Nica Claudia Caló
Researcher - Workpackage Leader
Researcher specializing in sustainable development, transformative change, and the interactions between social and ecological systems. With a transdisciplinary background in social sciences, research, and policy analysis, the work bridges disciplines and scales.
As a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Geosciences and Geography, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), current research examines socio-ecological planning policies and strategies at international and regional levels, promotes innovative governance through co-design and participation, and analyzes ecosystem services in urban and peri-urban landscapes and their contributions to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Christine Fürst
Professor - Workpackage Leader
Professor of Sustainable Landscape Development at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and Vice-Rector for Research, Internationalization, and Transfer. Research focuses on land-use planning support, regional planning, and evaluating how planning alternatives affect ecosystem services. Also investigates methods to translate biodiversity assets into economic values and has served as a national expert for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Since 2005, co-developer of the “GISCAME” software with PiSolution, a participatory scenario platform used to simulate and assess the effects of land-use and management changes on ecosystem services and landscape structures—widely applied in PhD research.As head of the Department of Sustainable Landscape Development (NALA) at the Institute for Geosciences and Geography, currently engaged in projects on regional and participatory planning, socio-ecological and landscape modelling, transboundary landscape governance, and sustainable urban peripheries. The department maintains strong ties with the European Land-Use Institute and the International Association for Landscape Ecology, forming part of a broad international research network.
Jonas Hirdes
Research Assistant
“Agricultural scientist (M.Sc.) with the focus on agricultural land use. Research focus on sustainable land use which is appropriate for all actors and demands.
Research assistant and doctoral student at the professorship Sustainable Landscape Development at the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg.”