BTU overview
Faculty 2
Field of study Economics of sustainable landscapes Dr. Charlotte Gerling

We combine climate-ecological-economic modelling, game theory, and discrete choice analysis to inform policies for sustainable landscapes that support biodiversity, climate goals, and rural livelihoods – guided by public preferences and aiming for cost-effective solutions.

Information about the research group MOTION-CB can be found here.

News

  • Working Paper: Gerling, C., Cord, A.F., Drechsler, M., Hölting, L., Markova-Nenova, N., Ogawa, R., Sturm, A., Wätzold, F.: “From Models to Decisions: A Software Tool for Evaluating Action-and Result-Based Conservation Payments”. (Link)
  • Presentation: "Ecological-economic Modelling Advances Needed in Times of Directional Change" in the session (organised by Charlotte Gerling) "Ecological-economic modelling in times of directional change" at the 26. Bioecon Conference in Cambridge, UK (2.9.2025)
  • Presentation: "Pay for Effort or Pay for Effect? Introducing an Ecological-economic Model-based Software Tool to Assess the Cost-effectiveness of Action-based and Result-based Conservation Payments" by Charlotte Gerling at the congress of the  European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) in Bonn, Germany (28.08.2025)
  • Presentation: "The promise and pitfalls of using conservation contracts to protect species in a changing climate" by Charlotte Gerling at the International Congress on Conservation Biology (ICCB) in Brisbane, Australia (17.6.25)
  • Presentation: "Randomized Deferred Acceptance and Possibility Based Strategy Proofness" by Chris Stapenhurst at the Hungarian Center for Regional Studies, with József Pínter and Regina Stangl (29 May 2025)
  • Presentation: “Accounting for risk preferences in Stated Preferences studies - the case of an uncertain species conservation programme” by Charlotte Gerling in Leipzig (ECO-N lecture series) (25.5.25)
  • Presentation: "Red or Gold?" by Chris Stapenhurst at the University of Corvinus Game Theory seminar, with Andrew Clausen and John Moore (15 May 2025)
  • Publication: Bethlendi A. and Stapenhurst C. (2025). Growth or stability? Using social risk preferences to guide industrial policy. Journal of Economic Policy Reform. Code.
  • Publication: Cord, Anna F., Kevin Darras, Ryo Ogawa, Luc Barbaro, Charlotte Gerling, Maria Kernecker, Nonka Markova-Nenova, Gabriela Rodriguez-Barrera, Felix Zichner, and Frank Wätzold. (2025). Leveraging Passive Acoustic Monitoring for Result-Based Agri-Environmental Schemes: Opportunities, Challenges and next Steps. Biological Conservation 305:111042. ( Link)
  • Publication: Beaumont, N., Börger, T., Clark, J., Hanley, N., Johnston, R., Meginnis, K., Stapenhurst, C. and de Vries, F. (2025) Cooperative agreement between countries of the North Atlantic Ocean reduces marine plastic pollution but with unequal economic benefits Communications Earth and Environment. Code.
  • Working Paper: Gerling, C., Wätzold, F. 2024. Citizens Support Expansion of Ground-Mounted Photovoltaics for Climate Mitigation, But Local Benefits for Biodiversity and People Matter. (Link) 
  • Publication: Gerling, C., Drechsler, M.,  Leins, J., Sturm, A., Wätzold, F. 2025. Cost-effective policy instruments for biodiversity conservation under climate change – The need for flexibility. Ecological Economics, 227:108414. Link
  • Publication: C. Gerling, O. Schöttker, J. Hearne (2024): The ‘Climate Adaptation Problem’ in Biodiversity Conservation: The Value of Spatial Flexibility in Land Purchase. Environmental and Resource Economics (Link:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10640-024-00932-4)