Refine
Year of publication
- 2019 (51) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (51) (remove)
Has Fulltext
- yes (51) (remove)
Keywords
- Nachhaltigkeit (4)
- Sustainability (4)
- Agriculture (3)
- Governance (3)
- Landwirtschaft (3)
- Steuerungsprozesse (3)
- Ethiopia (2)
- Participation (2)
- Äthiopien (2)
- Alcohol Abuse (1)
- Alcohol Consumption (1)
- Alkoholkonsum (1)
- Alkoholmißbrauch (1)
- Alltagsmobilität (1)
- Biodiversity (1)
- Biodiversität (1)
- Biografieforschung (1)
- Biographical Research (1)
- Biosphere Reserve (1)
- Biospärenreservat (1)
- China (1)
- Climate Change (1)
- Collaborative Initiative (1)
- Compensation (1)
- Computerspiel (1)
- Consumer Behaviour (1)
- Cultural Policy (1)
- Day Care Centre (1)
- Depression (1)
- Digital Learning (1)
- Digitales Lernen (1)
- E-Learning (1)
- Ecuador (1)
- Educator (1)
- Eingliederungshilfe (1)
- Energiepolitik (1)
- Energy Policy (1)
- Entrepreneurship (1)
- Ernährungslage (1)
- European Union (1)
- Europäische Union (1)
- Everyday Mobility (1)
- Fachberatung (1)
- Food Security (1)
- Fremdsprachenlernen (1)
- Gamification (1)
- Gamifizierung (1)
- Gender Roles (1)
- Geschlechterrollen (1)
- Gesetzgebung (1)
- Gesundheit (1)
- Gewässerbelastung (1)
- Health (1)
- Immigrant (1)
- Inclusion (1)
- Inklusion (1)
- Integration (1)
- Integration Policy (1)
- Integrationspolitik (1)
- Intercultural Education (1)
- Interkulturelle Erziehung (1)
- Internationaler Vergleich (1)
- Internet (1)
- Kindertagesstätte (1)
- Kleinbauer (1)
- Klimawandel (1)
- Kollaborative Initiative (1)
- Konsumentenverhalten (1)
- Kulturpolitik (1)
- Lebensunterhalt (1)
- Legislation (1)
- Lehrkräfte (1)
- Lernsoftware (1)
- Ländliche Räume (1)
- Menschenhandel (1)
- Migrationshintergrund (1)
- Mobilität (1)
- Mobilitätsverhalten (1)
- Music Promotion (1)
- Musikförderung (1)
- Partizipation (1)
- Peru (1)
- Poland (1)
- Polen (1)
- Product Marketing (1)
- Produktmarketing (1)
- Pädagogisches Personal (1)
- Reiseveranstalter (1)
- Rural Areas (1)
- Space Policy (1)
- Specialist Advisor (1)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (1)
- Subsaharisches Afrika (1)
- Teacher (1)
- Teilhabe (1)
- Tourism (1)
- Tourismus (1)
- Transition Management (1)
- Transitionsmanagement (1)
- Transport (1)
- Travel Behaviour (1)
- Unternehmertum (1)
- Vergütung (1)
- Verkehr (1)
- Verwaltung (1)
- Vorstand (1)
- Wasserqualität (1)
- Wasserverschmutzung (1)
- Water Pollution (1)
- Water Quality (1)
- Weltraumpolitik (1)
- Werbewirkung (1)
Institute
- Fakultät Nachhaltigkeit (22)
- Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften (14)
- Fakultät Bildung (11)
- Institut für Ökologie (IE) (7)
- Institut für Management, Accounting & Finance (IMAF) (4)
- Institut für Psychologie (IFP) (4)
- Fakultät Kulturwissenschaften (3)
- Institut für Ethik und Transdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung (IETSR) (3)
- Institut für Nachhaltigkeitssteuerung (INSUGO) (3)
- Institut für Bildungswissenschaft (IBIWI) (2)
- Institut für Experimentelle Wirtschaftspsychologie (Lünelab) (2)
- Institut für Politikwissenschaft (IPW) (2)
- Institut für Sozialarbeit und Sozialpädagogik (IFSP) (2)
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM) (1)
- Institut für Bank-, Finanz und Gründungsmanagement (IBFG) (1)
- Institut für Kunst, Musik und ihre Vermittlung (IKMV) (1)
- Institut für Management und Organisation (IMO) (1)
- Institut für Produkt und Prozessinnovation (PPI) (1)
- Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre (IVWL) (1)
- Institute of English Studies (IES) (1)
Überzeugungen angehender Lehrkräfte zu sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität in Schule und Unterricht
(2019)
Überzeugungen gelten als eines der bedeutsamsten Konstrukte der empirischen Bildungsforschung und als grundlegender Bestandteil der professionellen Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Professionelle Kompetenz wird derzeit vor allem vor dem Hintergrund aktueller Herausforderungen der Lehrkräftebildung diskutiert, zu denen unter anderem der Umgang mit sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität zählt. Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation untersucht die Überzeugungen angehender Lehrkräfte hinsichtlich sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität in Schule und Unterricht anhand der folgenden Forschungsanliegen, die in jeweils einer Publikation umgesetzt wurden: 1. Ableitung eines theoretischen Modells zu den professionellen Überzeugungen von Lehrkräften hinsichtlich sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität. 2. Entwicklung eines Instruments zur empirischen Erfassung der professionellen Überzeugungen angehender Lehrkräfte zu sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität. 3. Untersuchung der Veränderbarkeit von professionellen Überzeugungen angehender Lehrkräfte zu sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität. Das Rahmenpapier bettet die Publikationen in einen übergeordneten theoretischen Kontext ein und diskutiert übergreifend die Frage, welche Beiträge die theoretische Konzeptualisierung und empirische Erfassung des Konstrukts der Überzeugungen hinsichtlich sprachlich-kultureller Heterogenität für die Lehrkräftebildung leisten können. Das Rahmenpapier schließt mit Empfehlungen für Forschung und Lehrkräftebildung.
Die Kulturlandschaft im Alpenraum war in den letzten Jahrzehnten einem besonders starken Strukturwandel ausgesetzt. Als Region mit einem hohen Anteil an Grenzertragsstandorten lassen sich hier zwei gegenläufige Entwicklungen feststellen: zum einen findet eine Intensivierung der Landnutzung in Bereichen mit guter Zugänglichkeit und maschineller Nutzbarkeit statt, zum anderen kommt es häufig zu einem Rückgang der Nutzungsintensität oder Nutzungsaufgabe in Bereichen, in denen die landwirtschaftliche Bearbeitung schwierig ist. Die Auswirkungen auf die Biodiversität werden bei beiden Entwicklungen kritisch gesehen. Allerdings mangelt es an detaillierten Untersuchungen. Im Rahmen eines sechsjährigen Forschungsvorhabens wurden auf einer Weidefläche in den Allgäuer Alpen Laufkäfer, Spinnen und Vegetation untersucht. Auf der Fläche fand zu Beginn der Untersuchung eine Nutzungsänderung statt: ein großer Teil der vormals intensiv von Schafen beweideten Fläche wurde auf extensive Rinderbeweidung umgestellt. Kleine Teilflächen wurden aus der Nutzung genommen. Der Fokus dieser Dissertation liegt in den Untersuchungen der Laufkäfer. Hier wurde zunächst ein Erfassungsschema für Laufkäfer in schwer erreichbaren Gebieten der Alpen erarbeitet, um intensive und mehrjährige Untersuchungen logistisch durchführen zu können. Dabei wurden die Ergebnisse der Laufkäfererfassung über die gesamte Vegetationsperiode mit den Ergebnissen einer reduzierten Erhebung verglichen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine Beprobung über jeweils zwei Wochen Anfang Juni und Anfang Juli den gesamten Datensatz hinreichend repräsentiert. Des Weiteren wurde untersucht, ob die Vegetation als Surrogat für die beiden untersuchten Arthropodengruppen (Spinnentiere und Laufkäfer) dienen kann, d.h. die Ergebnisse der Vegetation auf die anderen Artengruppen übertragbar ist. Dies wurde sowohl auf Ebene der Artzusammensetzung als auch des Artenreichtums für die drei Taxa geprüft. Zudem wurde überprüft, ob die unter vegetationskundlichen Aspekten abgegrenzten geschützten Lebensraumtypen auch besonders wertvolle Habitate für die Arthropodengruppen darstellen. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen, dass eine ausreichende Kongruenz nicht gegeben und damit die Übertragbarkeit von Ergebnissen bei der Vegetation auf die untersuchten Arthropodengruppen in den Gebirgslebensräumen nicht gewährleistet ist. Dies hat eine hohe praktische Relevanz, da im Rahmen von Managementplanungen für die FFH-Richtlinie als auch bei der Bayerischen Alpenbiotopkartierung überwiegend ein starker Fokus auf vegetationskundlichen Aspekten liegt und insbesondere artenreiche Arthropodengruppen meist nicht betrachtet werden. Abschließend wurde mittels gemischter Modelle (mixed effects models) untersucht, welche Veränderungen bei den Laufkäfern nach der Nutzungsänderung im Untersuchungsgebiet auftraten. Sämtliche errechneten Modelle zeigten Veränderungen der abhängigen Variablen über die Zeit: nach Aufgabe der intensiven Schafbeweidung nahmen die Arten- und Individuenzahlen sowie die Biomasse an Laufkäfern zu. Die Tiere wurden durchschnittlich größer und es traten mehr herbivore Laufkäfer auf. Auch konnten unterschiedliche Entwicklungen zwischen den Standorten beobachtet werden. Die beobachteten Veränderungen werden im Artikel detailliert diskutiert. Die meisten Veränderungen, insbesondere die Zunahme der Artenzahlen sowie der durchschnittlichen Körpergröße, deuten auf eine Erholung der Laufkäferfauna von der intensiven Schafbeweidung hin. Die Nutzungsumstellung und die aktuell praktizierte extensive Rinderbeweidung werden im Gebiet naturschutzfachlich positiv bewertet. Die Arbeit liefert eine gute Vorlage und fundierte Begründung, gerade auch im Alpenraum verstärkt Laufkäfer bei der Beantwortung naturschutzfachlicher Fragestellungen einzubinden.
Die außerfamiliäre Kinderbetreuung ist das größte Arbeits- und Handlungsfeld der Sozialen Arbeit. Kein Arbeitsfeld entwickelt sich so rasant wie die Kindertagesbetreuung. An dem Ausbau und der Weiterentwicklung von Kindereinrichtungen sind seit Jahrzehnten Fachberater beteiligt. Seit der Einführung des SGB VIII (1990) soll für die Mitarbeiter in der Kinderhilfe und Jugendhilfe "Praxisberatung" zur Verfügung stehen. In Westdeutschland hatte sich der Begriff der Fachberatung in den Jahrzehnten zuvor etabliert. Die bislang vorliegende Forschung zeichnete nach, welche Aufgaben Fachberater übernehmen oder ihnen zugeschrieben werden. Eine Forschungslücke besteht darüber, wie Fachberater ihr professionelles Handeln gestalten. In dieser Studie wird daher der Frage nach der Entstehung von Fachberatung und der Gestaltung des Fachberatungshandelns nachgegangen. Anhand des Einzelfalls eines kommunalen Fachberaters im ländlichen Raum Niedersachsen wird mit der Biografieforschungsmethode "Erlebte und erzählte Geschichte" nach Rosenthal eine Rekonstruktion erstellt und generelle Entwicklungslinien nachgezeichnet. Die beschriebenen Phänomene werden mit dem Fokus auf Konstitution und Konstruktion von Fachberatung als sozialer Frauenberuf und Gestaltung des professionellen Handelns theoriegebunden interpretiert. Aus den rekonstruierten Handlungsdimensionen wird ein Analysemodell zur Reflexion der Didaktik erarbeitet. Die Argumentation eines notwendigen "Arbeitsprogrammes" für Fachberater zur Professionalisierung, Verantwortung der Wissenschaft und Forschungsdesideraten bilden den vorübergehenden Schlusspunkt dieser Studie verbunden mit dem Anspruch, diese in Zukunft fachpolitisch und wissenschaftlich weiterzuverfolgen.
The smallholder-dominated landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia support a unique biodiversity with great importance to local livelihoods and high global conservation value. These landscapes, however, are severely threatened by deforestation, forest degradation and the adverse effects of farmland management regimes. These changes have fundamentally altered the structure of the landscapes and threaten their biodiversity and ecosystem services. Managing biodiversity and related services in such rapidly changing landscapes requires a thorough understanding of the effects of land use change and the reliance of local communities on biodiversity. This dissertation examines woody plant biodiversity patterns and services and presents several recommendations regarding biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services in smallholder-dominated landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia. Using a social-ecological systems approach, the author conducted four studies on the complex interactions of local people and woody plant diversity. First, he investigated the effects of human-induced forest degradation on woody plant species. His results suggest that forest biodiversity has been affected by the combined effects of coffee management intensity, landscape context and history at the local and landscape level. Specifically, richness of forest specialist species significantly has decreased with coffee management intensity and in secondary compared to old growth forests, but increased with current distance from forest edge in both primary and secondary forests. These findings highlight the need to maintain undisturbed forest sites to conserve forest biodiversity. Second, the author examined legacy effects of past agricultural land use on woody plant biodiversity. The results show that historical distance seems to be the most important variable affecting woody plant composition and distribution in farmland sections of the landscapes. The author found evidence for immigration credits for generalist and pioneer species but not for extinction debts for forest specialist species which might be rapidly paid off in farmland. The results suggest not only an unrecognized conservation value of old farmland but also a disturbing loss of forest specialist species. To slow this trend, it is necessary to shift to a cultural landscape development approach and to restore forest specialist species in the landscapes. Third, the author evaluated the supply of potential multiple ecosystem services and the relationships between the diversity of woody plant and ecosystem service in the three major land use types, namely forests with and without coffee management and farmland. The results revealed a high multifunctionality of landscapes and showed that ecosystem services significantly increase with woody plant diversity in all types of land use. These findings suggest that the woody plant diversity and multifunctionality in southwestern Ethiopian landscapes has to be maintained. Fourth, the author explored farmers' woody plant use to assess their dependency on and maintenance of woody plants and also considered the influence of property rights and management in this context. He found that local farmers used 95 species for eleven major purposes from all major land uses across the landscapes. He also found that most of the widely used tree species regenerated successfully throughout the landscapes, including in farmland. Local people felt, however, that their property and tree use rights were limited, especially in forests, and that some of the most widely used plant species, including important timber species, appeared to have been overharvested in forests. The results suggest that many species are important for local livelihoods, but a perceived low sense of property rights also seems to adversely affect the management of woody plants, particularly in forests. By focusing on woody plants and their ecosystem services to local people, this dissertation documents a dramatic loss of native forest biodiversity and rapid changes in the cultural landscapes of southwestern Ethiopia. Overall, the findings suggest the need for preservation of intact forest sites and for cultural landscapes development to safeguard biodiversity and multifunctionality of the landscapes in the future. This, in turn, requires holistic and integrated approaches that involve local people and recognize their basic needs of woody plants and their property rights to foster the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Maintaining primary forests in and using cultural landscape approaches to the rapidly changing rural setting of southwestern Ethiopia would also contribute to the global effort to halt biodiversity loss.
Vocational Integration of Refugees - Chances and Challenges of Refugee (Social) Entrepreneurship
(2019)
In recent years, especially since 2015, Germany and other European countries have accepted high numbers of refugees. The social and vocational integration of these refugees and of those yet to come represents a challenge. (Social) entrepreneurship is one means to achieve this goal, to fully tap into the potential of refugees and to give them a chance to make a living in host countries. This dissertation examines the potential of vocational integration of refugees through (social) entrepreneurial activities. It includes a detailed literature review and suggests possible direction in the emerging field of refugee (social) entrepreneurship. This dissertation shows that to foster refugee (social) entrepreneurship, the identification and evaluation of specific and potential needs for support is essential. Incubators in particular have a high potential for supporting refugee entrepreneurs, in part it is possible for them to address some of the challenges faced by this target group, which differ from those of locals or migrant entrepreneurs. More specifically, this dissertation aims to answer two research questions: (1) What are relevant (social) entrepreneurial concepts that can contribute to the vocational integration of refugees? (2) What are the distinct contributions of and challenges faced by refugees when it comes to their vocational integration through (social) entrepreneurial activities? Analyzing select practical cases, this dissertation has several important implications for researchers who seek to bridge the gap between academia and society in the context of refugee entrepreneurship and refugee social entrepreneurship research. The findings presented here are also relevant for practitioners, for example those working at business incubators, who aim to facilitate the vocational and social integration of refugees in general and refugees with entrepreneurial aspirations in particular.
To counteract species loss and preserve the remaining biodiversity, with its important ecosystem functioning and services essential to human well-being, there is an urgent need to develop promising and long-term conservation strategies. In order to achieve these goals, extensive research to gain a better understanding of the general mechanisms underlying community diversity is of greatest importance. Especially, the identification of intrinsic ecological and distributional species traits is receiving increased attention in ecology and conservation biology research. Depending on the expression of their traits, species perform particular ecosystem functions and respond in a specific manner to environmental conditions. Although insects make up the largest part of animal diversity, the majority of studies on extinctions have mainly focused on vertebrates. Among invertebrates either charismatic taxa or those targeted by conservation laws have been investigated until now (e.g. butterflies or saproxylic beetles). Being highly species-rich and trait-diverse, ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) should be even more suitable for conducting trait-based analyses. Thus, using ground beetles as a model taxon, four case studies focusing on the analyses of traits form the basis of this doctoral thesis. The work of this thesis was conducted with the aim of gaining general insights on the influence of species traits on ground beetle community compositions, such as habitat occupancy and species vulnerability to extinction, for instance. An important aspect when investigating species traits is the consideration of confounding factors, such as dependent relations between the different traits. Compiling a large dataset of 555 Central European species, the author identified that dependent relations between the six tested traits of ground beetles (distribution range size, habitat specialization, body size, hind-wing morphology, breeding season and trophic level) are highly common. Across all identified dependent trait relations, the relation between body size and hind wing morphology or range size and hind wing morphology showed the strongest significant dependencies. Since the consideration of trait relations is necessary to provide reliable interpretations, all analyses of this thesis tested several traits simultaneously and considered possible trait interactions. Studies on local communities found specific traits characterizing the local species pools of certain habitat types. Here, the species pools of seven different habitat types (coastal, forest, mountain, open, riparian, wetland and special habitat) were used to determine habitat-specific trait filters. The identified traits, characteristic for certain habitat types, were in most cases in accordance with the previous findings on local communities. Across Germany, the species of frequently disturbed habitat types, namely coastal, riparian and wetland habitats were characterized by small body size, high amount of macroptery, intermediate to high habitat specialization, spring breeding, and predatory feeding behavior. The species of stable habitat types (forest, mountain, and open habitats), however, were found to be generally larger in body size and more frequently breeding in autumn, further displaying greater variations in the other traits. The gained knowledge on the habitat-specific filtering of traits improve our understanding of the organization and assembly of communities, and can thereby help to detect alterations in the habitat-specific species pool due to natural or human-induced environmental changes. Furthermore, traits can provide evidence on species occurrences and vulnerability to extinction. Three case studies of this thesis aimed to gain new insights on this topic, through the investigations on the following research questions: (1) Which traits drive species extinction risks of Central European ground beetle species? (2) How traits influence the species occurrences of 28 forest species within a large area in Central Europe? (3) Whether certain traits are related to long-term population trends of the species pool from an ancient forest in northern Germany? The results indicated, that depending on the habitat type and tested species pool, different traits prove to be good predictors for the vulnerability of species. Nevertheless, across different geographical and taxonomical scales, especially species with small range sizes and high habitat specialization faced a greater risk of extinction. Therefore, the two traits distributional range size and habitat specialization emerge as reliable predictors of ground beetles vulnerability to extinction. Interestingly, body size did not display a consistent response; while increasing body size led to higher extinction risk in riparian, wetland and open habitats and large macropterous species showed higher extinction risks across the entire species pool, smaller species showed long-term population declines in an ancient forest.
Metals fulfill crucial functions in areas as diverse as renewable energy, digitization and life style appliances, mobility, communication, or medicine. In the context of sustainability, achieving a more sustainable metal use means (i) minimizing the adverse effects associated with metal production and use and (ii) sustaining the availability of metals in a way that benefits present and future generations. Urgent need to act to avoid bottlenecks as well as meeting the challenge of possible conflicts of use among those areas of application calls for appropriate strategy making to intervene in the complex field of metal production and use that involves various, often interlinked operating levels, actors, and spatial and temporal scales. This dissertation focuses on strategies as a means to intervene in a system. It pursues the question, which design features could guide future strategy making to foster sustainability along the whole metal life cycle, and especially, how a better understanding of temporalities, i.e. understanding time in a diverse sense, could improve strategy design and help to bridge the assumed "transformation-material gap". This research converges the results from four research studies. A conceptual part explores the role of temporalities for interventions in complex and interlinked systems, which adds to the conceptual basis, on which the empirical part builds up to explore present and future interventions in metal production and use. The research revealed three essential needs that future strategies must tackle: (i) managing the complex interlinkages of processes and activities on various operational levels and spatial and temporal scales, (ii) providing clear guidance concerning the operationalization of sustainability principles, and (iii) keeping activities within the planet’s carrying capacity and embracing constant change as an inherent system characteristic. In response to these needs, the author developed three guidelines with two design features each (one relating to content, and one to the process of formulating and implementing the strategy) to guide future strategy making. The results show that time matters in this respect. If considered in close relation to space and diversely understood in the sense of temporalities, it serves to (i) understand the impact (duration and magnitude) of an intervention, (ii) recognize patterns of change that go beyond establishing linear, one-dimensional connections, and (iii) design interventions in a way that considers the resilience of a system. These findings can contribute to closer considering our understanding of transformation processes towards sustainability in future interventions in metal production and use.
Poor quality of freshwaters is a widespread problem. The concept of complexity is a particularly promising concept to analyse and address this problem, and public policy problems more generally. The main reason is the concept's strength in unifying structural features of problems within a more comprehensive structural approach to political problem-solving. So far, however, these possible benefits remained hidden given the lack of a clear understanding of complexity, ultimately hampering a systematic analysis of the implications of complexity for solutions and governance strategies. This study aims at strengthening the value of the concept of complexity for systematic comparative analyses of water-related problems and public policies in general. To achieve this goal, this work is to specify the concept of complexity as well as the implications of complexity for solutions and governance strategies, both from a theoretical and an empirical point of view. To this end, five main basic approaches are applied, referring to underlying premises, the role of an interdisciplinary approach, the European Water Framework as an empirical reference point, the integration of practical knowledge, and the focus on external validity. This dissertation provides a detailed operationalisation of complexity related to the dimensions of goals, variables, dynamics, interconnections, and informational uncertainty. It also shows that freshwater pollution-related problems in Germany differ along these five complexity dimensions. This applies to 37 types of pollution-related problems and four clusters of problems, which refer here to tame, wicked, system complexity, and uncertainty problems. This dissertation suggests that relations between complexity and policy delivery can be both positive and negative and vary along dimensions of complexity and policy delivery. Regarding the analysed freshwater pollution problems, this work also shows various effects of complexity on policy delivery, both along the 37 types of problems, and along four clusters of wicked problems. This dissertation suggests a differentiated theoretical approach to define governance for complex problem-solving, demonstrating that the role of diverse institutions, actors, and interactions differs for solutions along five key dimensions of complexity and different management strategies that are information gathering, modelling, using decision-support tools, prioritising of measures, conflict solving, deciding under uncertainty, and being adaptive and flexible.
Whereas the extant literature discusses what Sustainability-Oriented Innovations (SOIs) are and why firms develop them, little is known about how they are developed. To enable firms to innovate for sustainability, it is essential to know more about the processes underlying SOI development, which are considered as very difficult, with many firms failing. Drawing on several academic papers and relying on qualitative research methods, the thesis uses the Fireworks model to examine how innovation processes unfold at established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The main contribution of the thesis is to advance the Fireworks model to the context of SOIs unfolding at SMEs. The findings reveal that SOIs unfold in an emergent, somewhat chaotic way, that duration and outcome are uncertain, that the overall journey is composed of multiple intertwined innovation paths, of which several will likely lead to setbacks. To manage this complex process, the thesis suggests to set four management foci: (1) to create a dedicated organizational unit for exploration, (2) to create conditions allowing intelligent learning for efficient exploration, (3) to carry out in-depth investigation of the related technological innovation systems, and (4) to plan carefully the re-integration of the innovation into the core business for commercialization.
This thesis deals with the influence of sustainability communication on the purchase decision of sustainable tourism products involving German specialist tour operators. Sustainability communication is a challenge, because sustainable tourism is an abstract and vague concept which consumers find it difficult to grasp and about which they are sceptical. The service characteristics of tourism products complicate the decision making stage, which is a high-involvement situation of uncertainty to which sustainable product attributes add complexity. As an introduction, an interdisciplinary theory discussion reveals knowledge gaps in terms of the value-belief-norm theory and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The first article, which is the first systematic literature review on the topic, reveals that there is a limited theoretical understanding of sustainability communication, a lack of practical understanding of how to design sustainability messages, and an inadequate set of methodologies for its research. It identifies knowledge gaps concerning: the holistic approach to sustainability communication; its role in the attitude-behaviour gap; an interdisciplinary theoretical understanding focusing on belief-based social psychological theories and theories of persuasion; qualitative methods; and experimental design. The second article investigates the role of sustainability communication in the attitude-behaviour gap, employing the value-belief-norm theory to explain how information is processed by special interest customers. Interview findings show that ineffective sustainability communication is the reason for the gap and that customers unintentionally booked sustainably. The study identifies eight groups of beliefs which explain the processing of sustainability attributes. Sustainability information is effective when it is value-congruent, that is, when customers perceive they can make a difference, they begin to ascribe a responsibility to themselves. The third article investigates how to design an effective sustainability message in tour operator advertising. Drawing on the ELM, the study shows that appeal type does not significantly influence persuasion but the topic presented is important. Cultural sustainability is the sustainability topic that is most persuasive for cultural tourists, while consumer prior knowledge and issue-involvement with the topic promote successful information processing.