Science Platform Sustainability 2030

Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn20320) is commencing its second funding period as a complementary research project. An activity report (in German) covering its first funding period from 2017 to 2021 offers an overview of the platform’s objectives and outcomes as well as its various formats for dialogue and participation.

The draft proposal for Brandenburg’s future sustainable development strategy has met with a mixed response from Brandenburg's Sustainability Advisory Board and Sustainability Platform Brandenburg, two bodies coordinated by the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS). The strategy’s alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and commitment to adopting a whole-of-government approach to sustainability challenges were noted positively by both organisations. However, the strategy lacks "an overarching vision of where Brandenburg wants to go" and a clear roadmap and timeline for efforts to achieve the state’s goals.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has convened the new German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE). RIFS Scientific Director Mark Lawrence will serve a three-year term on the council. At the inaugural meeting held at the Federal Chancellery on 15 February 2023, the members unanimously elected Reiner Hoffmann, the former president of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), to chair the council.

Will changes in our routines and lifestyles during the pandemic translate into more sustainable behaviour over the longer term? A team of researchers from the Science Platform for Climate Protection (Wissenschaftsplattform Klimaschutz - WPKS) examined this question with the support of the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and considered whether policy measures could help to consolidate gains.

"The German government has made important changes as it charts a new course for sustainability policy," commented the co-chairs of Science Platform Sustainability 2030 – Daniela Jacob, Mark Lawrence and Christa Liedtke – on the latest revision of the German Sustainable Development Strategy, which was approved and published by Cabinet on Wednesday, 10 March 2021. The introduction of six transformation areas in conjunction with enhanced reporting processes around the so-called "off-track indicators" and the related measures is a particularly promising development, they said.

Sharing knowledge and experience, collaboration, and coordinated action across politics, science, and society are vital to foster sustainable development and deliver on the goals of the German Sustainable Development Strategy. An online dialogue conducted on 10 February 2021 brought together experts from the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Sustainable Development and the co-chairs of Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn2030) Christa Liedtke (Wuppertal Institute) and Mark Lawrence (IASS).

The Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn2030) has published a report with recommendations for the Federal Government on fostering sustainable work. In the report, the authors call for a new understanding of what constitutes "good work" and urge policymakers to use the German Sustainable Development Strategy as a framework to promote sustainable work.

The Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn2030) started the New Year with a new management team. Daniela Jacob, Director of the Climate Service Center Germany and Chairperson of the German Committee Future Earth (DKN Future Earth), and Christa Liedtke, Director of the Sustainable Production and Consumption department at the Wuppertal Institute, Professor at the Folkwang University of the Arts, and member of the Steering Committee of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Germany, have joined IASS Director Patrizia Nanz at the helm of the Platform.

From 31 May 2019, researchers of all disciplines are invited to contribute to the further development of Germany’s Sustainable Development Strategy – the overarching framework for sustainability policy in Germany. For this purpose, the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 is organising the online consultation “A Question of Science: Putting Germany’s Sustainability Strategy to the Test”.

“Sustainability must become a key principle of the European Union’s new strategic agenda,” argues Patrizia Nanz, co-chair of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030, in the run-up to the meeting of the European Council in Romania on 9 May 2019. The meeting will bring together the heads of state and government of the EU Member States to discuss the Union’s future political direction and priorities.

Digitalisation is changing not only how we live and work, but also how governments operate and make laws. Synthetic biology and new genetic engineering methods allow for targeted interventions in our bodies, quality of life and private sphere, while also transforming the way we think about society and politics. The erstwhile peace project Europe is mired in crisis, and people are losing faith in democracy and the state. There is an urgent need for innovations to open up new avenues for politics and administration. A new IASS Policy Brief makes a number of recommendations for governing in the twenty-first century.

Greater cooperation is needed to advance sustainability, urges Patrizia Nanz, co-chair of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030. Her statement supports a central finding of the “2018 Peer Review on the German Sustainability Strategy”, which was launched in Berlin at the 18th Annual Conference of the Council for Sustainable Development on 4 June.

In its inaugural publication, the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 has called for a significant increase in efforts to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Germany.