DKK annual conference 2021Science-policy interface in the 2020s - are we prepared?

23 April 2021, by CSS

Photo: Laura Aziz

***this is an English translation of the original post by DKK here on their website***

The upcoming federal election and six state elections make this year a super election year in Germany. The timing could not be more appropriate, because the climate policies of the 2020s, which are now beginning, will determine whether Germany, whether Europe, will be climate neutral by the middle of the century. At its annual digital conference on 15 April, the German Climate Consortium (DKK) discussed with Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Michael Meister, Professor Jürgen Renn and other guests how we can set the course for this goal over the next ten years.

"In times of such heated debates, independent scientific expertise is needed more than ever. We need it as a basis for political discussions and decisions. Science reminds society and politicians again and again how urgently we need to combat global warming," said Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze in her speech at this year's DKK Annual Conference. A task that is part of the founding DNA of the DKK, a scientific association of climate research institutions.

How science can fulfil this task in the coming years and what challenges need to be overcome in the process was discussed by the approximately 140 guests from the Association and from science, politics, business and civil society during the digital conference, which was moderated by DKK Managing Director Marie-Luise Beck. It also became clear that further tasks will be added in the 2020s - for example with regard to the necessary transformation knowledge and its communication.

In his keynote speech, Professor Jürgen Renn, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, emphasised the importance of transdisciplinary research to generate new knowledge. Furthermore, he differentiated between the different types of knowledge: "Without orientation knowledge, society acts aimlessly, without system knowledge it is blind, and without transformation knowledge it is left to the tragedy of long-term goals." In the break-out groups that followed, one of the topics discussed was how to bring this knowledge into social and political processes. Positive narratives and new communication formats could play a role here.

In the panel discussion with Professor Jürgen Renn, Member of the Bundestag Dr. Ernst Dieter Rossmann, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. Michael Meister and Professor Anita Engels, the importance of transdisciplinary research was taken up again. The participants agreed that additional incentives and opportunities should be created to promote it. In addition, they said, science must pay more attention to "realpolitik" realities.

At the end of the event, Professor Jochem Marotzke reminded the audience of the urgency and unprecedented scale of the necessary transformation of society as a whole if we are to achieve the Paris climate goals - and the relevance of research to accompany this process as productively as possible.

You can watch the keynote speech by Prof. Jürgen Renn here on Youtube [in German, 20 min].

The short summary of the conference by Prof. Jochem Marotzke can be seen here on Youtube [in German, 5 min].