September 2009: Is China at the “onset of an organic revolution“, as some observers believe? Undoubtedly, the flood of food certificates creates the impression, that one third of agricultural land is already under eco-food production. And clearly, there is a growing interest in „green“ food by consumers. But not everything which claims to be „organic“ really is. An assessment of the attempts to polish the image of China's agrarian products, by Uwe Hoering. Download (pdf-file 94 kb)

April 2009: In October 2008 the study "Sustainable Germany in a Globalised World" was published just as the full extent of the crisis in global financial markets became apparent. Alarm bells from the economic crisis on the stock market are drowning out the more subtle alarm signals from natur and from people whose lives are worlds apart from any stock exchange. Yet these are indications of a deeper crisis: poverty and hunger around the world, and the destruction of the natural resources on which our lives depend. This 40-page summary condenses the most important issues of a study of over 600 pages.

Compass Bearings for a Course Change, 40 pages: Download (pdf-file 760 kb)

September 2008: The timing has been perfect: In the middle of October, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China approved a reform proposal that will allow farmers to lease or transfer their land rights. Called a „historic“ decision by some observers, the Chinese government announced it as China's contribution to counter the financial crisis and to stabilise the global system by giving a fresh stimulus to economic growth. But the more important driving forces for it are the growing rural-urban inequalities, the widespread protests by farmers about alienation of land by officials and the need to modernise Chinese agriculture.

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