This subfield consists of researchers who consider the soil (and its resources) as a limiting factor for both human well-being and economic development. The field of interest of the persons involved reaches from a monitoring of the condition of resources (reserves, precarious and strategical areas) to an analysis of the relationship between the condition of resources (global and concerning the Upper Rhine region) and an existing demand (including the demand for shelter & protection), as well as possible conflicts which arise from identified tensions within this relationship, to the development of scenarios for a societal transformation towards a sustainable development (under consideration of the outlined conflicts).
The following researchers are interested in this subfield: