Products & Transfer

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Leibniz Lab 'Systemic Sustainability' at a Glance

Agriculture and food production are responsible for around 30 per cent of global animal and plant species loss and contribute more than 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Resulting climate change and biodiversity loss are increasingly jeopardising agriculture and food security for a growing world population. This raises doubts about our ability to achieve several Sustainable Development Goals and to remain within the limits of the Earth system, the so-called Planetary Boundaries.

The Leibniz Lab ‘Systemic Sustainability’ responds to these tasks by treating biodiversity, climate, agriculture and food as a common area of action and conflict. It pursues three main goals:
• integrating knowledge from scientific communities and societal groups,
• assessing systemic sustainability and exploring systemic innovations,
• and advancing science communication through transfer products tailored to target groups.

As a knowledge hub, the Lab is drawing on collaboration with national and international partners and working closely with societal actors. Dialogue forums at international, national and regional level support the exploration of the added value of the systemic sustainability perspective.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Jochen Schanze (ll-systain@ioer.de)

From Invasion to Innovation: Turning Lionfish into a Resource for Sustainable Food Systems in the Pilot Site ‘Belém’, Brazil

The Leibniz Lab ‘Systemic Sustainability’ examines the role of innovations in enabling sustainability transformations. A focus lies on identifying locally grounded solutions that emerge directly from socio-ecological challenges in the globally distributed pilot sites.
In the pilot site ‘Belém’, Brazil, especially in Pará, activities build on preceding transdisciplinary research conducted at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) by Dr. Marion Glaser together with Lena Knopp. Within their work, local realities and sustainability challenges were explored through an arts-based approach using stop-motion filmmaking in collaboration with local community actors. Through this process, the increasing invasion of lionfish (Pterois spp.) emerged as a major locally perceived concern. Fishers described how the venomous invasive species clogs nets and poses handling risks, while simultaneously affecting local marine ecosystems, thus reducing stocks and catches of local species.

Internationally, initial initiatives (e.g., for the Mediterranean and Caribbean) have explored the harvesting and consumption of invasive lionfish as a strategy to reduce ecological impacts while creating economic value. Promoting lionfish as a new food resource can provide incentives for its removal from marine ecosystems and contribute to diversified seafood options in already heavily exploited oceans.

Building on these insights, Lena Knopp and Dr. Marion Glaser teamed up with regional partners from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). Together, they conducted workshops with local food system actors such as chefs and food practitioners to explore the culinary use of lionfish within regional food cultures. Following an “eat the invader” approach, the workshops addressed invasive species not only as an ecological challenge but also as a potential resource for sustainable food systems. As an outcome of these activities, cooking videos were produced in Portuguese and English, demonstrating how the lionfish can be safely prepared in two locally inspired recipes. The videos aim to increase awareness and consumer acceptance while illustrating how environmental challenges can be translated into sustainability-enhancing food system innovations.

The initiative highlights how sustainability transformations can emerge from transdisciplinary collaboration and local knowledge, linking biodiversity management and sustainable food systems in coastal regions facing rapid environmental change.

Contact: Sarah Zwicker (sarah.zwicker@leibniz-zmt.de) & Sophia Lüttringhaus (sluettringhaus@atb-potsdam.de)

Online Magazine

Innovations for Sustainable Food Systems from Berlin/Brandenburg: Headlines from the Future

With the aim of bringing together innovators from the pilot site ‘Berlin/Brandenburg’ of the Leibniz Lab ‘Systemic Sustainability’, a series of online and in-person workshops were organised in September 2025. The workshops created a space for innovators from research and practice to exchange perspectives on how their work contributes to food systems operating within planetary boundaries. The events were facilitated by Glashaus Innovation, a Berlin-based, human-centered innovation design consultancy.

The exchange formed the basis for the creation of the digital gallery Headlines from the Future. In short video and photo portraits, innovators present their work as messages from the future and illustrate how diverse innovation approaches emerging across the pilot site ‘Berlin/Brandenburg’ could contribute to transformed food systems by 2050. At a time when sustainability transformations are often associated with restrictions and renunciations, the Headlines from the Future deliberately highlight a positive and enabling vision of change. By presenting a future in which innovations have already succeeded, the gallery shifts attention to the opportunities created through transformations. The gallery illustrates how sustainable food systems can be societally desirable.