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Past Activities

Experience agriculture: Excursion of the ASQ Sustainable Agriculture

Participants in the ASQ Sustainable Agriculture 2024 excursion

This year there was once again a three-day excursion as part of the ASQ "Sustainable Agriculture", supervised by the Chair of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy. During visits to research institutions such as the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) and the UFZ research station as well as farms and companies in the region, MLU students were able to learn about different perspectives and relevant concepts in agriculture.

World Commons Week 2023 - Celebrating 50 Years of Commons Governance at the Ostrom Workshop

Online panel discussion on December 7th as part of World Commons Week

Under the leadership of the International Association for the Study  of the Commons (IASC), World Commons Week took place from December 4-10^th 2023. Since 2018, it has been an annual celebration of global commons research and practice.

More about World Commons Week: https://www.incommonpodcast.org/world-commons-week/   

On 7^th December, a special IASC World Commons Week event that celebrates the  longstanding partnership that exists between the IASC and Indiana  University’s Ostrom Workshop was held.

Insa Theesfeld, who served as the Commons Governance Program director in 2021-2022  joined a panel discussion that featured reflections looking back at the  history of commons governance at the Ostrom Workshop, Indiana  University, USA. Founding Director of the Commons Program, Prof. Bill  Blomquist, and the new Program Director of the Ostrom Workshop, Prof.  Diana Ojeda, also participated.

SUSADICA doctoral program comes to an end

Final symposium of the doctoral program on Sustainable Agricultural Development in Central Asia (SUSADICA, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation) on 12-14 October 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Read more: https://www.    iamo.    de/en/news/news/article/susadica-    symposium-    on-    central-    asias-    sustainable-    agricultural-    development/    

SUSADICA doctoral program (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation) Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Three-day excursion as part of the ASQ Sustainable Agriculture

Agriculture tangible and up close: As part of the ASQ "Sustainable Agriculture", MLU students from various disciplines took part in a three-day excursion in Saxony-Anhalt. They visited farms of different production directions and sizes as well as the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research. The ASQ module is supervised by the Chair of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy.

Excursion sustainable agriculture new farm Hof an der Eiche 2023

Ceremonial exmatriculation of the graduates of agricultural sciences 2022

Graduates of agricultural sciences at the ceremonial exmatriculation. Photo: Carl Pinkert

On 08 october 2022, the ceremonial exmatriculation of the students of agricultural sciences and crop sciences took place in the Lion Building of the Martin Luther University. On this solemn occasion, to which many friends and family members had come, Olaf Feuerborn the President of the Farmers' Association of Saxony-Anhalt spoke the greeting.

Prof. Insa Theesfeld said goodbye to the graduates of the Department of Economics and Social Sciences with a short speech on the topic of whether increasingly time-efficient work is also beneficial for science and for the acquisition of knowledge.

Prof. Theesfeld presents certificates at the ceremonial exmatriculation. Photo: Carl Pinkert

Prof. Theesfeld new Vice-rector for Human Resource and Organizational Development

Traditional parade of the Academic Senate. Photo: Maike Glöckner

On October 17, 2022, the new Rector Prof. Dr. Claudia Becker of Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the Vice-Rectors Prof. Dr. Insa Theesfeld, Prof. Dr. Pablo Pirnay-Dummer and Prof. Dr. Christine Fürst were officially inaugurated in their new positions during the ceremonial investiture. Prior, they have been elected at the Senate meeting on October 12, 2022. Following tradition, the MLU Academic Senate dressed in gowns and paraded through University Square to the “Löwengebäude” (see photo).

Prof. Theesfeld’s official inauguration as Vice Rector of human resources and organizational development. Photo: Maike Glöckner

The Ostrom Workshop meets Europe

The Ostrom Workshop and the Indiana University Europe Gateway hosted more than thirty researchers from across Europe in Berlin on Friday, September 30, 2022.

These academics and practitioners represent a wide range of leading institutions, but have in common that they are all affiliates of the global Ostrom Workshop community. Prof. Theesfeld organized this meeting to link European Workshoppers more closely to the Ostrom Workshop again, i.e. to their current Research Programs on – commons governance, cybersecurity and internet governance, data management and information governance, environment and natural resource governance, political economy and sustainable food systems. “To be able to find new innovative ways of collaboration and exchange, we need to be aware of each other`s activities and interests”, explained Theesfeld.

Approaching the 50^th anniversary of the Ostrom Workshop`s founding in 2023, the participants from the Ostrom Workshop were looking forward to deepen the engagement with their European affiliates.

Prof. Theesfeld discusses prioritization of land use with representatives from practice and politics at Symposium on Land Market Research

Panel f.l.t.r.: Sndra Berndt (Moderator), Philipp Schulze Esking (Farmer and Vice President of the German Agricultural Society), Prof. Dr. Insa Theesfeld (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle, Agricultural and Environmental Policy), Dr. Anne Monika Spallek (Member of the Bundestag, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Committee on Food and Agriculture). Photo: Alexander Heinl / Photothek

At the symposium on Soil Market Research 2022 in Berlin, Prof. Theesfeld, as a scientific representative, discusses with representatives from politics and practice how we can balance the demands on the scarce area of soil for food production, energy crop cultivation, photovoltaics or wind power, priority areas for biodiversity protection, new housing developments, traffic and industry, as well as for the required compensation area to restore the natural balance depending on the conducted intervention. What should have priority? And if so, where? And how do we want to decide on this?

Prof. Theesfeld has been awarded the title of Senior Research Fellow at the Ostrom Workshop.

New research director Prof. Theesfeld at the Ostrom Workshop, USA

In recognition of extraordinary contribution in scholarship, service and teaching Insa Theesfeld has been awarded the title of Senior Research Fellow of the Ostrom Workshop at April, 25th, 2022. Insa Theesfeld has been the scientific director of the internationally renowned Commons Governance Program for one academic year. The program has been established to honor Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom and her pioneering research agenda at the Ostrom Workshop.

Photo: Indiana University Campus; Photo: Theesfeld, 2021

Prof. Insa Theesfeld took over the position of the Interim Director of the Commons Governance Program at the Ostrom Workshop in Bloomington, Indiana, USA (https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/research/commons/index.html   ).. The Ostrom Workshop was founded almost 50 year ago by Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom and her husband Vincent. It is located in the center of the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. This interdisciplinary university research and teaching institute has been named “Workshop” to stress its interactive nature based on various international and national exchanges and visits, related to commons and resource governance research.

Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts over the last year, the Workshop launched a new research program “Commons Governance” in celebration of Elinor Ostrom's pioneering work in the field. Insa Theesfeld, a professor of agricultural, environmental and food policy at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), and current President of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (https://iasc-commons.org/   ) (IASC), has taken over as the new interim director of the Commons Governance program.

Commons are shared (natural, but also cultural) resources, that are governed collectively. The research program aims to study empirically grounded new governance case studies, its drivers and outcomes and to develop further methodologies and theories that can be built on the rich existing knowledge in the field. It will allow to make predictions on the behavior of humans and find appropriate governance regimes not only regarding the traditional natural resource commons such as pastures, forests and irrigation water, but also those we know by the term "new commons", such as car-sharing, Wikipedia, freely accessible software, as well as seeds, or “global commons” such as biodiversity and climate.

At the MLU Prof. Theesfeld teaches the Bachelor class “Gemeingütermanagement” which includes parts of the original Ostrom school teaching material translated into German and its application to the European Agri-Environmental context. Prof. Theesfeld’s department has been researching the governance of natural resources and "commons management" for many years.

Prof. Theesfeld took over presidency of the IASC

Photo: IASC Meeting in Peru, 2019: Ilkhom Soliev (Communications Officer), Beril Ocaklı (Early Career Network Initiator) and Insa Theesfeld (President-Elect).

On January 15, 2021, Prof. Theesfeld has taken over the presidency of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC). After eight years of being an IASC council member of this leading professional association dedicated to the commons, she will serve in this new role for the next two years. Prof. Theesfeld starts her new role not in easy times, as bringing an international organization that thrives from personal interaction and exchange through the times of the COVID pandemic restrictions is incredibly challenging. Even more so is addressing most burning issues of our society, starting from regulating global commons to understanding new commons and digital commons, all of which are receiving an increasing importance and attention. Instead of the previous focus, when scholars mainly studied fair appropriation of resource units of various kinds, Prof. Theesfeld’s view is that the current attention may shift towards questions of how the world community has to organize the provision of various resource systems. This includes the latest challenge of a fair vaccine availability for all countries and population groups on our planet, as global public health is likewise a commons. Prof. Theesfeld considers these as future “commons questions”, to addressing of which the IASC is responsible to contribute. She believes that now, more than ever, particularly the theoretical training of commons scholars and practitioners’ know-how can support solutions to help the world community out of many challenging socio-ecological situations. Under the leadership of Prof. Theesfeld and her team at the IASC Council and MLU, the year will be full of exciting activities.

Are you interested in governance of shared resources? If yes, take a look at these events    and consider joining one of them or even becoming a member    (if not already).

Prof. Theesfeld actively supports the composition and contentwise orientation of the 'Welthungerhilfe' Journal ''welternährung''

Quelle: https://www.welthungerhilfe.de/welternaehrung/

The ''Welthungerhilfe'' Journal ‘Welternährung’ offers a platform for exchange on current development policy issues with a focus on hunger and poverty reduction, contributed by scientists, practitioners and experts. Prof Theesfeld is looking forward to learning from the diversity of the editorial team and the advisory board. She looks at issues of world food security and development policy from the perspective of resource governance and common goods. This is where many of her interests converge, up to the former motivation for her studies, says Prof. Theesfeld.

Dr. Ilkhom Soliev awarded Visiting Professorship at National University of Uzbekistan

Photo: Dr. Soliev during his lecture at the National University of Uzbekistan in 2019. Photo: © Soliev.

We are delighted to share that Dr. Ilkhom Soliev has been awarded a Visiting Professorship at the National University of Uzbekistan, which has a long tradition of being one of the leading universities in Central Asia and ranked as the top public university in the country at present. As part of the Professorship, he will contribute with his research and teaching on Global Environmental Governance and bring in economic and policy-institutional expertise to analyzing social-environmental problems with the students and faculty of natural sciences. Congratulations!

Scaling- up Project in India has started

Scaling- up in India (source: https://www.siani.se/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/11834704913_b5eff5b050_b.jpg)

Project for sustainable water governance in India started

The project represents an unprecedented scaling up initiative with a specific focus on governance aspects of resource management.
Under the leadership of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington D.C. ,we aim to improve the capacities of 1,500 rural communities covering 105,000 households directly and 2,000 communities covering 140,000 households indirectly in six Indian states to manage their water more sustainably. This exceptional outreach will be achieved through experiential learning from collective action games, community debriefings, and participatory water planning tools that contribute to greater awareness and improved governance, inducing behavioral change toward more sustainable water management.

The project builds on multiple years of pioneering development and research activities of the project partners, which in addition to IFPRI include such key partners as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), and The National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) in India.

Award for multimedia teaching

Managing director LLZ Torsten Schubert (left) with the award winners Ilkhom Soliev and Annett Thüring. (photo: LLZ/Patrick Kolm)

Dr. Ilkhom Soliev was honored with the "@ward" for multimedia-based courses at Martin Luther University in 2019 for his master's course "Methods for Institutional Analysis and Policy Evaluation". In his lecture Mr. Soliev combines semester-related quizzes on the ILIAS platform with multimedia components. Students rated the resulting individual possibilities for learning social science methods as outstanding. This prize was awarded at MLU for the 6th time. Congratulations!

Chapter on “Pseudo-Commons” now open access

The Chapter on “Pseudo-Commons” by Prof. Theesfeld (2019) in the Routledge Handbook of the Study of the Commons available as open access. https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Handbook-of-the-Study-of-the-Commons-1st-Edition/Hudson-Rosenbloom-Cole/p/book/9781138060906

In the 50 years since Garret Hardin published his “Tragedy of the  Commons”, scholarship has revealed what Hardin did not recognize: that a  wide range of shared agricultural resources can be sustainably managed  through commons governance approaches. Yet, there are common-

property regimes that only exist on paper, or set up intentionally to profit individuals. We find these pseudo-commons increasingly in post-socialist  countries. Thus, Theesfeld explores here what the particularities of  natural resource management in the history of socialist countries are  that paved the way for pseudo-implementation or pseudo-collective action property regimes in contemporary post-socialist  countries. Moreover, what are the risks emerging from that for future  commons? Insights from irrigation and forestry show that the socialist  legacy and the prevailing Soviet mentality foster pseudo-commons,  with the tragic result of reinforcing social inequality and destroying  trust in a kind of governance proven to be helpful to rural development.

Free, fair and vital / The Power of the Commons

Organized and funded by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Sachsen-Anhalt in cooperation with the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg and the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC)

Book presentation and discussion with Silke Helfrich

Free, fair and vital | The Power of the Commons (Original in German: Frei, fair und lebendig I Die Macht der Commons)
Book presentation and discussion with Silke Helfrich

What do public forests, software from Linux, community-supported agriculture and apartment-house  syndicates in common? All of this is not organized as private property  but based on collective usage without profit maximization. Because yes,  there is a real alternative to capitalism, to the lost state socialism,  to the overpowering market and state. It is human- and environment-friendly.  It satisfies needs and creates solidarity. It is as old as humankind  and can be found all over the globe: The Commons – sometimes also called  “common property”.

In her new book Silke Helfrich further  developed the findings of the Nobel prize winner and researcher of the  Commons Ellinor Ostrom and distinguished multifaceted patterns. After  the book presentation we will start a discussion with the author and the  audience. The main question will be how transformations towards a  lifestyle and an economy that respect the planetary boundaries can  succeed?

Prof. Dr. Insa Theesfeld, President-Elect of  the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) and  Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy at the Martin  Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, will be moderating the discussion.

The book is open-access and you can download an electronic version of it here    or purchase a hard copy.

Wednesday I 15 May 2019 I 7 pm

Literaturhaus im Kunstforum der Saalesparkasse

Bernburger Straße. 8 I Halle (Saale)

Entrance is free

Theesfeld new president-elect IASC

Prof. Theesfeld of the MLU has been elected as the new President of the International Association  for the Study of the Commons (IASC). She will start this 6-year term first as President-Elect on January 15, 2019.

Prof. Elinor Ostrom, who, together with Prof. Oliver Williamson, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2009, co-founded the IASC. She strived to learn from successful examples of how communities can self-organize to manage their scarce resources.

The IASC acts worldwide as the leading professional association of  scholars and practitioners concerned with the use and management of  shared resources. These are not only the traditional natural resources  such as pastures, forests and irrigation systems but also those we know  by the term "new commons", such as car-sharing, Wikipedia, freely accessible software, as well as seeds, or  “global commons” such as biodiversity and the deep sea.

Most urgent questions of our society are focused on the issue of  providing such resources. What can be learned from theories of human  behavior to cooperation and the governance of natural resources through  the provision of knowledge, housing, land, water or energy? Where is the  role of state and private sector?

"The special attraction of the IASC is its predominantly  interdisciplinary community, which nevertheless speaks one language and  whose members are always concerned with the solution of specific social  problems!", says Prof. Theesfeld, who starts her duties with great joy  and respect to this international office. The department of Prof.  Theesfeld has been researching the governance of natural resources and  "commons management" for many years.

Read more information about the IASC, its diverse activities across  the globe and various options to be part of the growing community at www   

African delegates discuss land policies at BMEL

Photo: Theesfeld

Together with colleagues from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Prof. Theesfeld discussed on Sept 18^th, 2018 the role of scientific research in the process of designing land policies in Germany. She presented recent research results of the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy. The main focus of the research is whether the density of resident farmers has an impact on the place attachment of rural inhabitants and therewith on social well-being in the countryside. The African delegates from academia and policymaking are on a study tour through Germany organized by the BVVG and GIZ.

New Publikation on property rights

What if informal rules and behavior patterns do not match the formal rules codified in legislation?

We developed a new research approach and were able to actually measure such discrepancies between informal and formal rules in managing agricultural land and water resources.

Read the full publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.03.030   

Urban Gardening serves soical sustainability

Nicole Rogge finished her German-wide survey of urban gardens. Her study shows that community gardens primarily serve the society’s need for social integration and therefore facilitate social sustainability. Interestingly, provision of regional or local food is found to be much less important.

New publication: doi:10.3390/su10041085   

Invitation to the master thesis defense of Mrs. Lisa Herrmann

Would you like to learn more about land rights of Native Americans? Then you are cordially invited to attend the Master thesis defense of Mrs. Lisa Herrmann on the 13th of March from 10 to 11 am at seminar room 3.21 in the Von-Seckendorff-Platz 4. Master defense is public and participation does not require registration.

Prof. Theesfeld joined Central Asian Stakeholders

Within the framework of the ForeCeA research project preparation phase, an interdisciplinary team of German researchers, ranging from Plant ecology, remote sensing to anthropology, engaged in a lively discussion with stakeholders from Central Asia.

At the Goethe University Frankfurt the team elaborated research needs for a more sustainable management and governance of riparian forests along several Central Asian rivers. The Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy will contribute with the analysis of policy, institutional and governance aspects of sustainable natural resource management.

New research on natural resource governance with IAMO and CAREC

On February 10, 2018 Dr. Soliev met with IAMO and  CAREC, our partners within the newly approved SUSADICA project on  sustainable agriculture in Central Asia. Some further collaboration  options such as partnership within ForeCeA project (BMBF) to conserve  riparian forests and possible involvement of CAREC in the activities of  IASC Europe on commons research in the long run were discussed.

Students rescue the Aral Sea

With a simulation game to save the Aral Sea, students took over the role of international negotiators. Country delegations, the World Bank and environmental experts had prepared their arguments and characters and met each other. They were assisted by a student moderator to work out common strategies. Several negotiations brought us an exciting afternoon in the Water Governance master module.

Theesfeld appointed as Regional IASC Coordinator

The IASC is happy to announce that several members of the @IASC.Commons will act as Regional Coordinator for the IASC, enabling the IASC to  strengthen the bonds with regional developments and organizations. For  Europe, IASC Council Member Insa Theesfeld, Professor at  the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg will act as  Regional Coordinator. See more at: https://www.iasc-commons.org/iasc-regional-europe/    

Dr. Ilkhom Soliev took part in TU Berlin’ graduation ceremony

On 15 December 2017, an academic graduation ceremony took place for  graduates who defended their Doctoral (PhD) and Postdoctoral  (Habilitation) degrees at TU Berlin in 2016 and 2017. Our colleague Dr.  Ilkhom Soliev attended the event where TU-President Prof. Dr. Christian  Thomsen awarded his Doctoral degree in Economics (Dr. rer. oec.). Dr.  Soliev’s advisor at TU during 2012-2016, Prof. Dr. Volkmar Hartje  (pictured with Dr. Soliev), whose initiative started the tradition of  graduation ceremonies at TU, was also an honored guest of the event.

AGRITIP Stakeholder Meeting

More than 20 participants from agricultural enterprises, administration and science met on 23 November 2017 at the Tourist Information Center in Prieros, Dahme-Heideseen Municipality, to discuss the research concept of AGRITIP. On the part of the Chair of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Policy, Frauke Pirscher participated in the meeting.

Silke Helfrich Guest Lecture

Silke Helfrich, given her keynote at the IASC European conference Commons in a "Glocal" World: Global Connections and Local Responses, 2016 in Bern

Conmons activist, author and founder of the  „Commons Strategies Group“ Silke Helfrich will give a lecture in the  Module “Gemeingütermanagement”.

28th November 2017 8:15 a.m. , von-Danckelmann-Platz 3 SR 1.09, Weinberg Campus

Topics to be discussed will be: fainating examples of commons  management. What does communing mean and why do some resources even  increase if we share them.

More discussion with Silke on her blog: https://commons.blog/    

All interested students are welcome- please inform us with a short email to the department of your intention to participate: anja.redlich@landw.uni-halle.de

Excursion with water governance students to the waste water treatment plant North

For a successful and sustainable governance system of natural resources we also need to consider the technical requirements of the given infrastructure. Thus, we were curious to get some insights from the wastewater treatment plant in Halle North.

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