Providing enough protein for a growing world population in the face of climate change and limited resources while reducing the adverse environmental, social and health impacts of industrial production of animal-origin proteins urgently requires transformative change, widely discussed as a ‘protein transition’. Numerous technological, social and institutional innovations are currently pursued to transform, complement or replace the dominant modes of protein production.

However, the contribution of these innovations to inclusive, health-enhancing, environmentally sustainable food systems is often unclear or contested. Concerns have been raised about, for example, the footprint of alternative proteins (i.e., proteins that can serve as alternatives to animal-origin proteins), health impacts of highly processed food components and potential perpetuation of unequal power structures in the food system. There is thus an urgent need to start an inclusive discussion about innovation for protein transition, to develop transparent criteria for responsible protein innovation and to start assessing the diverse range of innovations in this field.

The overall aim of the project is to support Responsible Innovations for the Protein Transition (RI-ProT). The RI-ProT project will work with key scientific and non-scientific stakeholders to better understand key environmental, ethical and justice issues in the ongoing transformation of protein production by

1. jointly advancing the conceptual understanding of responsible innovation in the context of complex systemic transformations, with a focus on protein transitions,
2. co-developing a novel innovation radar methodology that enables inclusive, transdisciplinary anticipation of innovation impacts,
3. co-generating novel insights into the potential of different innovative solutions to provide proteins for all and
4. co-developing ideas for strategies, practices and policies to drive just protein transitions.

Funding

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the State of Berlin as part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments through the Berlin University Alliance. The Berlin University Alliance  is dedicated to overcoming societal ‘Grand Challenges’ through its funding lines supporting inter- and transdisciplinary ‘Exploration Projects’ on important societal topics. The RI-ProT project is funded under the Grand Challenge initiative with the focus on “Responsible Innovation in Times of Transformation".

Transdisciplinary Approach

To ensure that the project integrates the perspectives of various stakeholder groups on the ongoing and future changes in the production and consumption of protein-rich foods, the core project consortium works closely with scientific partners from different disciplines and non-scientific partners with expertise on different aspects of the protein value chain. You can find out more about our research team, transdisciplinary partners and international advisory board on the Project Team page.