Environmental economist Prof. Dr. Sebastian Tonke from the Technical University of Munich has been awarded the prestigious Joachim Herz Prize for his innovative research project on sustainable drinking water use. He will receive €500,000 to study effective incentives for water conservation in households. 

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Tonke, an environmental economist based in Munich, has been awarded the 2026 Joachim Herz Prize, one of Germany’s most valuable scientific awards, recognizing his groundbreaking research on sustainable drinking water use.

The award ceremony took place on August 27, 2026, in Hamburg. Tonke will receive €500,000 for his project aimed at developing effective incentives to reduce water consumption amidst growing concerns about water scarcity due to climate change.

In his study, Tonke is integrating digital water meters with a smartphone app, allowing households to monitor their drinking water usage in real time. His research will analyze which strategies effectively encourage families to conserve water, with the goal of assisting water utilities and policymakers in formulating better conservation measures.

As stated by the Federal Statistical Office, a significant portion of Germany’s drinking water—around 80%—is consumed by private households and small businesses. This highlights the urgency of addressing water conservation, particularly as droughts and regional shortages become more prevalent. Over the past 25 years, Germany has lost 60 km³ of water, equivalent to twenty times the volume of Lake Starnberg, according to Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider.

Tonke’s project, named WETTER (Water Efficiency through Technology, Targeting, and Experimental Research), aims to equip 4,000 households with digital water meters to gather data on water usage behavior and assess the effectiveness of various conservation incentives. These insights could potentially be applied to the management of other resources, such as energy.

About the Joachim Herz Prize
The Joachim Herz Foundation honours outstanding researchers whose interdisciplinary work helps shape a more sustainable future. Endowed with € 500,000, the Joachim Herz Prize supports innovative projects by early-career researchers seeking to deepen their research or translate scientific insights into practical applications. The Joachim Herz Prize is among the most highly endowed research awards in Germany.

Find out more about on the Joachim Herz Foundation website.

About Sebastian Tonke
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Tonke is a professor of environmental economics at the TUM School of Life Sciences and the TUM School of Management. His research lies at the intersection of environmental and behavioral economics. He studies the motives underlying economic behavior and tests their policy implications to address environmental challenges —particularly in the sustainable management of water and waste. In large-scale studies, he examines how various measures work, what their weaknesses are, and whether they influence one another. Tonke completed his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Cologne in 2019. From 2019 to 2026, he worked as a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics in Bonn. He was a visiting research fellow at Harvard University in spring 2024. 

Find out more about Sebastian Tonke on his TU Munich profile page.

Full press release: joachim-herz-stiftung.de