Ongoing projects

Indonesia is marked by exceptional biodiversity, high vulnerability to climate change, and rapidly expanding digital connectivity. This project investigates how local and digital networks serve as resources for mobilizing collective sustainability action. It explores how civil society actors respond to pressing challenges and organize collective action in support of sustainability goals across diverse contexts of civic participation.

BioCAM4 develops methodologies for mapping Nature-based Climate Action (NBCA) trends worldwide and assessing local opportunities and challenges for NBCAs with dedicated deep-dive studies in two world regions: East Africa and Central America. Focus lies on the climate-biodiversity interdependence, bringing together the broad concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and collaborative climate actions by non-state and subnational actors.

To what extent – and how – do China’s own domestic development experiences shape its international cooperation? And how do partner countries in the Global South evaluate the transfer of so-called “Chinese solutions”? CAGS explores these questions through research in China, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa, bringing together Chinese studies and political science to generate insights for policymakers and the wider public.

The project aims to map global business initiatives for democracy, identify what motivates firms to defend democratic institutions, and build AI-powered simulations to prepare firms against democratic erosion.

In collaboration with UNDP and DW Akademie, the project aims to develop an AI assistant with a multi-agent architecture for depolarization-related programming, capacity building, and training, targeting development practitioners, media professionals, and public communicators.

This research project examines the effectiveness and limitations of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs) in large-scale renewable energy and hydrogen projects. It identifies key challenges and opportunities to strengthen impact assessment practices, reduce implementation barriers, and foster social acceptance of green energy investments.

Research conducted under the “Geopolitics and development” project investigates how geopolitical logics are expressed in and through development partnerships, and how development-related efforts co-shape the geopoliticisation of international cooperation.

This research and policy advisory project provides strategic evidence and analysis to inform and strengthen German development cooperation in global economic governance. It identifies concrete policy options for BMZ and its partners to reform international trade and financial systems and strengthen rules-based multilateral cooperation amid geopolitical tensions and economic fragmentation. By combining research with targeted policy advice, the project generates actionable insights to advance the 2030 Agenda and the socio-ecological transformation, promote gender equality, reduce poverty, and align economic systems with climate goals.

The aim of TRANS4BIO is to provide analysis that supports coordinated efforts to implement the energy transition in a way that ensures nature and people positive outcomes while reducing the risks posed by narrowly-focused climate mitigation policies. The IDOS work package examines cross-border governance of the Dogger Bank sea area in the North Sea, where the expansion of wind farms meets high marine biodiversity.

The Localization and Regionalization in Displacement Contexts (LRDC) project aims to generate empirical evidence on how a partnership-based approach in displacement settings can be effectively implemented across different contexts, working with partners in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Ghana.

The Managing Global Governance (MGG) network brings together governmental institutions, think tanks and research institutions as well as civil society and business organisations from significant rising powers as well as Germany / Europe. It provides an innovative platform for learning and networking with partnerships at eye-level. Its core elements are the dialogue- und training programme MGG Academy, the MGG knowledge cooperation within the context of research projects as well as the policy dialogue in the form of focused consultations on strategic political processes.

African countries and societies are currently undergoing profound transformations that are being driven or shaped by global megatrends, which are long-term developments that largely lie beyond political control. They have far-reaching impacts on social, economic and political systems. This applies, for example, to climate change, urbanisation, digitalisation, demographic change and shifts in the global balance of power.

Multilateralism is undergoing a dramatic transition: geopolitics and power alignments are shifting, basic norms are being undermined, and the institutions that upheld them are losing legitimacy. The global order, and the institutions that support it, are changing – which creates an opportunity to shape, reimagine, and lay the building blocks of a better system. The UN’s 80th anniversary offers both a symbolic and practical moment to steer reforms, lay the groundwork for the next Secretary-General’s agenda, and begin charting a path forward. The work we propose is not about defending the status quo, but reimagining multilateralism so that it is flexible, inclusive, and politically viable.

Achieving the ambitious goals and commitments set out in the Rio Conventions—the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)—is becoming ever more pressing. Fulfilling their targets is essential to safeguard and enhance the well-being of people and the planet, now and in the future. Innovative multilevel governance approaches that bridge international, national, and local levels are needed to reconcile climate and development priorities, reduce policy conflicts, and maximize synergies with governance efforts pursuing the broader Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This project investigates how blended finance mobilizes private investment to support green SMEs and SMEs operating in climate-vulnerable sectors in Ghana. The study explores whether and under what conditions blended finance instruments can overcome financing barriers in high-risk environments and contribute to climate-resilient development. It focuses on how different blended finance structures shape investment decisions, risk-sharing mechanisms, and capital mobilisation. Particular attention is given to variations in fund design, financial instruments, sectoral focus, and risk profiles, and how these differences influence SME financing outcomes. The project is embedded in broader debates on private sector engagement in sustainable development and climate finance, and is theoretically grounded in blended finance and resource mobilization perspectives, which highlight how concessional public resources can catalyse private investment by improving risk-return conditions and addressing market failures.

The research focuses on localization and regionalization in displacement contexts in Kenya. It is framed within the broader contexts of the limitations of conventional top-down approaches in development cooperation and the steady decline in funding. In addition, it offers the opportunity to understand in a formal context how states, through regional bodies such as the East Africa Community (EAC) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) cooperate to find solutions to displacement. Local activities also take place through informal channels that are transborder and involve non-state micro and meso level actors such as refugee-led organizations, NGOs, business associations, religious organizations, and women’s trade networks and support groups. Their activities offer the possibility to bridge the gap between national policies and regional displacement dynamics. The research takes a decolonial approach to development cooperation by addressing power asymmetries that impede local leadership and overlook local dynamics that do not fit into dominant paradigms.

The objective of this research group is to explore how Germany can develop long-standing, trust-based partnerships with a select country in Sub-Saharan Africa to help secure a steady supply of CRMs. For this, the research group will focus on exploring the ethical, societal, and ecological implications of mining at micro (local, community level) and meso scales (governance, regional government, national government) in the case country, Zambia, selecting two metal mining streams: copper and nickel. Using the lens of just transition, this research will explore what a just transition would mean for people in mining communities, especially when they themselves struggle with energy poverty and limited electrification.

Political institutions are a key factor for the success of global sustainability policy, yet they are only limitedly considered quantitatively in current climate and sustainability scenarios. PoliClim contributes to cloing this gap by further developing political science models and linking them with REMIND, the influential integrated climate-economic model of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

This research and policy advisory project provides strategic evidence and analysis to inform and strengthen German development cooperation in the areas of global health and social protection. It identifies concrete policy options for BMZ and its partners to enhance the effectiveness, coherence, and impact of interventions in global health and social protection. By combining empirical research, policy dialogue, and targeted advisory outputs, the project generates actionable insights on how financing, governance, and service delivery can jointly strengthen health, reduce poverty, and mitigate migration pressures.

This research and policy advice project aims to identify international strategies and development policy options that protect and promote democracy, social cohesion and peace. To achieve this, it explores the patterns and typical dynamics of autocratization and democratization processes in countries of the Global South and how these are related to polarization and social cohesion dynamics. We prominently analyse the interplay of domestic factors with international ones. On the one hand, the project focuses on the possibilities and limits of international cooperation, especially within the realm of development policy to counteract, halt and possibly reverse trends towards autocratization and polarization. Secondly, the project addresses the question of how development policy strategies and measures can potentially promote and strengthen autocratization and polarization processes and discusses which and how elements of the strategies and measures need to be adapted in these contexts to minimize these risks. All mentioned topics are examined in two dimensions of reality (offline and online).

RethinkBlue focuses on the blue economy and related policies. The project brings together scientists and stakeholders from 31 countries to exchange knowledge, build a strong European network of experts and promote active collaboration. Scientific interactions focus on five themes: (1) maritime occupations, (2) food security & sustainable blue consumption, (3) port cities & coastal communities, (4) fisheries governance & emergent activities, (5) climate change & natural hazards.

Die Wissenschaftsplattform Nachhaltigkeit 2030 (wpn2030) dient als Schnittstelle zwischen Wissenschaft und Politik, um Fragen der Nachhaltigkeitspolitik zu reflektieren und die Weiterentwicklung der Deutschen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie (DNS) mit wissenschaftlicher Expertise zu unterstützen – z.B. im Rahmen der Arbeit zu den Transformationsbereichen. Die Plattform arbeitet unabhängig und ist systematisch eingebunden in den offiziellen politischen Steuerungs-, Dialog- und Umsetzungsprozess der Agenda 2030 in, mit und durch Deutschland.

The project develops possible implementation pathways for inclusive green industrial policy for a Just Transition in particularly relevant fields of German development cooperation. These must be adapted to the context of low- and middle-income countries and be based on scientific evidence. Through its focus, the project contributes application-oriented scientific expertise to the BMZ's priority area "Promoting Just Transition".

The latest developments in the Middle East and North Africa are raising the question, in which way Germany and Europe can cooperate with the different countries in the region. In this research and policy advice project IDOS investigates how international and Western donors can act in this context and better support local reform initiatives to promote economically, socially, ecologically and politically sustainable development.

This project examines the profoundly transformative phenomenon of navigation dredging. As ports across the world deepen their ports to accommodate ever-larger oceangoing ships, dredging is assuming a more prominent role in coastal environmental management and policy. The project investigates how dredging firms and state entities develop technologies, analytical techniques, financial mechanisms, and capital to accomplish harbor deepening projects and ship channel expansions. We focus on four case studies across the EU and the United States.

The concept of "effectiveness" has always been a core component of the policy field of development cooperation and served as a major aspiration. However, the concrete interpretation and application of this term has constantly evolved as part of a broader “results agenda”. Specifically in this research project, effectiveness will be analysed as a context-dependent definition, in order to analyse three key areas of development cooperation.

This project assesses the degree of global democratic decline in recent decades and explores why democracy has persisted in so many countries despite the rise of populist forces and an increasingly hostile international environment. Drawing on different original datasets, statistical analyses, and detailed case studies, the project expects to show that such resilience is grounded in two factors: economic development and authoritarian weakness.

New models of urban coalitions building and governance will be facilitated through catalyst projects, capacity building and the use of art in five Urban Labs in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Transformative research will support and analyse the process to arrive at lessons that can be replicated elsewhere.

The global landscape for UN development work is undergoing profound changes, with shifts in economic and political power structures. Emerging powers such as China are gaining significant influence, the Global South is asserting itself more confidently, and global crises demand new approaches to development. Against this backdrop, this research and advisory project examines both the UN development system as an institution and global political context in which it operates. It also identifies recommendations for shaping the cooperation between the UN and Germany, as a key contributor to the organisation and proponent of multilateralism.