TEAM Sustainability—The Contribution of Science …
655
3 Sustainability Architecture of the Federal Republic
of Germany and Selected Federal States
A sustainability architecture can consist of very different elements, e.g. an interministerial working group, a committee of state secretaries, a parliamentary advisory
board, an institutional integration of non-governmental organistions, a sustainability
advisory council, a scientific advisory board, a monitoring advisory board, a foresight
unit and/or task force. Table 1 provides an overview of the most frequent elements
in Germany and the federal states supplemented by information on accompanying
projects, as well as dialogue and consultation procedures for and of non-state actors.
The advisory councils with participation of non-governmental members are deepened in this chapter for the national and state levels. At the level of the federal states,
of the twelve federal states that have published a sustainability strategy, four have
a sustainability advisory council with the participation of non-governmental members. In the following, the national sustainability architecture and subsequently the
four sustainability architectures of the federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse,
Lower Saxony, Saarland and Thuringia are examined in more detail. The sustainability architecture of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is presented and the novel
“Third Party” approach of the TEAM Sustainability is presented.
3.1 Federal Republic of Germany
The sustainability architecture of the Federal Republic of Germany is based on a
multi-level system. The three central bodies are the Committee of State Secretaries
for Sustainable Development, the Parliamentary Advisory Board for Sustainable
Development and the Council for Sustainable Development. The Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), convened by the Federal Government in April 2001,
consists of 15 non-state actors in public life. The members of the Council will be
appointed ad personam (and not as formal representatives of individual interests or
associations) by the Federal Chancellor personally for three years; the last appointment took place on 28 October 2016 (Federal Government of Germany 2016, p. 26,
30), (German Council for Sustainable Development, n.d.). “The German Council for
Sustainable Development (…) is subject solely to the mandate based on the decision adopted by the German Government to establish the Council. It is independent
in its activities” (German Council for Sustainable Development 2016, S. 1). The
tasks of the Council for Sustainable Development are: To develop contributions for
the implementation of the national sustainability strategy, to identify concrete fields
of action and projects and to make sustainability an important public concern. The
council regularly publishes products: Statements and recommendations on national
and international sustainability policy, topic-specific advice and proposals as well
as monitoring reports (peer reviews) on the German Sustainability Strategy. If necessary, the Council also involves external experts to carry out analyses and studies
so that the national sustainability strategy is also supported through accompanying
projects (German Council for Sustainable Development, n.d.).
655
3 Sustainability Architecture of the Federal Republic
of Germany and Selected Federal States
A sustainability architecture can consist of very different elements, e.g. an interministerial working group, a committee of state secretaries, a parliamentary advisory
board, an institutional integration of non-governmental organistions, a sustainability
advisory council, a scientific advisory board, a monitoring advisory board, a foresight
unit and/or task force. Table 1 provides an overview of the most frequent elements
in Germany and the federal states supplemented by information on accompanying
projects, as well as dialogue and consultation procedures for and of non-state actors.
The advisory councils with participation of non-governmental members are deepened in this chapter for the national and state levels. At the level of the federal states,
of the twelve federal states that have published a sustainability strategy, four have
a sustainability advisory council with the participation of non-governmental members. In the following, the national sustainability architecture and subsequently the
four sustainability architectures of the federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hesse,
Lower Saxony, Saarland and Thuringia are examined in more detail. The sustainability architecture of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is presented and the novel
“Third Party” approach of the TEAM Sustainability is presented.
3.1 Federal Republic of Germany
The sustainability architecture of the Federal Republic of Germany is based on a
multi-level system. The three central bodies are the Committee of State Secretaries
for Sustainable Development, the Parliamentary Advisory Board for Sustainable
Development and the Council for Sustainable Development. The Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), convened by the Federal Government in April 2001,
consists of 15 non-state actors in public life. The members of the Council will be
appointed ad personam (and not as formal representatives of individual interests or
associations) by the Federal Chancellor personally for three years; the last appointment took place on 28 October 2016 (Federal Government of Germany 2016, p. 26,
30), (German Council for Sustainable Development, n.d.). “The German Council for
Sustainable Development (…) is subject solely to the mandate based on the decision adopted by the German Government to establish the Council. It is independent
in its activities” (German Council for Sustainable Development 2016, S. 1). The
tasks of the Council for Sustainable Development are: To develop contributions for
the implementation of the national sustainability strategy, to identify concrete fields
of action and projects and to make sustainability an important public concern. The
council regularly publishes products: Statements and recommendations on national
and international sustainability policy, topic-specific advice and proposals as well
as monitoring reports (peer reviews) on the German Sustainability Strategy. If necessary, the Council also involves external experts to carry out analyses and studies
so that the national sustainability strategy is also supported through accompanying
projects (German Council for Sustainable Development, n.d.).