Dr. Verena Hermelingmeier

Since April 2023

Junior Professor of Sustainability and Transformation in Business and Society (Globus Endowed Professorship), Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences 

Since March 2023 

Managing Director of bonnvivir GmbH, land development for sustainable business and transformative regional ecosystems 

Since 2020 

Board member of KLuG – Köln leben und gestalten e.V., founder of WandelWerk Köln 

2017-2022

Research Associate at the Center for Transformation Research and Sustainability (University of Wuppertal & Wuppertal Institute), 
BMBF junior research group “UrbanUp”

2014-2017

Research Associate at the Wuppertal Institute (Berlin Office), Executive Office Staff Unit, general transformation research 

Since 2014

Freelance process facilitator, moderator and design thinking trainer

Lecturer at the HPI School of Design Thinking Potsdam 

2011

Internship at Betterplace Berlin 

2010

Internship at SAP Research in Brisbane, Australia, Business Development division

2022

Doctorate (Dr. oec.) from the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal

Supervisors: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Alexandra Palzkill, Prof. Dr. Uwe Schneidewind 

2020

Virtual research stay at DRIFT – Dutch Research Institute for Transition Studies in Rotterdam with a DAAD scholarship

2017-2022

Doctoral studies at the University of Wuppertal, Chair of the Network of Early Career Researchers in Transition Studies (NEST), organization of the NEST Conference in Lisbon, organization of the VÖW (Association for Ecological Economic Research) Summer School in Wuppertal on the topic “Sharing and the City”, participation in the Summer School on transdisciplinary research at Leuphana University in Lüneburg  

2014

Advanced Track Design Thinking, School of Design Thinking Potsdam

2012-2014

MSc Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies (MSc) at Lund University, Sweden 

2010

Study abroad at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia

2008-2011

BA in Corporate Management and Economics with a minor in Communication and Cultural Management at Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen

As part of the Junior Professorship for Sustainability and Transformation in Business and Society, I examine the embedding of economic transformation processes in the broader societal context. This transformation perspective can be applied both to the specific organizational context and to interactions between companies, all the way to a macroeconomic perspective. In my work, I focus in particular on the question of how local contexts, collaborations, networks and physical places affect sustainability in companies and in economic activity. The main areas of my work are:

Regional ecosystems

The first focus area highlights the role of place-based connections, local rootedness and regional collaborations for sustainability in companies and for transformative ambitions that emerge between companies and other actors. This also includes business networks with a regional focus that jointly formulate transformative ambitions and enter into collaborations. What are their motivations? How can local connections and narratives be strengthened? What specific physical places and spaces are needed to allow local ecosystems to emerge

Interface of urban transformation

The second focus area links questions of economic transformation with those of the transformation of cities – what kind of economic activity does the resilient city of tomorrow need? How can urban production and logistics be radically rethought and thus contribute to reducing CO2 emissions? How can new forms of urban economic activity contribute to a sense of self-efficacy at the organizational and individual level? 

Scaling mechanisms

The third focus area highlights the connection between niche phenomena and the dissemination of new approaches. When does a niche idea make it into the “mainstream”? What are different forms of “upscaling” and how do they create new scope for action for companies? What role do institutional logics and narratives play in this? 

Transdisciplinary research / real-world laboratories

A central element of transformation research is the co-production of knowledge in direct collaboration with practitioners. Such transdisciplinary research and work in real-world laboratories also characterizes my work in the topic areas mentioned above. My two real-world laboratories are currently located in the commercial area of Cologne (“Liebigquartier” in Neuehrenfeld) and in the commercial area of Bonn-Beuel (development of a “Sustainability Campus”).

Research focus areas

• Regional ecosystems / collaborations and networks for sustainability and transformation in and through companies
• Local rootedness, place narratives & “sense of place” in connection with sustainability in companies
• Interface of city / urban design:
  • Urban production
  • Urban circularity
  • Collaborations at the neighborhood level / neighborhood development (business, city, civil society)
  • Sharing models
• Transformation and transition research / scaling mechanisms from niche to mainstream
• Institutional logics and narratives
• Business forms for sustainable economic activity: cooperative models, steward-ownership

Real-world laboratories

• Commercial area of Bonn-Beuel (development of a “Sustainability Campus” on Maarstrasse).
• Cologne Neuehrenfeld “Liebigquartier” (development of a model district for urban, sustainable economic activity and collaboration)

Hermelingmeier, V., Augenstein, A. & Palzkill, A. (2022). The role of place in shaping responsibility logics: Revisiting the relation between place and business sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3289.

DiBella, J., Forrest, N., Burch, S., Rao-Williams, J., Ninomiya, S., Hermelingmeier, V., Chrisholm, K. (2022). Exploring the potential of SMEs to build individual, organizational, and community resilience through sustainability-oriented business practices. Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3171

Hermelingmeier, V., & von Wirth, T. (2021). The nexus of business sustainability and organizational learning: A systematic literature review to identify key learning principles for business transformation. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30, 1839–1851. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2719

Augenstein, K. Bachmann, B., Egermann, M., Hermelingmeier, V., Hilger, A., Jaeger-Erben, M., Kessler, A., Lam, D. P. M., Palzkill, A., Suski, P., & von Wirth, T. (2020). From niche to mainstream: The dilemmas of scaling up sustainable alternatives. GAIA – Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society, 29(3), 143–147. https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.29.3.3

Hermelingmeier, V. & Nicholas, K. A. (2017). Identifying Five Different Perspectives on the Ecosystem Services Concept Using Q Methodology, Ecological Economics, 136, 255-265.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.01.006.

Christopher Luederitz, Ebba Brink, Fabienne Gralla, Verena Hermelingmeier, Moritz Meyer, Lisa Niven, Lars Panzer, Stefan Partelow, Anna-Lena Rau, Ryuei Sasaki, David J. Abson, Daniel J. Lang, Christine Wamsler, Henrik von Wehrden (2015). A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research, Ecosystem Services, 14, 98-112,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.05.001.

Association for Ecological Economic Research (VÖW)

Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN)