Innovating for our planet’s health

The new Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems (LCSES) strives to grow into an internationally recognised research hub for a more sustainable and equitable world. Our researchers will address critical environmental challenges and guide sustainable resource management and public policy. As an interdisciplinary centre, LCSES will bring together experts from various fields, including biodiversity research, global food security, one health, and the governance of common goods.

About LCSES

The health of our planet is under threat. Humanity will be confronted with never-experienced environmental conditions such as global warming and loss of biodiversity. On the contrary, in the recent decade of the so-called Anthropocene, humanity is on a positive trajectory: poverty and child mortality went down, literacy, access to information technologies, production of renewable energy and life expectancy increased. Against this background, how can societies utilise these positive developments to deal with degrading environmental conditions, the climate and biodiversity crises, and how can an economy further develop without overusing the Earth’s resources?

The treatment for curation is sustainable development: a fair distribution of resources to everybody, sustaining life on earth and human well-being for current and future generations. However, we cannot cure a disease with the same mechanisms that generated the situation. Our beliefs that technology will save us and that humans will adapt to any changes are questionable. Effective measures for sustainable development should be grounded on new narratives based on new theories to understand what works in what kind of society.

Consequently, the Luxembourg Centre for Socio-Environmental Systems (LCSES) strives to grow into an internationally recognised research hub for a sustainable and equitable world. Our goal is to help societies to transition to environmentally friendly and just conditions. At the core is the recognition that global environmental disruptions such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion are closely linked with societal systems. To address these complex issues, we take a systemic approach and study the interconnectedness of human activities and the environment. Our mission is to develop sustainable, socially just, and environmentally friendly solutions by bridging disciplines and fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and society.

Impact through interdisciplinarity

LCSES integrates knowledge from both the natural and social sciences, including environmental science, biodiversity research, resource economics, sociology, philosophy, psychology and policy studies. This systemic approach enables the development of innovative models and strategies.

LCSES will use advanced methods like data science, modelling, simulation, and artificial intelligence to combine existing data, test models against different cultural backgrounds and conduct innovative research in environmental science and sustainability.

By collaborating with policymakers, NGOs, and the private sector, LCSES will ensure its research informs and guides real-world decision-making. The centre strives to make its scientific findings accessible to a broader audience and to foster the public dialogue.

People

‟ Measures for sustainable development emerge from novel narratives grounded on the most up-to-date theories and tailored to environmental conditions and societal needs”

Prof. Dr Ralf Seppelt

Research topics

LCSES’s research agenda focuses on the following key areas and research questions:

• Global Environmental Commons

  What are the economics of renewable resource use, climate change, and biodiversity? How can we manage common goods like air or water sustainably?

• Governing Global Commons

  What are the drivers of global and regional governance systems? How can political decisions be supported that will need to cut the rights of the present generation to allow for the freedom of future generations? Does Nature’s rights-based legislation provide a substantial addition to human rights?

• Biodiversity and Renewable Resource Management

  How do the complex feedbacks between human activities and biodiversity influence ecosystem services, such as food production and climate regulation?

• Global Food Security and Global Health

  How can we ensure a fair distribution of food and improve health by addressing the links between environmental degradation and emerging diseases?

• Climate change, extreme events and energy systems

  Which climate extremes are to be expected where with which environmental, societal and economic risks? How can conflicts between energy systems and other demands for land such as climate mitigation, food production, and nature conservation be resolved?

Organisation

LCSES aims to grow to around 150 employees within a ten-year period. In addition to basic and applied research, its core tasks will include academic education, knowledge and technology transfer. Its organisation is based on:

• Research units focused on key topics, supported by data scientists, high-performance computing and AI tools to enable cutting-edge research.
• Environmental challenges require diverse perspectives. LCSES implements interdisciplinary research through a synthesis workshop programme facilitating scientific collaborations between researchers from across disciplines and the globe.
• A vibrant PhD programme attracting students worldwide, especially from the Global South.
• Fellows and Scientists-in-Residence, facilitating the exchange of ideas and fostering innovation.
• A science media and policy synthesis centre ensure that research findings are translated into actionable insights for policymakers and communicated effectively to the public.