Karlsruhe Transformation Center for Sustainability and Cultural Change

The Karlsruhe Transformation Center for Sustainability and Cultural Change (KAT) combines research, education, consulting and process support. It designs, researches and accompanies your development towards a culture of sustainability. The goal is to build bridges together to overcome social boundaries, individual interests and outdated structures.

Leaving the old behind and daring the new, for a future worth living in.

Building on the experience, expertise and structures of the real-world lab Quartier Zukunft - Labor Stadt (District Future - Urban Lab) launched in 2012, the Karlsruhe Transformation Center is one of the first of its kind in the world. It operates at the interface of science and society and participatively develops and communicates knowledge and expertise for social change. The Karlsruhe Transformation Center operates a real-world lab as well as various research and transformation projects. In addition, it advises municipalities, companies and organizations and accompanies them into a sustainable future. The institutional background of the KAT is the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

You can find out more about the KAT in the brochure or here as a short-description.

Broschüre des Karlsruhe Transformation Centers für Nachhaltigkeit und Kulturwandel.

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News

Arbeiten mit einem LKW in einer Grünlandschft.

Die Zukunft im Fluss

Gespräch mit Auenökologe Dr. Christian Damm

Fließgewässer und Feuchtgebiete schaffen wichtige Lebensräume für viele Tier- und Pflanzenarten. Zudem filtern Auen das Grund- und Oberflächenwasser, halten es in der Landschaft und sind als Rückhalteräume essentiell für den Hochwasserschutz.

Zur Story

Detailansicht des Reichstagsgebäudes in Berlin mit der Inschrift „Dem deutschen Volke“ und Flaggen.

Hearing on the Draft „Federal Real-World Labs Testing Act"

Members of parliament and experts held a hearing on the draft bill on “Improving the Framework Conditions for Testing Innovations in Real-World Labs and Promoting Regulatory Learning” (formerly the “Real-World Labs Act”). Oliver Parodi from the KAT was also heard in Berlin.

Events

IKoNE: Das Integrative Konzept nachhaltiger Entwicklung und sein Potenzial für die Nachhaltigkeitsbildung

July 07, 2026 14:00 - 15:30SPARK, Kaiserstraße 24, 76131 Karlsruhe

Vortrag und Diskussion

Jürgen Kopfmüller (ITAS) stellt das Integrative Konzept nachhaltiger Entwicklung (IKoNE) vor, das Anfang der 2000er Jahre als wissenschaftlich fundiertes Nachhaltigkeitskonzept und Gegenentwurf zu anderen damals bestehenden Konzepten entwickelt wurde. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die Motivation, Grundidee und Architektur von IKoNE, seine Positionierung in zentralen Kontroversen der konzeptionellen Nachhaltigkeitsdebatte, ein Vergleich mit den SDGs sowie einige grundlegende Aspekte für valide Nachhaltigkeitsanalysen und -bewertungen.

Anna König und Volker Stelzer (ITAS/KAT) geben kurze Einblicke in die praktische Anwendung des Konzepts: Vorgestellt werden ein auf IKoNE basierendes Tool zur Nachhaltigkeitsbeurteilung kommunaler Maßnahmen sowie ein Best-Practice-Seminar, das die Anwendung von IKoNE in der Hochschullehre veranschaulicht.

Eine Online-Teilnahme ist möglich. Um Anmeldung wird gebeten an: sophie.fribus9@kit.edu

Jürgen Kopfmüller, Anna König, Volker Stelzer

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Insights and outlooks

Real-world labs make you fit for the future

The Karlsruhe Transformation Center runs the real-world lab "District Future" in Karlsruhe's Oststadt district. Together with the residents, District Future wants to try out the good and sustainable life of today and tomorrow. The aim is not to rebuild the existing neighbourhood on a large scale, but to carefully transform it in collaboration with citizens, academia, politics and the private sector.

Thumbnail of the video — Video about Quartier Zukunft and
its research work in the real laboratory.
The recordings were made as part of the
Joachim Reutter Award ceremony
for social innovation in October 2021.
(language: German, length: 3:14 min.)

The Karlsruhe Transformation Centre is also home to other research and real-world laboratory projects in the field of sustainable development. They deal with topics such as climate-friendly nutrition, sustainable construction and car-free cities.

Sustainability to join in

The "Quartier Zukunft - Labor Stadt" is a real-world lab in Karlsruhe's Oststadt district. As a contact point for the population, for politics and science, it investigates the question: How can we live well in the city today and tomorrow, while taking care of our fellow human beings, the environment and posterity?

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What is a real-world lab?

A real-world lab is a transdisciplinary research and development facility. Science and society work together on sustainable solutions. This video from "Quartier Zukunft" shows exactly how to move from knowledge to action (in German).

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Real stories from real-world lab research

How do you do research in a real-world lab? The podcast "Labor Zukunft - Forschung ohne Kittel" (Future Lab - Research without a Coat) provides insights into the research work of a real-world lab. Using practical examples and real projects, the podcast illustrates how easy it is to work for a sustainable future (in German).

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Contact

Do you have any questions? Contact us, we will be happy to advise you.

Here you can subscribe to our newsletters (in German). With our newsletters you are always well informed about our activities and projects.