Transfer and sustainability

All five institutes of our Faculty recognise their social responsibility. Knowledge transfer and intensive exchange with social, political and industry stakeholders are a key element of their research. Our transfer work focuses on science and research communication with the interested (professional) public both on a dialogue basis and through educational and participatory formats. Knowledge transfer will continue to be a priority to our Faculty as we strive to make our research results available to the public and decision-makers and shape public discourse.

Our transfer activities comprise a wide range of science communication instruments, including political consulting in the strict sense, provision of expert opinions, information transfer and classification of developments in the (social) media and through other formats aimed at the general public, scientific supervision of policy consulting, networking and engaging with various stakeholders, application-oriented research projects with transfer components, field research and teaching projects involving local players, many training and professional-development programmes (including digital formats) and a large variety of publications aimed at the general (professional) public.

The IAQ, for instance, publishes three online publication series: its regular IAQ Report, which briefly and comprehensibly discusses the Institute’s research results, IAQ Research containing longer research reports, and IAQ Standpunkt, a series in which employees of the Institute discuss current issues. This is in addition to its specific publications, such as the age transition report issued as part of the Age Transition Monitor system, some of which are published over the course of several years.

In recent years, the NRW School of Governance and the CIVES! School of Civic Education have bundled some of their research topics into broad categories to give specific external target groups greater insight into their relevant competences. The NRW School of Governance, for instance, offers the Master of Public Policy, a part-time career development course aimed at decision-makers and young professionals working in administrative bodies, political parties, associations, companies and the media. With its CIVES! School of Civic Education, the Faculty makes a significant contribution to boosting the visibility and profile of teacher education at UDE.

Applied-research projects constitute another key component of the Faculty’s academic transfer activities. The INEF has achieved great success in acquiring high-ranking research and consultancy projects in the past years, including a flagship project on human rights, corporate responsibility and sustainable development and a project on escaping poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity. Both are funded by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. In its evaluation on the research discipline of peace and conflict studies, the German Council of Science and Humanities has lauded the INEF not only for its success in securing external funding but as a positive example in the field of transferring practically relevant knowledge.