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Jonath­an Fed­der­sen

Assistant Professor

Subjects
Organisation Project management Innovation Energy Qualitative methods Biodiversity Green transition

Primary research areas

Tem­por­al­ity and Or­gan­iz­ing
I study how or­gan­iz­a­tions con­struct their own time—how they con­nect past ex­per­i­ences, present chal­lenges, and fu­ture goals. This helps ex­plain how they nav­ig­ate un­cer­tainty, build mo­mentum, and turn sustain­ability am­bi­tions into ac­tion.
Or­gan­iz­ing with Nature
I ex­plore how or­gan­iz­a­tions or­gan­ize with nature rather than ex­ploit­ing or con­trolling it. My re­search fol­lows how com­pan­ies en­gage with nat­ur­al eco­sys­tems to re­store biod­iversity and re­think their re­la­tion­ship with nature.
Sustain­ability Trans­itions
I in­vest­ig­ate how com­pan­ies and in­dus­tries trans­ition to­ward sustain­ability. By study­ing cases such as Ørsted’s green trans­formation, I show how or­gan­iz­a­tions can turn dis­tant cli­mate and biod­iversity tar­gets into con­crete steps and last­ing im­pact.
Event-Based and Pro­ces­su­al Meth­ods
To cap­ture how change un­folds over time, I de­vel­op event-based re­search meth­ods that trace how people and or­gan­iz­a­tions con­nect events into tra­ject­or­ies. These meth­ods sup­port a bet­ter un­der­stand­ing of or­gan­iz­a­tion­al and so­ci­et­al trans­form­a­tions.
More-than-Hu­man Or­gan­iz­ing
I ex­am­ine how ma­ter­i­als, tech­no­lo­gies, and nat­ur­al en­tit­ies shape how we or­gan­ize. From wind tur­bines to ar­ti­fi­cial reefs, my work shows how hu­man and non-hu­man act­ors to­geth­er cre­ate new pos­sib­il­it­ies for sus­tain­able ac­tion and solu­tions.

Or­gan­iz­ing with nature to­ward sus­tain­able fu­tures

My research explores how organizations can create and pursue sustainable futures. I study how companies translate long-term sustainability goals, such as becoming biodiversity net positive, into concrete action that restores ecosystems and transforms industries. Through longitudinal field studies and collaborations with organizations like Ørsted, I examine how firms experiment with new ways of working that align ecological, social, and technological systems. Methodologically, I develop event-based approaches to capture how change unfolds over time, helping organizations see sustainability not as a distant target but as an ongoing practice and transformation process. My research has been recognized with the EGOS Andreas Al-Laham Best Paper Award and a nomination for the Grigor McClelland Dissertation Award

Recent research projects

Eco­Corp: Re­con­cil­ing Eco­sys­tem-Based and Cor­por­ate Man­age­ment Across Scales (VELUX Found­a­tion, 2025-2028)

Eco­Corp ex­plores how biod­iversity can be in­teg­rated into off­shore wind en­ergy us­ing ex­ist­ing plan­ning tools in col­lab­or­a­tion with CBS, WWF, and DTU.
Grant details

Ac­tion­able Fu­tures: Mak­ing Dis­tant Fu­tures Ac­tion­able (Novo Nor­d­isk Found­a­tion, 2021-2025)

Ex­plor­ing how Dan­ish com­pan­ies like Ørsted, Arla, and Novo Nor­d­isk trans­late dis­tant fu­ture sustain­ability goals into in­nov­at­ive sus­tain­able solu­tions.

Links

Op-ed: Lead­ing with Nature (Dan­ish)
Op-ed ex­plor­ing how busi­nesses can lead with nature by align­ing strategies with eco­sys­tem-based think­ing.
Full article (Børsen)
Op-ed: Four Com­mon Traits of Com­pan­ies Work­ing To­ward a Sus­tain­able Fu­ture (Dan­ish)
Op-ed ex­plor­ing four key traits shared by com­pan­ies shap­ing long-term strategies for a sus­tain­able fu­ture.
Full article (Børsen)

Outside activities

2025

No out­side activ­it­ies to re­port