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investigates and develops urban governance practices for climate-just and transformative adaptation in Lower Saxony (LS). Positioned at the interface of the other sub-projects we examine how governance practices can enable inclusive and equitable responses to climate change, identifying both barriers and opportunities for just spatial transformations. By studying the collaborative practices of diverse actors and the dynamics of decision-making as well as power relations, GOV advances understanding of how climate justice can be promoted through transformative governance in urban spaces.
In Phase 1, existing spatial governance practices in Lower Saxony (LS) will be analysed with regard to their potential to support transformative climate adaptation and advance intersectional climate justice in urban contexts. Alongside desk research and document analysis, qualitative methods with a spatial focus will be employed. This approach will allow for an in-depth exploration of current governance practices, assessing their effectiveness in recognizing and responding to the specific needs and justice claims of diverse social groups. The findings will highlight both challenges and barriers, as well as success factors that can inform subsequent research and serve as a foundation for future transformative approaches.
In Phase 2, transformative approaches to climate adaptation governance will be developed in response to the gaps and limitations in governance practices identified in Phase 1. Drawing on transdisciplinary scenario development and co-creative methods, the project aims to generate actionable knowledge for the successful implementation of social-ecological transformations in urban contexts. To this end, scenario workshops will be held with experts from spatial sciences and planning practice, in close collaboration with the other subprojects. As a network organization, the ARL maintains continuous dialogue with professional working groups, projects, and initiatives, and will actively feed these ongoing discourses into the UCFL to foster synergies and strengthen the link between research and planning practice.
Principal Investigators
Dr. Barbara Warner
GOV | PI
Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL)
www.arl-net.de
Dr. Barbara Warner (*1969) is a geographer. She completed her doctorate on the topic of experiencing nature and urban nature conservation concepts. Since 2014, she has been a scientific officer at the ARL - Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association in Hanover and is responsible for the Ecology and Landscape department. Her main topics are the protection of open spaces, sustainable development and climate adaptation
Dr. Katharina Kapitza
GOV | PI
Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL)
www.arl-net.de
Katharina Kapitza is the head of the Academic Section "Strategies and Concepts of Spatial Transformation" at the ARL - Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association in Hanover. She is a sustainability scientist specialised in environmental social sciences, trained in gender studies and qualitative social research. Her research focuses on governance of social-ecological transformation, gender and spatial development, energy transition, climate adaptation and far right environmentalism. She is spokesperson for the working group on gender, sustainability, environment and transformation (GENAU*T) of the German Association for Gender Studies.
Dr. Ricardo Kaufer
GOV | Postdoc
Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL)
www.arl-net.de
Ricardo Kaufer is a political and social scientist, conducting research at the Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association and teaching at the University of Kassel. He has previously held positions at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research at Bielefeld University, as well as at the universities of Greifswald, Lille, Lüneburg, Göttingen, Vechta, and Hagen. His work and research focus on social-scientific sustainability studies, research on political movements, policy analysis, and theories of the state.
Nele Buchholz
GOV | PhD candidate
Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL)
www.arl-net.de
Nele C. Buchholz is a PhD candidate and scientific associate working for the ARL at the Urban Climate Future Lab. Her research spans socio-ecological transformations, climate justice, climate adaptation governance, human–nature relations, gender, intersectionality and participation. Following her studies, she worked at the nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research in Berlin (2021–24) and from 2023 to 2024 she was editor-in-chief of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. From 2018 to 2019 she worked at the "Caring for Nature/s?" project at Leuphana University. She holds an MSc in Human Ecology (Lund University, 2022), an MA in Leadership for Sustainability (Malmö University, 2021) and a BSc in Environmental and Political Sciences (Leuphana University, 2019).
The ARL is a social research infrastructure within the Leibniz Association that facilitates cooperation and networking between spatial science research and planning practice. As an academy with renowned, selected members and a large network of committed experts at all career levels, we consistently bundle interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary knowledge on current issues of sustainable spatial development as the professional voice of spatial science and practice. The ARL has extensive experience in researching governance approaches and success factors for innovations in planning against the background of demographic and climate change, as well as on gender aspects in spatial development.
● Mölders, T.; Dannenberg, J.; Herdlitschka, T.; Hülz, M.; Kapitza, K. (eds.): Gender – Macht – Energiewende. Potentiale der Geschlechterforschung im Kontext raumbezogener Transformationen. Bielefeld. transcript, 2025.
● Herdlitschka, T.; Dankers, J.; Kienesberger, M.; Kapitza, K.; Mölders, T.: Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und Geschlechterperspektiven: intersektionale Ansätze zur Analyse sozial-ökologischer Transformationen. In: GENDER 16(3): 104-120, 2024.
● Dankers, J.; Herdlitschka, T.; Kapitza, K.; Mölders, T.: Energielandschaften nachhaltig:er gestalten? Geschlechterperspektiven auf räumliche Transformationsprozesse der Energiewende. In: Landscapes for Future – Landschaften und sozial-ökologische Transformationen. M. Leibenath, L. Gailing, A. Birnbaum, Eds. Wiesbaden. Springer VS, 2024, pp. 133–151.
● Dankers, J.; Herdlitschka, T.; Kapitza, K.; Mölders, T.: Geschlechterperspektiven auf Landschaft. In: Handbuch Landschaft. O. Kühne, F. Weber, K. Berr, C. Jenal, Eds. Wiesbaden. Springer VS, 2024, pp. 485–495.
● Kapitza, K.; Hofmeister, S.: ‚Wuchernde Stadt‘ und ‚gezähmte Wildnis‘: Sozial- ökologische Perspektiven
auf die Inszenierung von ‚Wildnis‘ im Natur-
Park Schöneberger Südgelände. In: sub\urban 8(1-2): 35-54,
2020.
● Hofmeister, S.; Mölders, T.; Deininger, M.; Kapitza, K.: Für welche ‚Natur/en‘ sorgen wir? Kritisch feministische
Perspektiven auf aktuelle Care-Debatten im sozial-ökologischen Kontext. GENDER 11(1): 125-139,
2019.
● Kapitza, K; Zimmermann, H.; Martín-López, B.;von Wehrden: Research on the social perception of invasive
species: a systematic literature review.
NeoBiota 43: 47-68, 2019.
● Kapitza, K.: Projektionsfläche Neobiota. Antifeministische Denkfiguren in der Konstruktion ‚fremder Natur/
en‘ im Naturschutz. In: Facetten des Antifeminismus. Angriffe und Eingriffe in Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft.
J. Sigl, K. Kapitza, K. Fischer, Eds. Hamburg. Alma Marta, 2021a, pp. 69-85.
● Kapitza, K.: Zwischen ‚Laissez-faire‘ und Kontrollverlust – Geschlechterperspektiven auf Naturverständnisse
in der ‚neuen Wildnis‘. In: Für Natur sorgen. Dilemmata feministischer Positionierungen zwischen
Sorge und Herrschaftsverhältnissen. S. Hofmeister, T. Mölders, Eds. Opladen. Budrich, 2021b, pp. 159-
189.
● Kapitza, K.: Neobiota, Neonazis und die Angst vor Überfremdung. (Re)Produktionstheoretische Überlegungen zu Rechtsextremismus und Naturschutz. In: Nachhaltigkeit (re)produktiv denken. Pfade kritischer sozial-
ökologischer Wissenschaft. T. Mölders, A.
Thiem, C. Katz, Eds. Opladen. Budrich, 2020,
pp. 117-125.
● Albert, C., Hansen, R., Warner, B. (2022) “Editorial: Ökosystemleistungen in der räumlichen Planung”,
Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial