Prof. Dr. Nicole Göler von Ravensburg

Researcher role and contact

Professor of Socioeconomics

Research details

Research

Research impact statement

My Research contributes to the urgent global discourse on sustainable urban development by offering:

  • Cooperative solutions for local and regional economic and societal transformation towards more just, democratic and sustainable economic behavior as alternatives to the hegemonial neo-classical economic thinking.
  • Innovative strategies to promote cooperative clusters of small and medium sized enterprises  in both, the Global South and North, in order to foster social and economic sustainability and innovation.

  • Actionable insights into (cooperative type) social entrepreneurship education for sustainable development and innovation at local level.

     

Core Research focus:

Sustainability through Governance and Economic Policy Design. In light of projections that for the next 50 to 60 years, the world's population is projected to peak at approximately 10.3 billion, while the planet struggles with over-pollution, climate change and wars, questions of just, sustainable, and collaboratively shaped resource use and co-determination are of prime importance. The research adopts an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary lens to explore:

How social enterprises contribute to improving socio-ecological systems.
How their impact can be scaled up.
Strategies for maintaining, sharing, and securing essential resources for future generations.

 

Key guiding questions include:

How resources are shared locally and regionally, and what national/international commonalities can be identified?
How can local economies be reimagined through commoning and co-production practices?
Who are the key actors in local and regional transformation, and how can their roles be strengthened?
What is the impact of local and regional level Social Enterprise activities?

 

Policy relevance:

The Social Economy Action Plan (2021) supports the European Green Deal (2021) by mobilizing the potential of the social economy to support social, ecological and economic transformation. In 2023 the General Assembly of the United Nations officially adopted its first resolution entitled “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development.” Most European countries have implemented Social Economy Strategies similar to the German “Strategy on Social Innovation and Common good oriented Enterprises (SIGU)” (2023). Scientific monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment is necessary to continuously adapt these strategies in order to improve these policies and the instruments used.
 

My research works towards UN Sustainable Development Goals

  1. Good Health And Wellbeing

    Ensure a healthy life for all people of all ages and promote their well-being.

  2. Quality Education

    Education for all: ensuring inclusive, equitable and high-quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

  3. Decent Work And Economic Growth

    Sustainable economic growth and decent work for all - promoting lasting, broad-based and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

  4. Sustainable Cities and Communities

    Making cities and settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

  5. Responsible Consumption And Production

    Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

I'm interested in collaborating on

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Social Enterprises
  • Cooperatives in general and Social Cooperatives in particular
  • Commons and Cooperatives

Biography

Educational background

PhD in Economics Marburg University/Germany, 1998

Academic experience

Tenured Professor for Socioeconomics at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main/Germany, Department of Social and Health Services, since 2002

Board Member of the Competence Center for Social Intervention Research at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (treasurer, co-organizer of 10th EMES international Research conference in Rotterdam an Uetrecht / NL (Nov. 2025); host and organizer of the 9th EMES international Research conference at FRA-UAS in Frankfurt (2023); host and organiser of a COST Symposium on Social enterprises in health and social welfare at FRA-UAS (2019)

Board Member of EMES International Research Network on Social Enterprises, Social Economy

Advisory board member at Cooperative Research Institute at Philips University, Marburg/Germany and Center for Cooperative Studies at Humboldt University, Berlin/Germany

Personal Member to the Working Group of Institutes for Co-operative Studies
 

Industry experience

Member, supervisory board member and finally director in Marburg Consult eG (Cooperative for Self hep promotion in Developing Countries) in Marburg/ Germany 1993-2001

Consulting and training missions on behalf of MC Consult, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, DGRV, ILO and FAO in Southern Africa 1993-1999

Partner in science based consulting in Southern Africa (Allen & von Ravensburg) 1987-1992
 

Teaching and supervision

Undergraduate

  • Social Enterprises
  • Organisation and Finance of Social Work
  • Socio-economics
  • Organisation and Management in Social Work
  • Development Cooperation
     

Postgraduate

Mentoring a doctoral student, topic is “Practices of habitation in stigmatized large scale housing estates” 

I can supervise students on

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Social Economics
  • Organization and Finance of Social Work
  • Management and Organizational Development in NPO and in Social Work
     

Publications

Key publications

  • Cooperatives, the Social Economy Debate and the German Strategy for Social Innovation and Social Enterprises. In memory of Hans-H. Münkner (1935-2023)

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, N. (2025)

    In: Apps, Ann; Cracogna, Dante; De Souza, Leonardo Rafael; Douvitsa, Ifigeneia; Henrÿ, Hagen; Kumar, P Santosh; Kurimoto, Akira; Tadjudje, Willy (Eds.): the Münkner Series, p. 35-54.

  • Handbuch Genossenschaftswesen

    written by

    Blome-Drees, J.; Göler von Ravensburg, N.; Jungmeister, A.; Schmale, I.; Schulz-Nieswandt, F. (Eds.) (2020, 2023)

    Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

    View publication

  • Social Entrepreneurship vor dem Hintergrund verschiedener sozialökonomischer Traditionen in Deutschland

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, N. (2024)

    In: Philipp Kenel, Jennifer Eschweiler, Helga Hackenberg und Michael Wihlenda (Eds.): Social Entrepreneurship in Deutschland. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Praxis. 1. Auflage. Utb, Stuttgart, pp. 39 ̶ 59.

  • Social Enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Country report Germany

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, Nicole; Krlev, Gorgi; Mildenberger, Georg (2018)

List of selected publications

  • Social Enterprise in Germany Between Institutional Inertia, Innovation and Cooperation together with Georg Mildenberger, and Gorgi Krlev; in Defourny, Jacques and Nyssens, Marthe (Eds.): Social Enterprise in Western Europe Theory, Models and Practice, Routledge, 2021, pp.85-101. DOI: 10.4324/9780429055140-5-7.
  • Schülergenossenschaften. Pädagogische Potenziale genossenschaftlich organisierter Schülerfirmen; Marburger Schriften zur Genossenschaftlichen Kooperation, Band 113, Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden/ Marburg, 2014 (320 S).
     
Research

Research impact statement

My Research contributes to the urgent global discourse on sustainable urban development by offering:

  • Cooperative solutions for local and regional economic and societal transformation towards more just, democratic and sustainable economic behavior as alternatives to the hegemonial neo-classical economic thinking.
  • Innovative strategies to promote cooperative clusters of small and medium sized enterprises  in both, the Global South and North, in order to foster social and economic sustainability and innovation.

  • Actionable insights into (cooperative type) social entrepreneurship education for sustainable development and innovation at local level.

     

Core Research focus:

Sustainability through Governance and Economic Policy Design. In light of projections that for the next 50 to 60 years, the world's population is projected to peak at approximately 10.3 billion, while the planet struggles with over-pollution, climate change and wars, questions of just, sustainable, and collaboratively shaped resource use and co-determination are of prime importance. The research adopts an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary lens to explore:

How social enterprises contribute to improving socio-ecological systems.
How their impact can be scaled up.
Strategies for maintaining, sharing, and securing essential resources for future generations.

 

Key guiding questions include:

How resources are shared locally and regionally, and what national/international commonalities can be identified?
How can local economies be reimagined through commoning and co-production practices?
Who are the key actors in local and regional transformation, and how can their roles be strengthened?
What is the impact of local and regional level Social Enterprise activities?

 

Policy relevance:

The Social Economy Action Plan (2021) supports the European Green Deal (2021) by mobilizing the potential of the social economy to support social, ecological and economic transformation. In 2023 the General Assembly of the United Nations officially adopted its first resolution entitled “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development.” Most European countries have implemented Social Economy Strategies similar to the German “Strategy on Social Innovation and Common good oriented Enterprises (SIGU)” (2023). Scientific monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment is necessary to continuously adapt these strategies in order to improve these policies and the instruments used.
 

My research works towards UN Sustainable Development Goals

  1. Good Health And Wellbeing

    Ensure a healthy life for all people of all ages and promote their well-being.

  2. Quality Education

    Education for all: ensuring inclusive, equitable and high-quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

  3. Decent Work And Economic Growth

    Sustainable economic growth and decent work for all - promoting lasting, broad-based and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

  4. Sustainable Cities and Communities

    Making cities and settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

  5. Responsible Consumption And Production

    Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

I'm interested in collaborating on

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Social Enterprises
  • Cooperatives in general and Social Cooperatives in particular
  • Commons and Cooperatives
Biography

Educational background

PhD in Economics Marburg University/Germany, 1998

Academic experience

Tenured Professor for Socioeconomics at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt am Main/Germany, Department of Social and Health Services, since 2002

Board Member of the Competence Center for Social Intervention Research at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (treasurer, co-organizer of 10th EMES international Research conference in Rotterdam an Uetrecht / NL (Nov. 2025); host and organizer of the 9th EMES international Research conference at FRA-UAS in Frankfurt (2023); host and organiser of a COST Symposium on Social enterprises in health and social welfare at FRA-UAS (2019)

Board Member of EMES International Research Network on Social Enterprises, Social Economy

Advisory board member at Cooperative Research Institute at Philips University, Marburg/Germany and Center for Cooperative Studies at Humboldt University, Berlin/Germany

Personal Member to the Working Group of Institutes for Co-operative Studies
 

Industry experience

Member, supervisory board member and finally director in Marburg Consult eG (Cooperative for Self hep promotion in Developing Countries) in Marburg/ Germany 1993-2001

Consulting and training missions on behalf of MC Consult, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, DGRV, ILO and FAO in Southern Africa 1993-1999

Partner in science based consulting in Southern Africa (Allen & von Ravensburg) 1987-1992
 

Teaching and supervision

Undergraduate

  • Social Enterprises
  • Organisation and Finance of Social Work
  • Socio-economics
  • Organisation and Management in Social Work
  • Development Cooperation
     

Postgraduate

Mentoring a doctoral student, topic is “Practices of habitation in stigmatized large scale housing estates” 

I can supervise students on

  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Social Economics
  • Organization and Finance of Social Work
  • Management and Organizational Development in NPO and in Social Work
     
Publications

Key publications

  • Cooperatives, the Social Economy Debate and the German Strategy for Social Innovation and Social Enterprises. In memory of Hans-H. Münkner (1935-2023)

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, N. (2025)

    In: Apps, Ann; Cracogna, Dante; De Souza, Leonardo Rafael; Douvitsa, Ifigeneia; Henrÿ, Hagen; Kumar, P Santosh; Kurimoto, Akira; Tadjudje, Willy (Eds.): the Münkner Series, p. 35-54.

  • Handbuch Genossenschaftswesen

    written by

    Blome-Drees, J.; Göler von Ravensburg, N.; Jungmeister, A.; Schmale, I.; Schulz-Nieswandt, F. (Eds.) (2020, 2023)

    Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

    View publication

  • Social Entrepreneurship vor dem Hintergrund verschiedener sozialökonomischer Traditionen in Deutschland

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, N. (2024)

    In: Philipp Kenel, Jennifer Eschweiler, Helga Hackenberg und Michael Wihlenda (Eds.): Social Entrepreneurship in Deutschland. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Praxis. 1. Auflage. Utb, Stuttgart, pp. 39 ̶ 59.

  • Social Enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe. Country report Germany

    written by

    Göler von Ravensburg, Nicole; Krlev, Gorgi; Mildenberger, Georg (2018)

List of selected publications

  • Social Enterprise in Germany Between Institutional Inertia, Innovation and Cooperation together with Georg Mildenberger, and Gorgi Krlev; in Defourny, Jacques and Nyssens, Marthe (Eds.): Social Enterprise in Western Europe Theory, Models and Practice, Routledge, 2021, pp.85-101. DOI: 10.4324/9780429055140-5-7.
  • Schülergenossenschaften. Pädagogische Potenziale genossenschaftlich organisierter Schülerfirmen; Marburger Schriften zur Genossenschaftlichen Kooperation, Band 113, Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden/ Marburg, 2014 (320 S).