Our Approach

We are a think tank based in Berlin that conducts applied policy research and advises and connects scientific and political decision-makers in the field of planetary health. We achieve this with an interpersonal culture of diversity, tolerance and equal rights, as well as an open culture of mistakes and feedback, which we live internally and apply externally.

Our self-conception is based on five principles that characterise our work:

Independence

We prepare and represent our analyses independently, especially with regard to the influence of political parties, governments and commercial actors. We have sole editorial control over our ideas and products and do not pursue any entrepreneurial or political interests, but exclusively the protection and promotion of health within planetary boundaries.

Scientific rigor

We work on the basis of the best available scientific evidence. Since we operate in a complex and rapidly changing field, we deal constructively with uncertainties in our knowledge and make them transparent. Our approach is empirical, factual, open-ended, and oriented towards the grand challenges and opportunities in the field of planetary health. We follow the guidelines of good scientific practice, based on the Code of Conduct of the German Research Foundation (DFG). For quality assurance purposes, our analyses are subjected to an internal peer-review process. We publish in recognised scientific journals and continue our education through internal and external training.

Policy relevance

Our work aims to influence the political arena and to contribute our expertise to executive, legislative and judicial action. At the same time, it remains committed to our own goals. We develop courses of action and highlight risks and opportunities for transformation or highlight their absence. In this context, we contribute to early crisis detection and strategic crisis foresight. We also identify future issues and actively place them on political agendas. To this end, we use windows of opportunity and key change agents to address forward-looking policy processes and dialogues at the national and international levels. We participate in global political processes and cooperate on a par with partners from other countries at the European and global level.

Participation through co-creation

With co-creative formats we produce knowledge together with our target groups (knowledge circulation) and bring together positions, experiences and knowledge from our inter- and transdisciplinary network of experts and practitioners as well as the network of the German Alliance on Climate Change and Health (KLUG). Together, we develop a deep understanding of planetary health challenges and their policy solutions. We work closely with other scientific and policy advisors and harness synergies. We act as a facilitator and connector between health professionals, science and policy-makers in Germany and Europe. In the process, we provide new impetus.

Transformation

We understand ourselves as change agents. Our work aims to translate existing knowledge into concrete courses of action and transformation pathways with the goal of protecting and promoting human health within planetary boundaries. In this way, we want to initiate change in the health care system towards more health equity and resilience with an exemplary effect on society, other sectors, science and the economy.