Sustainable Products & Material Flows

Dr. Jenny Teufel

Senior Researcher / Head of Subdivision Sustainable Food Systems & Lifestyles

Special Expertise

Main areas of research: Sustainable products and consumption

Topics:

  • Sustainable food systems
  • Sustainable consumption for biodiversity and eco-system services
  • Conceptual development of sustainability labels
  • Criteria development for (international) sustainability standards and environmental labels
  • Sustainable procurement

Methods:

  • Corporate Carbon Footprint, Product Environmental Footprint and material flow analysis
  • Transdisciplinary sustainability research

Key Projects

  • Policy brief: integrating biodiversity into sustainable production and consumption activities
  • Advise and support the Alliance Secretariat in the implementation of corporate due diligence, in particular the further development of the environmental strategy
  • Development and revision of criteria for the Blue Angel for textiles
  • Together for environmentally sound consumption – information, communication and international cooperation
  • Examination of the resource efficiency of organic food based on the Product Environmental Footprint and integration into a sustainability strategy
  • Shaping ecological change processes – implementation and updating of the Integrated Environmental Programme 2030
  • Visualization of hidden environmental costs of unsustainable agriculture under consideration of different production systems. Perspectives and limitations of product-related LCAs and monetization of environmental impacts attributable to agriculture, using the example of conventional and organic milk production systems
  • Product Environmental Footprint – further development and application
  • Organic farming in the context of transformation impulses towards a sustainable regional food system
  • Biodiversity criteria in procurement II – further development and practice-based substantiation of biodiversity criteria in selected product groups of public procurement on the part of the German federal government
  • Identification of stakeholder-related options of action for a transformation of food and agriculture with a view to shaping the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2020
  • Scientific support for the national programme for sustainable consumption – environmental costs of consumer goods as a starting point for the improvement of market-related and non-market-related consumer information (‘2nd price tag’)
  • Revision and further development of the environmental criteria in the clothing and textiles product group as part of the BMZ sector project “Sustainability Standards and Public-Private Responsibility”
  • Trafo 3.0 – Governance model for socio-ecological transformation processes in practice: development and testing in three areas of application
  • Advisory services for the development of EU GPP criteria for food and catering services
  • Biodiversity criteria in public procurement and in the building sector – feasibility study & action plans
  • Assessing the impacts of multinational corporations on global development and value creation
  • Development of assessment criteria and collection of data for the evaluation of sustainability standards
  • Drawing up a best practice guide and an event concept relating to “Strategies to successfully introduce organic food in the catering of municipalities (‘More organic food in municipalities’)”
  • Product Guide for sustainable public procurement in the framework of the municipal sustainability initiative of Baden-Württemberg
  • Scientific monitoring of the relevant processes in green public procurement
  • Assessment of the product portfolio of a food retail company in terms of climate impact, and identification of the life cycles with climatic relevance on the basis of existing analyses and studies
  • Funding initiative on aquaculture: Process-accompanying sustainability assessment on research and development projects under the DBU funding initiative “Sustainable Aquaculture”
  • Product Carbon Footprint: Options for methodological integration into an existing type 1 eco-label (Blue Angel) with special emphasis on communication aspects and on monitoring of the standardization process
  • Indicators and criteria of an overarching sustainability seal
  • Advisory services on eco-Labelling in Thailand and the ASEAN region
  • Common appliance policy – all for one, one for all – energy labels (Come On Labels)

Professional Training and Career

  • Since 2019: Head of Sustainable Food Systems & Lifestyles Subdivision  
  • Since 2001: Researcher at Öko-Institut, Sustainable Products & Material Flows Division
  • 2000-2001: Research Associate at Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsanstalt Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg
  • 1997-2000: PhD studies on “DNA and isoenzyme polymorphisms in populations of the mountain pine complex, Pinus mugo Turra s.l.”, University of Freiburg; degree: Dr. rer. nat.
  • 1996: Freelancer at Bezirksstelle für Naturschutz- und Landschaftspflege (District Office for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management), Freiburg
  • 1995-1996: Research Associate, Trier University
  • 1995: Research Associate, University of Freiburg
  • 1987-1994: Diploma studies in Biology at University of Freiburg; degree: Dipl.-Biologin (Diploma Biology)

Language Skills

English, French

Contact

Dr. Jenny Teufel

  • Sustainable Products & Material Flows
  • Senior Researcher / Head of Subdivision Sustainable Food Systems & Lifestyles
  • Freiburg
  • +49 761 45295-252