Prof. Dr. Sina Leipold

Head of the Department of Environmental Politics

Research Unit Environment and Society
Department of Environmental Politics
Working Group Sustainability Narratives

Helmholtz Centre
for Environmental Research − UFZ
Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig, Germany

phone: ++49 - 341 - 6025 1215
sina.leipold@ufz.de

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Prof. Dr. S. Leipold
Sina’s research bridges social and environmental science with expertise from policy and practice to create new knowledge for a sustainable transformation of our society. Her specific focus is on environmental governance narratives in the fields of forestry, circular economy, bioeconomy, food, and packaging. To contrast governance narratives’ hopes of environmental improvements with potential real-world impacts, Sina couples narrative research with results from environmental footprint and life cycle analyses and collaborates with practitioners from the private and public sectors as well as civil society.

Professional Experience

since 09/2021

Prof. of Environmental Politics, UFZ Leipzig & University of Jena

04/2017 − 08/2021

Assistant Professor & PI of Research Group “Circulus: Opportunities & challenges of transition to a sustainable circular bio-economy”, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg

07−10/2019

Visiting Scholar, Inst. f. Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, Australia

03−06/2018

Visiting Scholar, School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, USA

09−11/2016

Visiting Scholar, Ecological Economics Group, University of Economics & Business Vienna, Austria

09/2016 − 03/2017

PI of the Research Group “Circulus” & Lecturer, Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, GER

09/2015 – 08/2016

Postdoc & Lecturer, Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, GER

09/2012 – 08/2015

PhD Candidate, Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, GER

01/2011 – 06/2012

Research Associate, Division of Organic Farming, University of Natural Resources & Life Sciences Vienna, Austria

Current Projects

Climate Collaboratorium

Governance Monitor

⇒ Urban Transformation towards Blue-Green Infrastructures

Key Publications

Creutzig, F., Simoes, S. G., Leipold, S., Berrill, P., Azevedo, I., Edelenbosch, O., ... & Wilson, C. (2024). Demand-side strategies key for mitigating material impacts of energy transitions. Nature Climate Change, 1-12.

Leipold, S., Petit‐Boix, A., Luo, A., Helander, H., Simoens, M., Ashton, W. S., ... & Xue, B. (2023). Lessons, narratives, and research directions for a sustainable circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 27(1), 6-18.

Simoens, M. C., Fuenfschilling, L., & Leipold, S. (2022). Discursive dynamics and lock-ins in socio-technical systems: an overview and a way forward. Sustainability Science, 17(5), 1841-1853.

Weihrauch, D., Carodenuto, S., & Leipold, S. (2023). From voluntary to mandatory corporate accountability: The politics of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act. Regulation & Governance, 17(4), 909-926.

Leipold, S. (2021): Transforming ecological modernization ‘from within’ or perpetuating it? The circular economy as EU environmental policy narrative, Environmental Politics 0:0, 1-23.

Leipold, S., Feindt, P., Winkel, G., Keller, R. (2019): Discourse analysis of environmental policy revisited: traditions, trends, perspectives, Editorial to the Special Issue “Discourse, power and environmental policy: Two decades of discursive policy analysis”, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning.

Leipold, S., Petit-Boix, A. (2018): The circular economy and the bio-based sector − Perspectives of European and German stakeholders. Journal of Cleaner Production, 201, 1125-1137.

Leipold, S., Winkel, G. (2017): Discursive Agency: (Re-)Conceptualizing Actors and Practices in the Analysis of Discursive Policymaking. Policy Studies Journal, 45(3), 510-534.

Leipold, S. (2014): Creating forests with words — A review of forest-related discourse studies, Forest Policy and Economics 40: 12-20.