Climate Change, Development and Migration

The professorship of Kati Krähnert, who heads the ‘Climate Impacts and Adaptation’ research group at RWI, is anchored in the RUB's CURE field of expertise.

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The professorship of Renate Hartwig, who heads the ‘Population and Development’ research group at RWI, is anchored in the CISE field of expertise at RUB.

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The ifso is linked to the Policy Lab via joint doctoral training programmes through co-financing of doctoral positions.

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The Policy Lab co-operates with the RWI research department ‘Environment and Resources’ on environmental and energy-economic issues in the Global South.

The RWI research department ‘Macroeconomics and Public Finance’ contributes expertise in modern instruments for macroeconomic analyses and forecasts in developing and emerging countries.  

The Policy Lab Briefings format focuses on dialog with decision-makers from politics and practice. The dialog is conducted in both directions: On the one hand, the members of the Policy Lab communicate relevant research results - both their own findings and the current state of science. On the other hand, we take up the needs and impulses from practice in order to further develop our research agenda in a targeted manner.

The Policy Lab Briefings use a variety of formats to promote this exchange. These include exclusive discussion rounds with decision-makers, contributions at specialist conferences and participation in initiatives such as Leibniz im Bundestag. Our aim is to establish a continuous, in-depth and trusting dialog that transfers scientific findings directly into practice and at the same time integrates practice-relevant questions into research.

The Policy Lab Fellows format focuses on intensive cooperation with our partners. The fellowship program creates bilateral connections within the Policy Lab's research network and thus promotes knowledge exchange and networking. We pursue two central goals with the Policy Lab Fellows: Firstly, we bind young researchers from the region more closely to the Policy Lab and create a supportive, collaborative environment. Secondly, we offer our partners from the Global South a direct link to our team in order to jointly develop practice-oriented and scientifically sound solutions.

The Policy Lab Fellowships are divided into Junior and Senior Fellowships in order to respond to the different needs and experiences of our partners. The Junior Fellowships are aimed at Master's students and doctoral candidates from neighboring universities and enable them to actively participate in our research network. With the Senior Fellowships, we integrate our experienced project partners from the Global South into the Policy Lab network and thus create long-term partnerships and synergies.

The Policy Lab Gathering is a dynamic forum in which researchers come together for thematic and methodological workshops to exchange ideas, present their research and discuss current developments in scientific and political debates. On the one hand, it promotes exchange between the members of the Policy Lab in closed meetings. On the other hand, meetings are organized together with external researchers to promote networking and the exchange of ideas. In addition to more informal meetings, the Policy Lab also strives to organize publicly visible workshops with Policy Lab branding, including those in established formats, such as the Leibniz Environment and Development Symposium in November 2023 or the German Development Conference 2027.  

Policy Lab Invites is the Policy Lab's research seminar. Invited guests present research work that is closely related to the topics and methods of the Policy Lab. The seminar has an interactive and discussion-oriented character, so that guests and Policy Lab members can engage intensively with the subject matter. The Invites seminar lectures take place in the Policy Lab's open working spaces in Essen or in the Berlin office, which offer an informal, comfortable and personal environment. Invites seminar talks tend to take place in small groups. The Invites meetings are open - the only condition for participation is pro-active interest. We therefore generally ask for registration.  Invitations are sent to the members of the Policy Lab, but of course also to the entire RWI and in the future to a growing circle of potentially interested people at our partner institutions in the neighborhood (RUB, UDE).   

The Policy Lab is committed to the established RWI claim Research with Impact. Our aim is to conduct policy-relevant research and to contribute our findings and expertise to debates. We are also committed to reflecting our own actions and the social role of science in science communication - Research with Introspection. Media presence through sensational and condensed statements is therefore not our approach. Instead, we try to communicate science from the Policy Lab in a way that is prepared to convey complexity. We are targeting journalists who have a little more time and interest for a more in-depth exchange. However, we are also addressing media professionals who we know already bring expertise to the table and challenge us with it.

Policy Lab Radio is devoting a dedicated project to this idea, in which we are developing and piloting approaches to meet our aspirations. In particular, we are trying to be present in media formats that enable in-depth science communication. This includes classic formats such as op-eds and background talks with journalists who are open to complexity, but also newer formats such as podcasts and blog posts. Just as important to Policy Lab Radio as quantitative reach is broadcasting to high-quality target groups. These can be blog posts, which are known to be read by decision-makers, or podcasts, which are listened to in a narrow but committed scientific community.  We also distribute individual papers and studies, e.g. via press releases, but do so in such a way that the assumptions made when extrapolating the findings and the status of the research, as well as other prevalent perspectives in the research community, are communicated very visibly.  

Based on the concept of "vertical journalism", we call this "vertical science communication".