change Act stipulates that Germany should become greenhouse gas neutral until 2045. The TREND:LR project analyses economic, social, and policy aspects of this transformation in rural areas.

How accessible are basic services in different regions?

Currently basic services are concentrated in cities and agglomerations. But does this mean that an under-supply exists in practice?

Irrigation Demand of Agriculture in Hesse

The irrigation demand of agriculture is increasing due to climate change. What is the situation in Hesse? Which developments can be expected and how is an assurance of the water availability possible?

LAWAMAD – Agricultural water management in Germany (Subproject C)

The summer droughts of 2018, 2019, and 2020 brought the topic agricultural water management into the media and onto the political agenda in Germany. But what is the quantitative situation of irrigation in Germany - today and in the future?

Local government capacities in rural areas

Being responsible for various public policies, local governments are crucial actors for safeguarding equal living conditions. To what extent do local governments in rural areas possess the necessary capacities?

Mapping regional agricultural nitrogen fluxes for water and climate protection policy (RELAS)

Numerous policy measures have already been implemented in the past with the aim of reducing nitrogen emissions. For the further development of water and climate protection measures, a cross-media consideration of agricultural nitrogen fluxes in soil, groundwater, surface waters and the atmosphere is essential.

Model testing of nature conservation cooperatives in Germany based on the Dutch approach (MoNaKo)

Based on the Dutch approach, we are testing in four German model regions how nature conservation cooperatives can increase the effectiveness and acceptance of nature conservation measures.

Monitoring of farmland biodiversity in Germany

Far reaching changes in production systems and in farm management have led to a decline in farmland biodiversity. To counteract this decline, a national database is needed that allows conclusions to be drawn about cause-effect relationships.

Monitoring of rural areas in Germany

Depending on the typology applied, rural areas in Germany are home to about 30 to 50 percent of the population. They are characterized by villages and small towns, a great share of agricultural land use and forestry, as well as a relatively low population and settlement density.

Nature conservation value of low intensity hay meadows in Baden-Württemberg

With their high species diversity, low intensity hay meadows are particularly valuable in terms of nature conservation. We investigate where and under which conditions low intensity hay meadows can be better preserved and developed.

Poverty and Social Integration in Rural Areas

There is poverty even in a rich country such as Germany. This poverty has many faces and being poor in rural areas is different than being poor in a big city. Poverty in rural areas is more likely to be hidden and may be more severe in its consequences for the poor. This project aims at investigating different "faces of poverty" in rural areas.

Roadmap for the rewetting of organic soils in Germany

How can the agreed German climate mitigation goals concerning peatland protection be achieved? Which options for using organic soils are economically viable for landowners and farmers in the long term? These are just two examples of the questions that are being addressed by four Thünen Institutes in the interdisciplinary project RoVer.

Rural housing between owner-occupancy and renting

The image of rural housing is dominated by owner-occupied homes. In reality, also here rental and multi-story apartments meet the housing needs of a variety of households, both among long-term stayers and in-migrants.

Social and political consequences of spatial inequalities

Spatial inequalities can be a risk to social cohesion and a source of political cleavages. We examine the social and political consequences of spatial inequalities in East-Central European states.

Social Security Systems in Agriculture

The agricultural social security system was subsidized with 3.7 billion Euros from the budget of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 2014. That is 70 percent of the total budget of the ministry. We are studying the impact of the system as a central element of national agricultural policy and how it can be developed further.

Socio-economic monitoring "Atlantic Region”

With the LIFE program, the EU has been funding projects in environmental, nature and climate protection since 1992. The project "Atlantic Region" is an integrated LIFE project in the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

Stability and Acceptance of the Democratic System in Rural Areas

Is voting behavior different in rural areas and in urban areas? Is there a lower voter turnout in rural areas? Are people there more discontent with democracy? Are populist parties more successful in rural areas? These are lead question of a new research project at Thünen Institute.

Superior project Greening: Accompanying ecological research on the greening of the Common Agricultural Policy

With the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the European Commission decided upon a more environmental-friendly, "greener" first pillar. The effectiveness of the greening measures for nature conservation and environmental protection, however, is discussed controversially. In various projects we therefore pursue the question of the effectiveness.

The Thünen agricultural atlas

The German agricultural statistics are an important source of information to assess environmental impacts and to estimate agricultural trends. Unfortunately, the access to this information is limited through data protection rules. This was the reason why the project Agraratlas was initialized, to generate a data set at community level on land use and live stocks, without restrictions but fulfilling all data security issues at the same time.

Thünen Agrar-GIS

The Thünen Agricultural GIS creates the conditions for describing and analysing Germany's agricultural land use. Georeferenced data from the agricultural and environmental sectors are available for a very efficient time series analysis and are continuously expanded and updated.

What is the best way to evaluate Rural Development Programmes?

Since the early 1990s, evaluations have formed an important part of the profile of the Thuenen-Institute of Rural Studies, respectively, of its predecessors. We developed analysis and assessment methods in an on-going process. Better access to micro-data supports this process.

Young and committed in associations

Associations in rural areas have long complained about a lack of young people. In the JIVE research project, we are investigating the conditions and motives for the voluntary commitment of young people in rural areas and, in this context, we are asking about the role of associations.

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