1 A Knowledge-Based European Perspective on Sustainable Land …
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fuels on land use. This approach opens up the possibility to simulate the complexity
of sustainable land management and to incorporate learning aspects for decisionmakers. Participants in the serious game came from the Hamburg Metropolitan
Region. The decision-makers attended several meetings to develop their individual
strategies on how to cope with rising energy prices.
Beyond simulation, it has always been a great challenge to test and implement sustainability-driven processes of change and innovation. Real-world laboratories have gained in importance as an adequate research format in recent years in
Europe and especially in Germany. The underlying assumption is that transformation
processes towards sustainability can be investigated under real-world conditions in
order to gain knowledge of their dynamics, to identify characteristics of successful
transformation processes, and to be able to transfer this knowledge to other cases. The
chapter by Kanning, Richter-Harm, Scurrell and Yildiz entitled Real-world laboratories initiated by practitioner stakeholders for sustainable land management analyses
existing types of real-world labs, and reflects on the possibilities generated by realworld laboratories that have been initiated by practitioner stakeholders. “Energieavantgarde Anhalt” provides evidence for such labs, which contributes to sustainable
land management in the context of the energy transition in rural areas, featuring
small and medium-sized towns. The practicability and variability of real-world lab
approaches pave the way for future options for application.
Another dimension of transitions is highlighted in the chapter on Knowledge
management for sustainability: The spatial dimension of higher education as an
opportunity for land management by Schulz, Köhler and Weith. In this case, digitalisation offers new opportunities for knowledge creation and dissemination, which
are an essential part of sustainable land management. Digitalisation will support
collaborative activities related to land use, bringing together diverse interests and
help detect new patterns of cooperation. These developments will also have consequences for knowledge spaces and the institutional and personnel knowledge carriers
established within them. The chapter outlines these consequences in the context of
higher education research. Concepts from both domains—higher education and land
management—are combined in a fruitful way, facilitating new interpretations of
spatial and digital artefacts as well as debates about knowledge dissemination.
In recent years, the modes of knowledge transfer from science to society, and vice
versa, have been changing. Our traditional understanding of scientific knowledge
transfer in the form of unidirectional modes of communication is supplemented
by new ways of knowledge exchange and knowledge production. As such, the
notion of transfer and implementation should be discussed with a new focus in
mind. Based on a framework for transfer and implementation activities in transdisciplinary research settings, Rogga discusses specific paths of knowledge dissemination, and especially of knowledge transfer, in his article on Transcending the
loading dock paradigm—rethinking science-practice transfer and implementation in
sustainable land management. He discusses the systemic understanding of transfer
and implementation regarding unidirectional approaches, and provides definitions
for transfer and implementation in sustainable land management. He recommends
9
fuels on land use. This approach opens up the possibility to simulate the complexity
of sustainable land management and to incorporate learning aspects for decisionmakers. Participants in the serious game came from the Hamburg Metropolitan
Region. The decision-makers attended several meetings to develop their individual
strategies on how to cope with rising energy prices.
Beyond simulation, it has always been a great challenge to test and implement sustainability-driven processes of change and innovation. Real-world laboratories have gained in importance as an adequate research format in recent years in
Europe and especially in Germany. The underlying assumption is that transformation
processes towards sustainability can be investigated under real-world conditions in
order to gain knowledge of their dynamics, to identify characteristics of successful
transformation processes, and to be able to transfer this knowledge to other cases. The
chapter by Kanning, Richter-Harm, Scurrell and Yildiz entitled Real-world laboratories initiated by practitioner stakeholders for sustainable land management analyses
existing types of real-world labs, and reflects on the possibilities generated by realworld laboratories that have been initiated by practitioner stakeholders. “Energieavantgarde Anhalt” provides evidence for such labs, which contributes to sustainable
land management in the context of the energy transition in rural areas, featuring
small and medium-sized towns. The practicability and variability of real-world lab
approaches pave the way for future options for application.
Another dimension of transitions is highlighted in the chapter on Knowledge
management for sustainability: The spatial dimension of higher education as an
opportunity for land management by Schulz, Köhler and Weith. In this case, digitalisation offers new opportunities for knowledge creation and dissemination, which
are an essential part of sustainable land management. Digitalisation will support
collaborative activities related to land use, bringing together diverse interests and
help detect new patterns of cooperation. These developments will also have consequences for knowledge spaces and the institutional and personnel knowledge carriers
established within them. The chapter outlines these consequences in the context of
higher education research. Concepts from both domains—higher education and land
management—are combined in a fruitful way, facilitating new interpretations of
spatial and digital artefacts as well as debates about knowledge dissemination.
In recent years, the modes of knowledge transfer from science to society, and vice
versa, have been changing. Our traditional understanding of scientific knowledge
transfer in the form of unidirectional modes of communication is supplemented
by new ways of knowledge exchange and knowledge production. As such, the
notion of transfer and implementation should be discussed with a new focus in
mind. Based on a framework for transfer and implementation activities in transdisciplinary research settings, Rogga discusses specific paths of knowledge dissemination, and especially of knowledge transfer, in his article on Transcending the
loading dock paradigm—rethinking science-practice transfer and implementation in
sustainable land management. He discusses the systemic understanding of transfer
and implementation regarding unidirectional approaches, and provides definitions
for transfer and implementation in sustainable land management. He recommends