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” (2011-2017), developed and coordinating the Network-Forum for Biodiversity Research Germany (NeFo) and co-coordinated the former Horizon2020 EKLIPSE project, which has set up a knowledge brokering mechanism Eklipse at the European Science-Policy Interface to answer questions from policy makers and other societal actors on biodiversity related issues. Eklipse takes also a leading role in BioAgora, an EU-funded project (2022-2028), which aims to set up the science service to ratchet up the implementation of the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy.
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 & Social-Ecological Systems
Dr. Marie Vandewalle
Dr. Elisabeth Marquard
Candice Pouget
Dr. Karla Locher-Krause
Anna Salomaa
Department of Environmental Politics
Dr. Heidi Wittmer
Dr. Johannes Förster
Dr. Julian Rode
Dr. Karla Locher-Krause
Dr. Marcela Munoz Escobar
Department of Economics
Prof. Dr. Bernd Hansjürgens
Dr. Christoph Schröter-Schlaack
Malin Gütschow
Dr. Stephanie Jahn
Dr. Robin Siebert
Simon Werner
Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology
Zora Marie Reckhaus
