Netzwerk

Belmont Forum

The Belmont Forum, founded in 2009, is an association of funding organizations, international scientific organizations and regional associations that want to jointly advance and promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. The German Members are the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). One of the tasks of the DKN is to advise on the participation of German funding institutions in the programs of the Belmont Forum.

The work of the Forum is guided by a document entitled "The Belmont Challenge". The members of the Forum cooperate to meet the challenges described there by promoting research topics of high international importance and issuing calls for "Collaborative Research Actions (CRA)". The focus is on international transdisciplinary research that generates knowledge for understanding and coping with global environmental change.

Science Platform Sustainability 2030

The DKN actively supports the implementation of the national sustainability strategy in Germany through the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn2030) as one of three Research Coordinators (together with SDSN Germany and IASS Potsdam). In the framework of the Science Platform, funded by the BMBF since 2017, the DKN supports the contribution of science to the implementation of the Agenda 2030 in political decision-making processes at the national level.

One of the Science Platform's aims is to identify central fields of action in order to stimulate, organize and moderate the dialogue between politics, business and civil society as well as with and within the scientific community. The ministries BMBF, BMU, BMZ, BMEL and the Federal Chancellery are in close exchange with the Science Platform. The platform offers an opportunity for exchange with national key players in the field of global sustainability. DKN Chair Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob acts as one of three co-chairs of the platform, DKN Executive Director Dr. Sebastian Sonntag is ex-officio member of the Science Platform’s Steering Committee.

SDSN Germany

In order to intensify the exchange with societal actors on sustainability issues, the DKN entered into a strategic partnership with the German branch of the international "Sustainable Development Solutions Network" (SDSN Germany). This cooperation takes place as part of a close exchange and in particular in the joint support of the Science Platform Sustainability 2030 (wpn2030).

SDSN Germany was founded in 2014 by leading German knowledge centres and partners from civil society and the private sector as part of the global SDSN to promote sustainable development in the country and encourage Germany’s commitment to sustainable development in the European Union (EU) and around the world.