Arete

By Rick Cherwitz and Courtney Dillard
Office of Graduate Studies

Name: Ralf G. Brand Hometown: Peissenberg, Germany Department: School of Architecture, Community and Regional Planning Education: B.A. in political science, 1994—Eichstätt, Germany; M.A. in geography, 1998—Eichstätt

Ralf Brand

Ralf Brand, a University of Texas at Austin doctoral candidate, is trying to provide innovative and productive answers to these very questions. Brand’s dissertation, titled "The Ulysses Approach to Sustainable Development," investigates the unconventional, but successful, development approaches taken by two communities in Belgium and Germany. His work is driven by a desire to “better understand how and why societal innovations emerge.”

Brand has an enduring interest in sustainable development. During his studies at the University of Eichstätt, Germany, he co-founded the “Francis of Assisi Academy for the Protection of the Earth,” which he represented at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Sustainable Development in 1997.

He also was deputy leader for a national project dealing with the relationship between lifestyles and sustainability. Brand published several articles about this experience and eventually was appointed to the Local Agenda 21 Council of the Bavarian Government.

Brand joined the Ph.D. program in Community and Regional Planning (CRP) at The University of Texas at Austin after completing a master's degree program in geography at the University of Eichstätt.

He said the program offered a “unique chance to systematically investigate the concept of sustainable development — an effort that appeared necessary, given the complex discourse I came across in my previous work.”

Brand holds a University of Texas at Austin Continuing Fellowship and is planning to finish his Ph.D. in spring 2003. He and his adviser, Dr. Steven Moore, are collaborating on an article, "The Banks of Frankfurt and the Sustainable City", which they hope to publish soon.

Brand's long-term goal is to found The Institute for Social Innovation, where work on sustainability and other issues will be advanced and explored.