On 1 July 2026, Dr. Sebastian Losacker successfully gave his habilitation lecture at the Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen under the title “‘Left-behind places’ – between regional inequality and resentment”. With his lecture, he demonstrated his academic expertise in geography and highlighted perspectives that extend beyond the focus areas of his previous research.

Dr. Sebastian Losacker has co-authored a new article with Gloria Cicerone, Sandro Montresor and Francesco Rentocchini titled "Trust the process: Regional process knowledge and the geography of circular economy innovation in Europe" published in European Urban and Regional Studies.

From 15 to 18 June, the RSA Annual Conference titled “Regions as Arenas in a Changing World” took place in Gothenburg, Sweden. The TRABBI research group attended the conference and presented its current research.

Tim Becker and Linda Lütkes participated in this year’s workshop of the Young Economic Geographers Network (YEGN) in Gothenburg and joined in celebrating the network’s 10th anniversary.

Sebastian Losacker, Nicolas Befort and Terese E. Venus are joint guest editors of a Call for Papers in the journal Ecological Economics entitled „The bioeconomy: a post-fossil economy in the making?“.

Tim Becker and Linda Lütkes participated in this year’s European Bamboo Expo in Dortmund. The event brings together international stakeholders from the bamboo industry, researchers, innovators, designers, practitioners, and bamboo enthusiasts on an annual basis.

The TRABBI research project has been selected for the shortlist of the Best Research Environment 2026 award. The prize is awarded by the Junge Akademie and the Volkswagen Foundation and recognizes research environments that provide outstanding conditions for scientific work.

Charlotte Lobensteiner and Dr. Sebastian Losacker have published their new article, “Exploring discourses in the German forest-based bioeconomy: A Q-methodological approach,” in the journal Forest Policy and Economics.

Tim Becker and Linda Lütkes will be present at the European Bamboo Expo 2026 in Dortmund this year. In addition, they will actively contribute to shaping the exhibition and will present insights from the Trabbi project in their joint talk, “Building the future with bamboo: Research insights and lessons from China, India and the Global Timber Industry.”

In April 2026, the symposium “Future of Economic Geography” was held at the Leibnizhaus in Hanover. Dr. Sebastian Losacker participated in a panel discussion that addressed the scientific objectives of economic geography and explored strategic responses to current challenges and opportunities facing the discipline.