From the first vague idea to use Konrad Hagedorn’s 60th birthday as an inspi- tion for taking stock of his vibrant academic contributions, this joint book project has been a great pleasure for us in many ways. Pursuing Hagedorn’s intellectual development, we have tried to reflect on the core questions of humanity according to Ernst Bloch “Who are we?”, “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we heading?” In this way, and without knowing it, Konrad Hagedorn initiated a c- lective action process he would have very much enjoyed … if he had been allowed to take part in it. But it was our aim and constant motivation to surprise him with this collection of essays in his honour. Konrad Hagedorn was reared as the youngest child of a peasant family on a small farm in the remote moorland of East Frisia, Germany. During his childhood in the poverty-ridden years after the Second World War, he faced a life where humans were heavily dependent on using nature around them for their livelihoods; meanwhile, he learned about the fragility of the environment. As a boy, he - tended a one-room schoolhouse, where his great intellectual talents were first r- ognised and used for co-teaching his schoolmates. These early teaching expe- ences might have laid the foundations for his later becoming a dedicated lecturer and mentor.

Institutions and Sustainability: Introduction and Overview.- Institutions and Sustainability: Introduction and Overview.- Political Economy of Economic Development and Agricultural Policy.- The Political Economy of Agricultural Reform in Transition Countries.- Make Law, Not War? On the Political Economy of Violence and Appropriation.- A Marathon Rather than a Sprint: The Reform of the Farmers’ Pension System in Germany and its Impacts.- Complex Policy Choices Regarding Agricultural Externalities: Efficiency, Equity and Acceptability.- Institutions, Governance and Sustainability.- Multi-level Governance and Natural Resource Management: The Challenges of Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty.- Constraints on Rural Governance in the European Union: A Role for Co-operative Associations?.- Making Environmental Administration More Effective: A Contribution from New Institutional Economics.- Public Good Markets: The Possible Role of Hybrid Governance Structures in Institutions for Sustainability.- Property Rights, Collective Action and Natural Resources.- A Century of Institutions and Ecology in East Africa’s Rangelands: Linking Institutional Robustness with the Ecological Resilience of Kenya’s Maasailand.- The Downgrading Effect of Abuse of Power on Trust and Collective Action in Bulgaria’s Irrigation Sector.- Payment for Environmental Services: Interactions with Property Rights and Collective Action.- An Institutional Economics Analysis of Land Use Contracting: The Case of the Netherlands.- Challenges of Institutional Analysis for Sustainability.- Sustainability, Institutions and Behavior.- Institutional Change and Ecological Economics: The Role of Mental Models and Sufficient Reason.- Analysing Institutions: What Method to Apply?.

From the first vague idea to use Konrad Hagedorn’s 60th birthday as an inspi- tion for taking stock of his vibrant academic contributions, this joint book project has been a great pleasure for us in many ways. Pursuing Hagedorn’s intellectual development, we have tried to reflect on the core questions of humanity according to Ernst Bloch “Who are we?”, “Where do we come from?” and “Where are we heading?” In this way, and without knowing it, Konrad Hagedorn initiated a c- lective action process he would have very much enjoyed … if he had been allowed to take part in it. But it was our aim and constant motivation to surprise him with this collection of essays in his honour. Konrad Hagedorn was reared as the youngest child of a peasant family on a small farm in the remote moorland of East Frisia, Germany. During his childhood in the poverty-ridden years after the Second World War, he faced a life where humans were heavily dependent on using nature around them for their livelihoods; meanwhile, he learned about the fragility of the environment. As a boy, he - tended a one-room schoolhouse, where his great intellectual talents were first r- ognised and used for co-teaching his schoolmates. These early teaching expe- ences might have laid the foundations for his later becoming a dedicated lecturer and mentor.