SUSTAINABILITY RESEARCH
„The Future Remains Largely Open”
Prof. Dr Martina Fuchs
Institute of Economic and Social Geography,
Sustainability Officer at the WiSo Faculty
Photo: Lisa Beller
The Present
What is your discipline’s key contribution to a better understanding of sustainability?
Economic geography examines how sustainable economic structures and processes actually are at the local level. It analyses sustainability transformations at the local level and also through regional comparisons, for example within the European Union. It is also interested in the conditions under which environmentally-oriented innovations emerge and spread, and the associated transitions. Another area of investigation is global production networks and value chains and their interaction with different locations, particularly with regard to links between regions in the Global South and North.
What are your main areas of research, and why are they important from today’s perspective?
My research in this field focuses primarily on the world of work – that is, on the working conditions and skills of employees in different locations and countries.
Which image best represents your research into sustainability? What can we see in it?
I have carried out a great deal of research in Mexico. In Mexico, as in other countries of the Global South, achieving a socially just ecological transition is a particularly significant challenge. However, I was deeply impressed by the fact that, during my interviews in various neighbourhoods across Mexico, I repeatedly discovered how people were taking control of their own lives. In a shanty town on the outskirts of the city, home to the poorest sections of the population – people who had migrated from rural areas – I saw that some residents had worked together to build a primary school so that, as they told me, their children could have a better life than they themselves had had.
Source: A schoolgirl from Puebla, Mexico, who took part in my survey
I also asked young people living in housing estates where car and textile workers reside to draw pictures of their future careers.
For example, one girl wrote the following about the picture shown here: “I would like to become a marine biologist to research the various species of marine flora and fauna, as humanity depends on them to a great extent as a source of food and will continue to do so in the future. In reality, however, there are very few people who are interested in this field of research (...)”. Many of the pupils surveyed drew pictures showing how they wanted to get involved in socially and environmentally sustainable initiatives in the future.
The Past
What originally prompted you to conduct research into sustainability issues?
In the 1970s and 1980s, during my youth, issues such as environmental protection and the ‘Limits to Growth’ (the Club of Rome report, 1972) were already well known and caused me great concern. Admittedly, there have been improvements over time, for example with regard to emissions. However, preserving the foundations of life in the long term remains a pressing task. That is what sustainability means: taking into account the needs of future generations, particularly with regard to climate change, energy, resources, emissions, biodiversity and a socially just transition. This is what we are committed to in the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (WiSo Faculty), where I currently serve as Vice-Dean.
What experience, encounter or observation has had a particular influence on your academic perspective?
The many conversations I’ve had with people in Mexico and other countries, in workplaces and also in people’s homes. Empirical evidence reveals so much that we hadn’t anticipated in theory beforehand.
Which assumption about your discipline or about sustainability has changed since you began your career?
Environmental economic geography is now an established and widespread field of research. When I was a student, it was only just beginning to emerge. Consequently, new theoretical approaches have emerged, including interdisciplinary ones.
The Future
What concrete traces of your research will we see in everyday life in the future?
I hope that I leave a lasting impression on the minds of students and PhD candidates, and – more broadly within the academic community – through my publications. In the Vice-Dean’s Office, we are also working on the strategic embedding and institutionalisation of sustainability issues.
In your view, what would constitute a genuine success for your discipline in terms of a sustainable future?
It would be a success if socio-ecological sustainability were to gain further ground, even though many governments today place other issues at the top of their agenda. As a geographer, I hope to see socio-ecological transformations in various regions across the Global North and South.
Despite all the resistance and path dependencies – the future remains largely open. It is both unknown and malleable.
The Sustainability Research Hub would like to thank Martina Fuchs for the interview.
The interview series ‘A Journey Through Time with …’ introduces researchers from various disciplines and their perspectives on sustainability.