Das Projekt "Integriertes kommunales Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von ICLEI - Local Goverments for Sustainability, Europasekretariat GmbH durchgeführt. The PRIMUS project has been designed to bridge the gap between research on the European level on one hand, and policy-making at (and for) the local level on the other hand. The theme chosen for this 36-months coordination action is 'sustainable urban management', thus covering the way how the various policy areas of urban development (energy/water/waste, transport, planning and design, social inclusion, etc) are integrated, rather than one of these themes in particular. This focus is based on the assumption that the decoupling of environmental degradation and economic growth can only be achieved through a better management and governance of the largely inter-dependent issues of urban development. Indicators and information systems, efficient and effective policy processes, and innovative public participation are the main instruments to set ambitious targets, gain wide acceptance, and implement behavioural changes in society. The project is built around a series of events of different nature - so-called Connection Fora, Linkage Fora and Implementation Fora - linking into and building upon each other. They convene local governments from across Europe, researchers in the field of urban sustainability management, and national ministries and agencies dealing with sustainability policies directed at the local level in their respective Member States. A pilot dimension of the project is the 'explorative application' of two selected research-based tools for sustainable urban management by some 100 local governments throughout Europe. This application should explore the connectivity between research and policy-making and deliver criteria for its general enhancement in other thematic areas and in the future. With the European Report on Urban Sustainability - the first of its kind and derived from this explorative application - PRIMUS will demonstrate the fascinating potential of a better connectivity between research and policy-making.
Das Projekt "Reshaping Science-Policy Interactions in Climate Policy: International Stock-Taking and Lessons for Austria" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Freiburg, Institut für Forst- und Umweltpolitik durchgeführt. ReSciPI strives to provide policy-relevant insights on how climate science and climate policy can be integrated in a more productive way. The project builds on an innovative theoretical approach that clearly goes beyond mere 'knowledge transfer and conceptualizes science-policy interactions in an iterative and reflexive manner ('knowledge brokerage, KB). Specifically, ReSciPI aims to: (i) map and analyze the institutions, actors and processes of science-policy interaction in Austrian climate policy in order to identify the strengths, weaknesses, potentials and obstacles for an effective KB; (ii) provide an overview of different forms of institutionalization of climate KB in selected industrialized countries (stocktaking survey); (iii) get a profound understanding of how climate science and climate policy are effectively integrated in innovative KB models (in-depth cases); (iv) to provide options on how to improve institutions and processes of KB by synthesizing the empirical in-sights gained and critically reflecting with relevant stakeholders, preferably in the ACRP Forum, on how a productive climate science-policy interface in Austria and beyond could look like.