Project start: 01.02.2024
Project end: 30.09.2025

The local authorities of Eltville am Rhein, Kiedrich, Oestrich-Winkel, Schlangenbad, and Walluf are collaboratively formulating an integrated climate adaptation plan. The process is under scientific scrutiny. The project aims to serve as a model for research by demonstrating how inter-communal cooperation in the Upper Rheingau (Rheingau+) can effectively address the anticipated impacts of climate change. Specifically, the project seeks to explore: - Mitigating Climate Change Effects: Given the rural context heavily influenced by viticulture and the region’s susceptibility to heatwaves and droughts due to its favorable climatic conditions, the focus is on countering the predicted consequences of climate change. - Transforming the Cultural Landscape: The three primary landscape types—villages, agricultural areas, and forests—require adaptive transformations to cope with climate change. Identifying the necessary changes is crucial. - Co-creative processes: Successfully designing collaborative processes involving diverse groups and individuals is essential. These processes aim to develop actionable skills collectively and foster a willingness to implement climate adaptation strategies. Special attention is given to the individual roles of municipalities and their cross-border cooperation.

Project start: 01.10.2023
Project end: 30.09.2025
Sponsor: Federal Agency for Nature Conservation

Historic cultural landscape elements (HLE) characterize the diversity, uniqueness and beauty of nature and landscape, biodiversity, cultural-historical value and the sustainability of landscape areas. Using a "bottom-up" approach, the project aims to show whether and how cultural landscapes can be differentiated from one another on the basis of the element level. The following objectives are pursued: (1) Development of a nationwide applicable selection method of value-giving, space-constituting element types; (2) Further methodological development of the recording and evaluation of significant historical cultural landscapes using an element-based approach; (3) Analysis of the need for protection, possible instruments for legal protection and opportunities for historic cultural landscape elements in sustainable landscapes; (4) Further development of planning methods for analysis and evaluation; (5) Public relations work. These objectives will be worked on using examples of landscape sections in the three federal states of Brandenburg, Hesse and Thuringia.

Project start: 01.07.2023
Project end: 30.06.2026
Sponsor: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit

The preservation and planting of urban green, especially trees, play a crucial role in the adaptation of cities to global heating, as they provide natural cooling. Larger trees transpire up to 500 litres of water per day. Shade and evaporative cooling reduce the effect of urban heat islands. However, road salt, soil compaction and pollutants stress urban trees. Heat and drought intensify, so that new plantings often fail to grow and existing trees increasingly die before they reach a size that has an impact on the city's climate. Alternative tree substrates could provide a remedy, and also improve the infiltration of water from heavy rainfall events. One promising approach are biochar macadam substrates (PMS), i.e. defined mixtures of rock gravel, plant charcoal and compost. After compaction, the crushed stone results in a passable but pore-rich structure that creates space and aaeration for root growth and which are capable of absorbing high levels of precipitation. The production of the biochar also locks up biomass carbon over decades to millennia (=carbon sinks, i.e. carbon (dioxide) removal). PMS were developed in Stockholm and are so far only used in Sweden, Austria and Switzerland. The goal of "Black2GoGreen" is to create a network of municipalities, municipal enterprises, associations as well as manufacturers of biochar and biochar (tree, green-roof) substrates to transfer knowledge about already implemented solutions to Germany.

Project start: 01.11.2021
Project end: 31.12.2023
Sponsor: ,

The unique terrace-shaped landscape along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, characterized by vineyards and orchards, is experiencing a profound transformation due to changes in land use and ecological succession. Against this background, the projects assesses objectives and opportunities for society associated with the development of a mosaic-like and diverse steep slope landscape, determines obstacles and conducive conditions, and starts to reactivate areas for a sustainable use. Existing large-scale objectives and recommendations are broken down to a local level with the aim to provide a vision for a sustainable development of the landscape that takes into account ecological, economic and social objectives and is backed by local communities. At the same time, a follow-up project for large-scale implementation is currently being set up.

Project start: 01.07.2020
Project end: 31.10.2025
Sponsor: Federal Office for Agriculture and Food

The model and demonstration project (MuD) focuses on priority crop wild relatives (CWR species), which are generally not target species of official nature conservation. Nevertheless, permanent conservation is also required for these species, as part of biological diversity according to § 1 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG). For the expansion of a German network of genetic conservation areas, CWR umbrella species and candidate genetic reserves are to be identified nationwide from WEL species hotspots, and genetic reserves for in situ conservation are to be implemented in certain regions on a model basis. In this concept, genetic reserves no longer focuses on individual species, but rather on hotspots of CWR species of different habitat types. Thus, compared to previous projects (wild celery, wild apple, wild grapevine, grassland), which were always based on a narrow species spectrum, a specific species or similar habitat types, the MuD has a considerably broader and fundamentally new approach. Furthermore, recommendations for structural financing are to be developed - the focus of Geisenheim University's work in the project - for example by integrating conservation and management measures into the rural development plans (RDPs) of the federal states, with funding from the Joint Task "Improvement of Agricultural Structures and Coastal Protection" (GAK) and/or the Common European Agricultural Policy (CAP). These are essential, still missing components of an in situ conservation strategy for CWR species. The overall result is a GenEG selection procedure for priority CWR species that is economically efficient and can be integrated into existing nature conservation and agricultural funding activities.

Project start: 01.08.2019
Project end: 30.12.2020

In a collaborative project, the universities of Koblenz, Bingen and Geisenheim are developing a framework concept for local climate adaptation in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage. The project identifies climate change in the world heritage area, and describes the current state of knowledge and the developments to be expected from global trends and existing spatial conditions. Furthermore, the project outlines possible prevention measures as well as possibilities to avoid and mitigate negative impacts of climate changes on a local level.

Project start: 01.05.2019
Project end: 31.10.2022
Sponsor: Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit

The project’s aim is to set up a local and inter-municipal cooperation and to turn it into concerted efforts to adapt to climate change in viticulture using the example of the Rheingau. Within the network, effective and sustainable concepts for climate adaptation in viticulture are being developed and tailored to specific user groups. With regard to the model character of the project, the resulting approaches can be adapted to other agricultural systems such as areas used for fruit and vegetable growing.

Project start: 01.04.2019
Project end: 30.03.2024
Sponsor: Geisenheim University

The aim of the project is to analyze bird diversity in German wine-growing regions and to demonstrate the influence of landscape structures and management systems using the example of Rheingau, Rheinhessen und Mosel. The findings shall help to develop a management system that promotes biodiversity. So far, research has shown that pure wine-growing regions provide a suitable habitat for only a few species. Viticulture is characterized by intensive management systems with frequent disturbing factors such as the use of pesticides, soil preparation and mowing. Greened alleys of land that support very few species only, and the elimination of marginal strips as part of large-scale reparceling processes resulted in low structural diversity. However, certain landscape structures in and around the vineyard as well as an adapted management system can create favorable living conditions and contribute to stall the loss of biodiversity in the agricultural landscape.

Project start: 01.09.2017
Project end: 30.06.2019

Project start: 01.07.2017
Project end: 31.01.2022
Sponsor: Geisenheim University

Large-scale infrastructure projects cause a significant transformation to the landscape, which is often characterized by conflicts, delays and budget overruns. The aim of the MOVE project is to find ways how to take into account the complexity of these tasks during the planning process. To that end, a problem-solving cycle is to be completed, which systemically analyzes the planning and the planning object in its environment (street and landscape). An exploration shall examine how the success of this transformation can be measured given the high number of stakeholders. A modeling approach to analyze the planning processes and its impact on the road and landscape system will provide indications of potential weaknesses. Subsequently, sub-systems identified as particularly relevant will be simulated using Vester's sensitivity model. The lessons learned will be used as suggestions to help optimize the success of the transformation.