The Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies was founded in 2009 for the purpose of gathering all relevant forms of knowledge from science, society and politics in order to initiate and support a transformation towards a sustainable development that is grounded in scientific research.
Currently, around 100 researchers from over 30 countries are working at the institute on projects that span the humanities and the natural and social science. Our status as an Institute for Advanced Studies means that international researchers at the IASS can pursue interdisciplinary research using innovative methods to find new and actionable solutions to urgent global sustainability questions.
Our research follows a transdisciplinary approach. This means that the IASS actively includes societal stakeholders in the research and peer-review processes, in order to jointly find solutions that help us initiate, support and scientifically accompany the transformation to sustainable development. The IASS does not merely work to create the knowledge needed for action; it also discusses its findings with representatives of politics, industry and civil society and furthers the transformation process through this kind of consultation. Our mission is to develop transformative knowledge, which is needed to pave the way towards sustainable societies.
ECRA - European Cement Research Academy
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The European Cement Research Academy was founded in 2003 as a platform to enable the European cement industry to support and undertake research activities within the context of the production of cement and its application in concrete. ECRA's mission is to advance innovation in the field of sustainable development and to communicate the latest knowledge and research findings in cement and concrete technology.
With a membership of over 45 leading cement producers and technology providers worldwide, ECRA is regarded as a research body with a high level of competence and has been researching in the field of carbon capture since 2007,with a strong focus on oxyfuel technology.
ECRA lays great emphasis on the global perspective of its research and on sustainability. This implies that not only CO₂ emissions as such, but also the huge energy demands for operating CCS plants are taken into account. It is already clear that capturing CO₂ in cement plants is technically feasible. The question of what to do with the captured CO₂, however, remains. ECRA’s current main research focus is therefore to highlight the topic of CO₂ infrastructure, which is fundamental in order to enable captured CO₂ to be safely transported from its source to suitable storage sites or utilisation plants.
Volker Hoenig