Susanne Langsdorf

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Susanne Langsdorf

MA (International Relations)
BA (Political Science, Public Law)

Coordinator Resource Conservation & Circular Economy
Senior Fellow

Team
Topics

Susanne Langsdorf is a Senior Fellow at Ecologic Institute. She works primarily on projects related to resource policy and environmental governance, as well as urbanization and transition processes. Regionally, her work focuses on China and Europe, and she coordinates Ecologic Institute's China related activities. Susanne Langsdorf works in German, English and Spanish, furthermore she has basic knowledge of Chinese.

Her research involves analyzing policies concerned with the decoupling of resource use and economic growth, evaluating resource policy and fostering sustainable resource management towards a Circular Economy. In Models, Potentials and Long-Term Scenarios for Resource Efficiency  (SimRess), the project team analyzes the potential effectiveness of policy measures and mixes in the field of resource policy, making use of model simulation. Additionally, she worked on the European research project DYNAMIX, which developed policy mixes for decoupling resource use and economic growth.

Further research foci of Susanne Langsdorf are urbanisation and transition processes towards more sustainable societies. Within Ecologic Institute, she leads the project Transformation to Climate Resilient and Resource – conserving Infrastructures (TRAFIS). In this project Ecologic Institute will implement action research methods in a number of communal and regional case studies, in which the actors aim to couple infrastructures to make them more resource-light and climate-friendly.

Susanne Langsdorf manages the European research project Post-Carbon Cities of Tomorrow (POCACITO) and took part in InContext. POCACITO will develop an evidence‐based 2050 roadmap for EU post‐carbon cities. InContext examined the interplay between structural conditions and internal factors for individual behavior. Additionally, Susanne Langsdorf was the project coordinator of the oral history project From 'the Blue Sky above the Ruhr' to the 'Energiewende,' which shed light on the development of environmental policy research in Germany.

Before joining Ecologic Institute, Susanne Langsdorf worked as a project manager for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation's Shanghai office and was responsible for the office's environmental and energy work. As a freelancer, she organised an EU-China Climate Dialogue for The Nature Conservancy of Europe and wrote the report A European Union for Renewable Energy for the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

For her Master's degree in International Relations, Susanne Langsdorf studied at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and the University of Potsdam (Germany), concentrating on energy and security policy with a regional focus on China. Her Bachelor’s degree in political science and public law was obtained at the University of Rostock and the Universidad de Granada (Spain).

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Recent content by Susanne Langsdorf

Publication:Case Study
 
Cover of the publication "Europäische Ressourcensouveränität. Seltene Erden und das Potenzial der Kreislaufwirtschaft: Eine Fallstudie"
In light of current experiences in energy markets, Western democracies, and the EU in particular, are exploring new supply chains and strategies to reduce their raw material dependence on China. The findings presented here by the authors of this study provide an overview of the main options that the EU can currently use to counter the pressures of growing dependencies. This study discusses some positive examples of feasible circular approaches that aim to achieve savings in the use of rare earths.

Europäische Ressourcensouveränität

Seltene Erden und das Potenzial der Kreislaufwirtschaft: Eine Fallstudie

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Publication:Brochure
 
screenshot of Hessen study
This study presents innovative processes and technologies of the circular economy. The case studies come from a range of industries that are of particular importance to Hesse and demonstrate the broad applicability of the technologies presented. The case studies are split into five main groups, each containing a few innovative and sustainable projects by various institutions and firms. They also offer insights into the economic and ecological advantages of the projects and provide the readers with a thorough understanding of the processes.

Kreislaufführung und Sekundärrohstoffe

Praxisbeispiele und Potenziale

Year

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Project
 
Recycling and giving back
In view of a strong waste management sector with good separate waste collection rates and high recycling rates of over 80 %, Germany is generally well positioned to increase the use of recyclates. So far, however, this potential has only been partially exploited. Against this background, Ecologic Institute, together with the Policy Assessment Research Group of the Freie Universität Berlin, identifies and describes barriers to the use of recyclates and policy instruments to overcome these barriers. Options for action are shown on the basis of selected practical examples.

Policy Instruments to Increase the Use of Recycled Materials

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Project
 
In light of recent experiences with supply shortages, Western democracies, and the EU in particular, are exploring new supply chains and strategies to reduce their dependence on third-country imports. Ecologic Institute provided an overview of possible options that the EU can currently use to counter growing dependence. Using a case study on rare earths from China, the focus was particularly on the possible contribution of the circular economy to security of raw material supply.

Raw Material Dependency of the EU from China

A Case Study on Rare Earths and how the Circular Economy Can Help Reducing the EU's Dependency

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Project
 
The project investigates the potential for greenhouse gas savings through resource efficiency and circular economy measures. Ecologic Institute supports the formulation of resource conservation measures as input for the modelling of GHG saving potentials (WP1 led by GWS). Furthermore, Ecologic Institute is responsible for the scientific support of the European Resource Forum in 2022 and 2024 including the development of background papers.

Scientific Accompanying Research on Current Discourses on Resource Conservation

national, European and international level

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Publication:Report
 
Cover of the study "The circular economy and its impact on developing and emerging countries"
This study presents selected (inter)national and regional initiatives for the circular economy, including the European Circular Economy Action Plan and the circular economy in China's 14th Five-Year Plan and shows if and how these strategies take developing and emerging countries into account. Furthermore, the study explores some of the key effects that come with increased circularity. Key topics discussed are the effect on trade in primary raw materials, the shift to bio-based products, a possible reduction in waste exports and knowledge transfer. The report also provides a brief analysis of selected specific measures from the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan of 2020, with a special focus on their potential impact on developing and emerging countries.

The Circular Economy and its Impact on Developing and Emerging Countries

An explorative study

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Publication:Report
 
Cover of the publication "Assessment of resource nexus-related challenges and opportunities in the context of the European Green Deal"
This background report examines European Green Deal policies from a resource nexus perspective, identifying relevant challenges and opportunities associated with particular transition pathways foreseen in the European Green Deal. The background report functions as a supporting document to the EEA briefing on these topics entitled "Applying a 'resource nexus' lens to policy: opportunities for increasing coherence". A brief overview of the European Green Deal as well as the resource nexus is included in this introduction to familiarise all readers with the relevant concepts.

Assessment of Resource Nexus-related Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of the European Green Deal

Background report for the EEA Briefing

Year

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Project
 
Location of Hesse in Germany
In this project, Ecologic Institute reviewed and analyzed 17 inspiring examples of how companies and researchers put the circular economy into practice: from the recycling of construction materials and metals, the improvement of sorting and recycling plastics, to new business models that help turn waste into raw materials or keep materials longer in the loop through services.

Material Cycles in Hesse

Practical examples and potentials

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Project
 
Many strong economies have developed strategies to foster the circular economy. But what do we know about how these plans impact developing and emerging countries? Do the strategies itself take the effects on developing and emerging countries into account? Which risks and opportunities arise from a shift to a circular economy in industrialised countries to developing and emerging countries? This project analysed some of these effects. The project's key recommendations and highlights are published in the project report.

Global Policy Initiatives for the Circular Economy and their Impact on Developing and Emerging Countries

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