7th Research Workshop of the WiSo Faculty – BESST focuses on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems [20.11.25]
The Business, Economics, and Social Sciences retreaT (BESST) on Monday, November 17, 2025, was the seventh research workshop since this series began in the winter semester of 2022/23.
Source: WiSo Faculty | University of Hohenheim
The focus topic, “Sustainable Agri-Food Systems”, is this time directly related to the planned Agri-Food-Health Systems Research Hub at the University of Hohenheim. This is based on an initiative by the German Council of Science and Humanities, which aims to pool existing scientific expertise and establish strategic research hubs throughout Germany to strengthen food security and the resilience of food systems.
The purpose of addressing this topic within the framework of BESST was therefore to stimulate exchange from an economics and social science perspective and to identify research approaches that can support the transformation of agricultural and/or food systems.
Source: WiSo Faculty
University of Hohenheim
In seven exciting presentations, the participants shared their experiences and projects as well as ideas for future projects:
- Hype or Accelerator of Sustainable Dietary Transformation? Evaluating Global Land Use and Spillovers of Diet Shifts from Animal Products to Plant-Based Alternatives (Prof. Dr. Franziska Schünemann & Amelia Espey)
- Consumer Research for Healthy and Sustainable Food Choices: Experiences with Interdisciplinary Collaboration in EU Projects (Prof. Dr. Verena Hüttl-Maack)
- Science and Crisis Communication in Agri-Food Systems - Building Resilience in a State of Continuous Crises (Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schweiger & Leon Lorek)
- Work, Digitalization, and Sustainability - Investigating the Twin Transformation in Practice (Prof. Dr. Caroline Ruiner & Ronny Ehlen)
- Hybrid Intelligence along Agri-Food Value Chains (Prof. Dr. Henner Gimpel)
- The Psychology of Agri-Food Systems (Prof. Dr. Siegmar Otto, Johanna Schaal & Olga Huerta-Salinas)
The workshop program also included follow-up discussions on the presentations, which were used for vivid exchanges. At the end of the day, Prof. Dr. Henner Gimpel moderated a promising synthesis and concluding discussion with all participants, in which perspectives on the overarching topic of “Sustainable Agri-Food Systems” were gathered and shared themes and links were identified.
Contact: Head of Research and Knowledge Transfer | M.Sc. Tim Boissinot
Source: WiSo Faculty
University of Hohenheim
Source: WiSo Faculty
University of Hohenheim
