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Angesichts der drängenden Herausforderungen unserer Zeit erwarten große Teile der Öffentlichkeit und Politik eine engagierte Wissenschaft, die sich aktiv an der Lösung ökologischer, ökonomischer und sozialer Probleme beteiligt. Diese Erwartungshaltung hat dazu beigetragen, Diskussionen über eine "third mission" der Wissenschaft aufzuwerfen. Damit verbunden sind Fragen zu gesellschaftlichem Engagement und Distanz zur Politik in Forschung und Lehre, mit denen sich bereits der amerikanische Wissenschaftssoziologe Robert K. Merton in den 30er Jahren des vergangenen Jahrhunderts beschäftigte und die ihn dazu bewogen, ein Ethos der Wissenschaft zu postulieren. (...)
Vor dem Hintergrund der Traumatisierung der Wissenschaft durch den Nationalsozialismus und seine dramatischen Folgen stellt sich heute nach wie vor die Frage, ob - und wenn ja wie - Forschung und Lehre gegen politische Intervention und Pervertierung immunisiert werden können. Gibt es überhaupt so etwas wie "reine Wissenschaft" und wie lässt sich diese abgrenzen? Brauchen wir ein Wissenschaftsethos oder gibt es dazu Alternativen?
Im Folgenden versuchen wir uns diesen Fragen zu nähern. Wir sind weder Wissenschaftssoziologen noch Wissenschaftshistoriker und werden deshalb nur sehr kursorisch auf die entsprechenden Forschungen verweisen. Wir nähern uns den Fragen zum einen aus der Perspektive der angewandten Nachhaltigkeitsforschung und zum anderen mit einem wissenschaftsphilosophischen und erkenntnistheoretischen Hintergrund. Unsere Kritik an Mertons Ansatz hat daher sowohl einen explizit praktischen als auch philosophischen Zugang.
The article introduces and exemplifies the approach of evidence-based narratives (EBN). The methodology is a product of co-design between policy-making and science, generating robust intelligence for evidence-based policy-making in the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission (DG RTD) under the condition of high uncertainty and fragmented evidence. The EBN transdisciplinary approach tackles practical problems of future-oriented policy-making, in this case in the area of programming for research and innovation addressing the Grand Societal Challenge related to climate change and natural resources. Between 2013 and 2018, the EU-funded RECREATE project developed 20 EBNs in a co-development process between scientists and policy-makers. All EBNs are supported with evidence about the underlying innovation system applying the technological innovation systems (TIS) framework. Each TIS analysis features the innovation, its current state of market diffusion and a description of the innovation investment case. Indicators include potential future market sizes, effects on employment and environmental and social benefits. Based on the innovation and TIS function analyses, the EBNs offer policy recommendations. The article ends with a critical discussion of the EBN approach.
In his essay, the author presents a stock-taking of the debate on Green Deals. The starting point of this personal assessment is a brief outline of the content and impact of a study in which the author and colleagues published a first outline of a "Green New Deal for Europe" as a political response to the 2008 financial crisis. 2008 had been a critical juncture for mainstream economics: however, from the perspective of policy-learning, the period after has been a lost decade. The European Green Deal as presented by the European Commission in 2019 can be perceived as a historic milestone and confirmation of a regime change in mainstream economic policy in which ecological considerations gain in importance. Yet, the Deal suffers from major deficits. In sum, the European Green Deal could be interpreted as an insufficient attempt to take advantage of the rapidly closing windows of opportunity for a peaceful transition towards sustainability. On the eve of a planetary crisis, the governance of economic transitions towards sustainability needs to be improved and accelerated. Reflecting on the 2009 study A Green New Deal for Europe, this essay attempts to draw a few lessons and frugal heuristics for the policy-design of Green Deals.
Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute considerably to Germany's carbon emissions, regional savings and cooperative banks - SMEs' most important financiers - hardly consider this aspect in lending to these businesses. However, given Germany's commitment to climate neutrality by 2045, suitable approaches for injecting climate finance into these SME lending processes are greatly required. Against this background, the paper at hand aims to introduce the specific case of regional banks into the debate on green finance and green banking and suggest future research in this context. In discussing the state of research on the peculiarities of regional savings and cooperative banks, we outline the resulting opportunities and limitations for climate impact assessments in SME lending. We argue that while the dual bottom-line orientation of regional banks in Germany precludes them from applying simple positive or negative screenings, their in-depth knowledge about local clients and circumstances enables them to be active and engaging partners for the green transformation of SMEs. Nonetheless, we explain why developing solutions to utilise this knowledge for climate finance by integrating climate impact assessments into routine lending processes remains a particularly challenging task.