Project consortium

Dr. Dagmara Weckowska, Freie Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Peter H. Feindt, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Cornelia Rauh, Technische Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Dr. Martina Schäfer, Technische Universität Berlin
Charlotte Schüßler, Technische Universität Berlin

Cooperation partners from application submission

Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (DLG)
Die Gemeinschaft zur Förderung von Pflanzeninnovation (GFPi)
Good Food Institute

In light of climate change and limited resources, providing sufficient protein for a growing global population while reducing the negative environmental, social, and health impacts of animal protein production requires urgent transformative changes, commonly referred to as the “protein transition.” Numerous technological, social, and institutional innovations are currently being pursued to transform or replace the prevailing forms of protein production. However, the contribution of these innovations to inclusive, health-promoting, and environmentally sustainable food systems is often unclear or controversial. Concerns have been raised, for example, about the footprint of alternative proteins (i.e., proteins that can serve as alternatives to animal-based proteins), the health impacts of highly processed food components, and the potential reinforcement of unequal power structures in the food system. There is therefore an urgent need to initiate a comprehensive discussion on responsible innovation in the field of protein transition, to develop transparent criteria, and to begin a comprehensive assessment of the diverse innovations in this area.

The overall objective of the project is to support responsible innovations for the protein transition (RI-ProT). The RI-ProT project will collaborate with various scientific and non-scientific actors to better understand important ecological, ethical, and equity aspects in the ongoing transformation of protein production by (1) jointly advancing the conceptual understanding of responsible innovation in the context of complex systemic transformations with a focus on the protein transition, (2) developing a novel innovation radar method that enables a comprehensive, transdisciplinary assessment of the impacts of innovations (3) gaining new insights into the potential of different innovative solutions for providing protein for all, and (4) jointly developing proposals for strategies, practices, and policies to promote a just protein transformation.

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