Research with Political Relevance – IOER Researchers Meet Members of the Bundestag

With new research findings in their bags, four researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER) are off to Berlin tomorrow. Until Wednesday they will be having personal discussions with various members of the Bundestag. Thanks to the “Leibniz in the Bundestag” campaign, an initiative of the Leibniz Association.

What does decentralized wastewater disposal cost compared with centralized systems? How do older people live nowadays, how will they be living in the future, and what does this mean for local authorities and the housing industry? Ten years after the Elbe floods: what conclusions can be drawn from a present-day perspective? How is land use developing and how can land consumption be reduced? The topics the IOER investigates are wide-ranging and engrossing – and they also engage the attention of politics at the national level, as the interest shown by members of the Bundestag (MBs) confirms.

Seven MBs from all five political groups will be participating in one-to-one discussions with scientists from the IOER. They will address current societal challenges such as demographic change, resource efficiency, and coping with the consequences of climate change. The exchanges are part of the “Leibniz in the Bundestag” initiative organised by the Leibniz Association, which has its headquarters in Berlin. It unites eighty-six autonomous research institutes under one roof, including the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development in Dresden.

The dialogue with policy-makers is a key element in the work of the IOER. "We conduct research on subjects extremely important for society. It is therefore vital that politicians take note of the results," to quote Professor Bernhard Müller, director of the IOER.

The idea for a personal exchange of views between academia and politics came originally from Australia. In 2008 the Leibniz Association staged the first such initiative, then under the heading “Science Meets Parliament.”