Projects

PerPlacsBio - Perspectives of biobased and decomposable plastics in agriculture and forestry. Knowledge buildup, analysis & solutions

How do young farmers view the new CAP funding period - and their future beyond?

 Ecosystem Künstlerdorf - Learning from Nature

Understanding and valorizing tangible and intangible relations in cultural rural landscapes

News

Who is in and Why?
A Living Lab for Agroecology in the Münsterland

As part of the course Practices in Project Managements, coordinated by Dr. Cornelia Steinhäuser, students conducted a stakeholder network analysis for a possible Agroecology Living Lab in the Münsterland region. They explored the following key questions:

-Which relevant actors in the agri-food system in Münster and the surrounding area should be included, and why?

-To what extent are these actors already connected, and what relationships exist between them? Are there existing agroecology networks or initiatives?

-What challenges and potentials do these actors perceive regarding a sustainable transformation of the agri-food system?

-What problems and opportunities do they identify within their respective fields (e.g., sustainable agriculture, fair trade practices)?

-What shared goals could be pursued through the Living Lab?

The results of the project were compiled in a poster and made available for further discussion.

German–Argentine Cooperation

International Research on the Health of Agriculture

We are pleased to welcome Prof. Dr. Damián Vega as a visiting researcher in the Ökoplan research group. He has been awarded an on-site fellowship by the University of Münster for the period from May 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025, funded by the Rectorate’s Internationalization Fund.

Prof. Vega comes from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and was invited by Dr. Cornelia Steinhäuser. Together, they aim to explore how farmers can promote health in real agroecosystems without the use of pesticides, with a focus on the health continuum of humans, plants, and the environment.

Wheat was selected as a model crop due to its importance for global food security. The health of crops is closely linked to the design and management of agroecosystems, the development of local knowledge, and social cooperation networks. This requires the use of qualitative survey and analysis methods.

Model farms in the Münsterland region of Germany and in the Argentine Pampas will be studied and compared. The research stay also aims to strengthen the internationalization of the Ökoplan research group and the ILÖK, and to establish a long-term collaboration with the University of Buenos Aires.

Field Day: Interwoven Landscapes – Plants and Other Creatures

This field day is part of the three-part field day series “Water, Soil, Plants – Past and Future from Scientific, Economic, and Artistic Perspectives”, organized in cooperation with the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen. This collaboration, established in 2022, explores how constructive learning spaces can be created through exchange between science, the arts, and citizens, fostering a respectful relationship with one another and with nature.

Schedule:

13:00 – 13:45: Arrival and introduction with a light lunch snack

13:45 – 14:30: Tools of flax processing in the museum barn of the Schöppingen local heritage association (Andre Busemas)

14:30 – 16:30: Botanical walk with stops at a nature reserve and a river floodplain (wild herbs, medicinal and dye plants in the landscape) (Thomas Hoevelmann)

17:00 – 19:00: Feinbrennerei Sasse – guided tour with insights into the importance of the distilling trade in the mid-20th century based on regional soil and vegetation; presentation on the Sasse Foundation and nature conservation; drinks and snacks (Rüdiger Sasse)

Date and Meeting Point:
June 14, 2025, at the entrance of Künstlerdorf Schöppingen

Registration:
By email to Dr. Cornelia Steinhäuser (cornelia.steinhaeuser@uni-muenster.de)

Study trip to Patagonia 2026

Duration:
14-day study trip in early March 2026 to the southern Andean region of Argentina

Main Topics:
Land use systems, biodiversity, nature conservation, agroecological farms, and regenerative grazing management

Activities:
Hiking (up to 4 hours, sometimes steep), exchange with experts from academia and practice

Focus Regions:
Nahuel Huapi National Park, El Bolsón, Patagonian steppe

Requirements:
Good English skills required; Spanish is an advantage

Participation:
Submit a half-page letter of motivation by May 30, 2025, to Cornelia Steinhäuser; preparatory meeting on June 3, 2025, at 4:00 PM

New Publication

In the research field of Agroecology in our Working Group, Dr. Cornelia Steinhäuser and Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt have authored a fundamental contribution in a colaborative textbook of various perspectives on the practice of landscape ecology. In landscape ecology, the ecological aspects of land use and agricultural systems are often examined, while social and agricultural factors receive less attention. Historically, agriculture has contributed to increasing biodiversity, but modern developments in standardization and globalization have also caused problems such as species loss and environmental pollution. Today, there are various approaches to agriculture, with the challenge being to respect ecological boundaries, tackle social inequalities, and promote a climate-neutral economy. Transformative agroecology connects science, practices within the agri-food system, and social movements, aiming for diverse, local, and regenerative cultural landscapes. Our contribution examines how landscape ecology can support these processes.

Conference Contested Rural Spaces

From September 16-21, 2024, the 31st Colloquium of the IGU Commission on the Sustainability of Rural Systems took place in Mendoza (Argentina) under the title “Contested Rural Spaces”. Dr. Cornelia Steinhäuser is a member of the Steering Committee of the IGU Commission and plays a key role in both the Organizing and Scientific Committee of the conference.

There will be four main topics, all related to the research lines of the WG Ecological Planning:
1) Regional productions/ecologies
2) Rural-urban disputes
3) Socio-environmental inequalities and environmental conflicts
4) Land ownership, tenure and planning

An outstanding feature of the conference is the fact that, in addition to the two conference days, a so-called field study will also take place, in which the topics of the conference will be explored in depth on site and in practice.

Further information on the conference can be found here.

Agroecology as a relationship with the earth

Central concepts of agroecology are food sovereignty and territory. From the perspective of Latin American research, territorio describes the relationship of people and communities to the earth on which and with which one lives. It can thus be understood as a place and community of human and more-than-human beings. Bruno Latour speaks of a return to the terrestrial. Tim Ingold talks about sentient ecology.
But how can such a community be shaped?
Cornelia Steinhäuser, inspired and in exchange with artists, has been exploring this question in recent months and has held the following lectures and workshops:

Cornelia Steinhäuser, Mayra Citlalli Rojo Gómez: “Shifting boundaries: exploring approaches in a more-than-human world”, Lecture Series Interdependencies 2024, Geographisches Kolloquium, University of Münster, 7 - 8 May 2024

Cornelia Steinhäuser: “Harvesting Diversity: the cultivation of varied knowledges through farming and gardening in diverse communities”, ZIN Brotzeitkolloquium 2024 - Universität Münster, 18 April 2024

Cornelia Steinhäuser, Grashina Gabelmann and Henriette Aichinger: ExperiSpace ‘Collective creation of a digital Emotional Map’, IfL workshop #9, 20 – 21 March 2024, Leipzig

Cornelia Steinhäuser: „Agroecología, paisajes y el Antropoceno”, Conferencia internacional Crisis, Política y Resistencia en el Antropoceno, Weingartener Lateinamerikagespräche, 3-5 de noviembre de 2023

Cornellia Steinhäuser: „Von artistic research zu kreativen Methoden der Geographie“, Session „Künstlerisch-performative Zugänge zu Raum“, Deutscher Kongress für Geographie 2023, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, 19.-23. September 2023

For September 2024 she is co-organizing a coloquiuum on this topic in Mendoza, Argentina, with the title “Contested rural spaces / Territorios rurales en disputa”. For more information see our homepage.

Agroecology, Landscapes and the Anthropocene

From the 3rd to the 5th of November the Weingarten Latin America Talks took place in Weingarten, South Germany. This interdisciplinary conference deals with current developments and issues in Latin America, from social (in)equality, decolonization, peace making, gender and climate justice to macro economic issues. The presentation and discussion of current theses and PhD`s by researchers from Latin America and Germany took place on the 2nd of November Dr’in Cornelia Steinhäuser was invited as a commentator on ongoing doctoral theses and as an expert in agroecology. Her lecture entitled “Agroecología, paisajes y el Antropoceno” addressed questions of community building in agroecological, biodiverse landscapes against background of the conceptual framework of the Anthropocene.

The conference took place as part of the knowledge laboratory “The Anthropocene as a Multiple Crisis” of the Center for InterAmerican Studies (CALAS).

New publication

The report on the scientific perspective on the project "Ecosystem Künstlerdorf - Learning from Nature" has been published. It describes the challenges, opportunities and potentials of a socio-ecological transformation process of an art institution. And it explores for this case study, how permaculture, gardening and 'learning from nature' were used as inspiration with the aim to build a just and sustainable community.

Steinhäuser, Cornelia (2022). Begegnungen mit Mensch und Natur im Künstlerdorf Schöppingen: Socializing with people and nature at the Künstlerdorf. In Julia Haarman (Ed.), Ecosystem Künstlerdorf (pp. 21–41). Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen.