Archive of News and Updates

A recent collaboration between the TRANSSUSTAIN research project, University of California Davis, and The International Coffee Organization has resulted in a study that could help the coffee sector benchmark global production costs and farmer profitability...

 TRANS SUSTAIN was widely cited in Jeffrey Sachs and Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) report "Ensuring Economic Viability and Sustainability of Coffee Production".

Thomas Dietz presents TRANSSUSTAIN research results at the INTERNATIONAL COFFEE CONGRESS ON SUSTAINABILITY, BERLIN organized by the German Coffee Association.

TRANS SUSTAIN’s Janina Grabs was invited as a speaker to the 2019 Re:Co Symposium with the theme “Coffee In Crisis: A Call And Response “ to discuss the macroeconomic dysfunction in the coffee trade and possible solutions.

TRANS SUSTAIN’s Janina Grabs organized two panels on transnational private governance at the 2019 Annual Convention of the International Studies Association in Toronto, and presented two outputs of the TRANS SUSTAIN project.

TRANS SUSTAIN’s Andrea Estrella presented a summary of the report “Profitability of coffee farming in selected Latin American countries”; a collaboration with the Agricultural and Resource Economics Department at UC Davis and The International Coffee Organization (ICO).

Thomas Dietz attends a special issue workshop on grounding the politics of transnational private governance at the. His presentation focused on implementation gaps in private governance: The presented paper with Janina Grabs is entitled: Additionality and Implementation Gaps in Voluntary Sustainability Standards. The workshop is organized by Jean Christophe Graz and Nicole Helmerich.

3. International BioSC Symposium: Towards an Integrated Bioeconomy 12.-13. November 2018 | Gustav-Stresemann-Institut Bonn: Thomas Dietz presents a paper on the Governance of the Global Bioeconomy. The presentation is based on paper entitled: Governance of the Bioeconomy: A Global Comparative Study of National Bioeconomy Strategies. Access it openly here.

The first PhD thesis coming out of the TRANS SUSTAIN project was successfully defended by Janina Grabs at the University of Münster’s Institute of Political Science.

Thomas Dietz was invited by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to an expert workshop discussing the possibility of exempting standard compliant coffee from the German coffee tax in order to enhance the sustainability of the coffee sector. The expert workshop took place in Hamburg.

Thomas Dietz presented a paper entitled “ The Effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards” at the ECPR Standing Group on Regulation and Governance Conference in, Lausanne, Swiss.

Grabs was awarded the Sixth Giandomenico Majone Prize for her submission “The Effectiveness of Private Sustainability Governance: A Micro-Institutional Approach”.

Thomas Dietz meets Sebastian Schienle, Benckiser Stiftung Zukunft, in Bonn to discuss the development of a new verification system for sustainable coffee production by the Benckiser Foundation.

Thomas Dietz and Janina Grabs meet with Tchibo GmbH | Corporate Responsibility to inform Tschibo GmbH about the TRANSSUSTAIN research results and to discuss potential new ways of enhancing the sustainability of the global coffee sector.

Thomas Dietz presented a paper on institutional changes in International Investment Arbitration at International Studies Association (ISA), Annual Meeting 2018 within the panel: International Arbitration and Global Governance, San Francisco. The panel discussed among other things the inclusion of sustainability standards in international investment treaties and potential effects of this development.

Thomas Dietz meets Annemieke Wijn, board member of Rainforest Alliance, to discuss potential implications of the merger between Rainforest Alliance and UTZ for the sustainability of the global coffee sector.

At the 10th and 11th of January 2018 more than 500 participants of the German and international coffee industry attended the “Coffee Congress” organized by the German Coffee Association in Bremen. Thomas Dietz was invited to this event to present the TRANSSUSTAIN research results on the effectiveness of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in global coffee production.

Thomas Dietz and Janina Grabs presented TRANSSUSTAIN research results at the AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, Annual Meeting, The Quest for Legitimacy: Actors, Audience, and Aspirations, 31.08 2017 - 03.09.2017, San Francisco; USA. The presented research evaluated the Output Legitimacy of Non-State Market-Driven Governance Systems.

On Wednesday, 12th of July, the TRANS SUSTAIN team conducted a successful workshop in Münster with Prof. Pieter Glasbergen from Maastricht University.

The Münster Junior Researchers Colloquium on Sustainability Governance aims to bring together international young scholars and academics focusing on sustainability questions in an one-day-workshop with Pieter Glasbergen from Maastricht University on Wednesday, 12.07.2017.

TRANS SUSTAIN working with 5 cooperatives in 2 regions.

After a 2-week preparatory visit and 1.5 months of data collection, the Colombian project phase concludes with over 700 logged observations.

Presentation of paper “Understanding Coffee Certification Dynamics: A Spatial Analysis of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Proliferation” in Aarhus, Denmark, receives enthusiastic feedback.

TRANS SUSTAIN submission “Understanding Coffee Certification Dynamics: A Spatial Analysis of Voluntary Sustainability Standard Proliferation” is awarded the Best Paper Award prize in the category “relevance to managers” in Aarhus, Denmark

TRANS SUSTAIN participated in the scientific poster presentation at the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s 2016 Expo and connected with many interesting stakeholders from across the value chain and academia.

Together with the Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung TRANS SUSTAIN implemented a baseline study on the empowerment of women in key project zones. Invited before the Steering Committee of the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership in Guatemala City researcher Janina Grabs presented the study.

TRANS SUSTAIN researcher Janina Grabs visited our partner project in Honduras, Fundación Co.Honducafé, in San Pedro Sula.

Thomas Dietz appointed visiting professor at INCAE Business School in Costa Rica. Thomas will stay will stay in Costa Rica in 2016 to work with his team on the implementation of the TRANSUSTAIN research project in Latin America.