ISOE is a research institute for the theory-guided and implementation-oriented generation of transdisciplinary knowledge in the field of tension between nature and society. It possesses many years of experience in the conception, implementation and further development of transdisciplinary research, in the development of integration methods and in the implementation of target group-specific communication of knowledge.

Within the research areas "Water Infrastructure and Risk Analyses" and "Water Resources and Land Use", ISOE develops scientific-based concepts for a sustainable water policy. The focus is on innovative concepts, such as infrastructures that can be sustainably rebuilt and adapted to changing conditions. In addition, methods are developed to estimate complex costs and risks, and strategies are devised to minimize them. The differentiation of target groups, but also the approach and participation of stakeholders and appropriate communication measures play important roles.

ISOE also manages the inter- and transdisciplinary junior research group "regulate - Regulation of groundwater in teleconnected social-ecological systems", in which solution strategies for sustainable management of groundwater as a resource are being developed at different governance levels. In addition, other project contexts have examined the impacts of land use practices on groundwater quality (e.g., in Namibia, Begmann et al. 2018) and taken a holistic perspective on the challenges of sustainable groundwater management (Kluge 2020; Kluge and Treskatis 2022). The work of Kluge (2020) and Kluge and Treskatis (2022) discusses the sustainable regulation of groundwater as a resource from the perspective of rational water use and also emphasizes the importance of integrated (groundwater) conservation areas for the protection of biodiversity, as retention areas during heavy rains, or as water storage during periods of drought.