From environmental research to environmental design

Environmental research carried out exclusively in the laboratory does not contribute effectively to the solution of socially relevant problems. Reliable knowledge is best developed by carefully observing the effects of interventions. In this way, unexpected events can be utilised to further develop existing knowledge and to fill knowledge gaps. At the same time, it is essential to take the interests of stakeholders into account. These requirements can neither be met by purely academic environmental research, nor by an unreflected implementation of measures. To solve environmental problems, it is essential to develop new forms of environmental design that are based upon a tight connection between the application of knowledge and the production of new knowledge. Instead of a distinction between the implementation of measures on the one hand and basic research on the other, we need new institutions that are responsible for combining both.