ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS

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1 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ANALYSIS Photograph courtesy of IISD/ Earth Negotiations Bulletin 1

2 IN SHORT The Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, created in late 2001, is a vibrant international group of around thirty researchers, faculty members and PhD students at the VU University Amsterdam, contributing to both the Institute for Environmental Studies and the broader, newly launched Amsterdam Global Change Institute. The team shares an interest in analysing policies, institutions and governance mechanisms in the field of sustainable development, and in exploring new forms of governance that better secure a transition to sustainable production and consumption. Multidisciplinary A defining characteristic of our group is a high degree of multidisciplinarity within the social sciences that brings together experts from international relations, law, management studies, philosophy, political science, science and technology studies, public administration, and psychology. Our research projects require intense teamwork, problemorientation, and the integration and combination of different methods and approaches, thereby creating opportunities to pioneer new methods and tools. International The Department is marked by a strong commitment to international research collaboration. Most projects are international in either funding or focus, and several team members are active often in leading positions in global research networks, such as the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Professor Frank Biermann, Department Head EPA, and General Director of the Netherlands Research School for Socioeconomic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE). 2

3 Research focus The Department s leading research theme is Governance for Sustainable Development. Governance has become a key concept in policy research, where it denotes a transition from bureaucratic, centralised top-down policies to new forms of decision-making that are more inclusive, more decentralised, more flexible, and less hierarchical. Within this overarching theme, the Department s research is organised in three groups that emphasise specific sub-questions of modern governance. Governance beyond the Nation State Our programme recognises, firstly, that modern environmental governance reaches beyond the confines of the nation state. Increasing numbers of environmental problems need to be addressed internationally. Global change calls for global co-operation. We are looking here not only at traditional intergovernmental collaboration in treaties, but also at the role of nonstate actors that became more prominent in recent decades. Associate Professor Philipp Pattberg leads our research theme Global and European Environmental Governance specifically to study these questions. Governance beyond Stability Secondly, we recognise that environmental governance is inherently reflexive, dynamic, and unstable. Traditional modes of policy-making, which were based on centralised, hierarchical, and largely static approaches, can no longer cope with ADAPTIVE GOVERNANCE EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE SCIENCE AND VALUES the complexities of global environmental change and earth system transformation. But it remains open what the relative effectiveness of alternative, more reflexive and adaptive modes of governance could be. This is the focus of our research theme Adaptive Governance, led by Associate Professor Dave Huitema. Governance beyond Certainty Thirdly, environmental governance is marked by high degrees of uncertainty, both regarding its scientific base and its normative underpinning. Traditional notions of truth-speaking-to-power are outdated, and the role of the expert in modern governance has become affected by the complexities of political processes. Governance beyond the traditional confines of the nation state and within complex processes of co-evolution and polycentric steering also increases the relevance of different worldviews and ethical positions of actors. Such issues are addressed in our research theme Science and Values for Environmental Governance, led by Professor Arthur Petersen and Assistant Professor Eleftheria Vasileiadou. 3

4 Despite the breadth of approaches to governance research, the overall consistency and coherence of our research programme is high, and different projects usually benefit strongly from experiences in other projects. It is very common for researchers to be part of more than one research group, and the professors in the Department participate in activities within all three research groups. The EPA group organised the 2009 Amsterdam Conference on Earth System Governance, a leading international conference in this field. EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH In the last international evaluation of Dutch environmental research groups, the Department received the highest scores for quality of research and viability of research group. Overall, the group was evaluated as the top Department in the Netherlands in the field of environmental economics, sociology and policy, and as internationally at the forefront. Along articles in leading international journals, we regularly publish books or book chapters with the most prestigious presses. Members of the Department are editors-in-chief of three international journals (International Environmental Agreements; Transnational Environmental Law; Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences), a book series with MIT Press, and associate editors of two other outlets (Ecology and Society; Carbon and Climate Law Review), as well as members of the boards of numerous other journals. 4

5 The Department has also won a number of awards, including the Science Prize awarded by the German Political Science Association to Dr Pattberg; the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to Prof Gupta and the other authors of the IPCC; and Biermann s election to the 500 Fellows of the World Academy of Art and Science. Professor Joyeeta Gupta was lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore (2007). International LeaderSHIP The Department has led the development of a new global longterm research programme, under the overall auspices of the Earth System Science Partnership: the Earth System Governance Project. The Project has evolved into the largest social-science network in its field. The Department is a founding member of the Global Alliance of Earth System Governance Research Centres, with several partner institutions in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, and Europe, and has organised several major conferences, publications and policy assessments. 5

6 SOCIETAL RELEVANCE The group places significant emphasis on the broader societal function of its research. Within the Netherlands, our societal contribution is evidenced by a substantial number of projects and consultancies for the Dutch government, provinces, and local authorities, and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. At the European level, we are regularly consulted as scientific experts by actors ranging from Greenpeace to the European Commission. Department members also have a prominent role in the public debate, and are interviewed frequently for numerous media outlets on issues as diverse as genetically modified organisms, food security, UN reform, or climate refugees. Thijs Etty was quoted in The New York Times & International Herald Tribune (10 November 2010) predicting that:...we could have what represents an unprecedented avalanche of new biotech varieties growing in Europe within the next couple of years. If this happens, Europe s unique position as the world s largest GMO-free zone will come to an end, and organic food may be marginalized. Teamwork ERM students commitment to teaching The Department is highly active in several teaching programmes, notably (a) IVM s multidisciplinary MSc Environment and Resource Management, (b) the disciplinary specialisation Global Environmental Governance in the MSc Political Science, and (c) the BSc and MSc in Earth Sciences and Economics. The group is also active member of the Netherlands Research School for Socio-economic and Natural Sciences of the Environment (SENSE), a national research network of 400 PhD students and 150 researchers. Professor Frank Biermann has been appointed in 2008 as General Director of SENSE. 6

7 THE EPA GROUP Department Head Professor Frank Biermann Political Science, and Environmental Policy Science. Deputy Department Head Professor Joyeeta Gupta Climate Policy and Law Academic staff Professor Jan J. Boersema, Professor of Environmental Sciences Professor Arthur C. Petersen, Professor of Science and Environmental Public Policy Dr Matthijs Hisschemöller, Associate Professor of Environmental Governance Dr Dave Huitema, Associate Professor of Environmental Policy Analysis Dr Philipp Pattberg, Associate Professor of Transnational Environmental Governance Dr Agni Kalfagianni, Assistant Professor of Political Science Dr Eleftheria Vasileiadou, Assistant Professor of Science and Public Policy Dr Joop de Boer, Senior Researcher Psychology Dr Ad van Dommelen, Senior Researcher Philosophy Dr Nicolien van der Grijp, Senior Researcher Law Dr Frans van der Woerd, Senior Researcher Economics Ayşem Mert, Postdoctoral Researcher Visiting Researchers Ingrid Boas, Dr Stefania Munaretto, and Dr Mieke van Hemert. PhD candidates Sliman Abu Amara, Nana Amma Anokye, Harro van Asselt, Yasemin Atalay, Mairon Bastos Lima, Stijn Brouwer, Chol Bunnag, Sander Chan, Eleni Dellas, Gabriella Dóci, Thijs Etty, Nikki Funke, Susanne Hanger, Constanze Haug, Marcel van den Heuvel, Eva Kunseler, Eric Massey, Belinda McFadgen, Piero Morseletto, Hanna Schösler, Mireia Tarradell, Annick Hedlund-de Witt. 7

8 INFORMATION AND CONTACT Environmental Policy Analysis Department of IVM, Institute for Environmental Studies VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1085 (visiting address) De Boelelaan 1087 (postal address) 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands t f e info@ivm.vu.nl i Studio VU AGCI Amsterdam Global Change Institute