UFZ Science-Policy Expert Group
Developing the backbone of the science-policy interface
for our future environment
The UFZ Science-Policy Expert Group is an interdisciplinary team at UFZ bringing together expertise from the Departments of Conservation Biology, Environmental Politics and Economics. Over the past years the group has established a leading role in research on science-policy interfaces (SPI) and actively designed and supported such interfaces, among others by carrying out the scientific coordination of the global study on “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” (TEEB) from 2008 − 2010, coordinated the study “Natural Capital Germany − TEEB DE” (until 2017), currently developing and coordinating the Network-Forum for Biodiversity Research Germany and co-coordinating the Horizon2020 EKLIPSE project, which is setting up a European Science-Policy Interface to answer questions from policy makers and other societal actors on biodiversity related issues.
Recent Highlight
The UFZ Science-Policy Expert Group and the UFZ Knowledge Transfer department are organising a series of Science Policy Interface seminars
Seminar Nr 1: Wednesday 13th February, 2019 (9am–12:30pm) Introduction to the Science Policy Society Interface – Room 254 (UFZ Leipzig Vortragssaal, Building 1.0)
Keynote speakers: Roger Pielke, Allan Watt, Juliette Young and Josef Settele (detailed programme here)
Register to participate or Live Streaming link: https://youtu.be/8rVfwsgO-us (questions live via www.menti.com (Code: 28 18 63) or or via Twitter #SPI_UFZ)
Seminar Nr 2: Monday 11th March 2018 (1pm – 4pm) – The SPI work at the UFZ and its success stories - Room 254 (Vortragssaal, Building 1.0 in Leipzig)
Seminar Nr 3: Monday 18th March 2018 (1pm – 4pm) – The future of SPI work at the UFZ - Room 254 (Vortragssaal, Building 1.0 in Leipzig
More information: contact Dr. Marie Vandewalle (marie.vandewalle@ufz.de)
Mission
As an honest broker based on the broad research expertise of UFZ and our partners, the group aims at supporting governance and decision making for a sustainable management of our environment.
Main areas of expertise and approaches
The group has broad research expertise on the political and institutional dimensions of SPIs and links this knowledge with expertise in particular on biodiversity and ecosystem services, but also on climate, land use and land use change, technology assessment and other areas, from natural and social sciences.
In addition, we have long-standing experience with designing, establishing, monitoring and coordinating science-policy processes and improving their relevance for environmental governance, including economic analysis and policy design. For that, we liaise closely with partners from research, policy and practice by developing a network with a mid- to long-term perspective.
We directly advise German ministries, the German Parliament (Deutscher Bundestag), the EU Commission and international organisations on matters concerning the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and other science-policy activities.
One concept our group works with: the Network of Networks, which acknowledges that in today's knowledge landscapes, many institutions exist already where relevant knowledge for science-policy interactions is situated and which are networked already (euther thematically and/or regionally) and that the major challenge rather lies in linking them and acknowledging their contributions, rather than in finding the knowledge in first place.
Projects, Publications and Workshops
To get to know more about our work, visit the following details pages:
Projects
Research projects – SPI Design and Coordination projects – Consulting and other services
Publications
Scientific papers – Interface products – Videos - Presentations
The Expert Group's workshop series
The group arranges regular high-ranking international workshops between scientific experts and practitioners on different aspects of the science-policy-interfacing, aiming at supporting scientific as well as practical developments in the field. Find out more on our workshop page.
Involved staff
Department of Conservation Biology
Prof. Dr. Kurt Jax
Dr. Marianne Darbi
Dr. Elisabeth Marquard
Dr. Marie Vandewalle
Department of Environmental Politics
Dr. Heidi Wittmer
Dr. Silke Beck
Dr. Johannes Förster
Dr. Julian Rode
Department of Economics
Prof. Dr. Bernd Hansjürgens
Dr. Christoph Schröter-Schlaack
