Global Knowledge Networks in Sustainability Governance
This research project explores how scientific knowledge informs sustainability policy, particularly in the context of multiple global crises such as climate change. It addresses a fundamental tension: while political decision-makers increasingly rely on scientific expertise to tackle urgent and existential challenges, there is also growing societal resistance to the recommendations of scientists. Furthermore, the close entanglement of science and politics raises critical questions about the autonomy of science and the legitimacy of political decisions based on expert knowledge.
In recent years, the role of science in shaping sustainable policy within democratic systems has moved to the forefront of academic inquiry. Given the global nature of today’s challenges and the shifting dynamics of the international order, the project particularly asks: which actors and global (knowledge) networks influence sustainability governance—and how?
Building on prior research into global environmental assessments, the role of scientific expertise in international financial institutions (such as the World Bank and IMF), the concept of boundary spanners, and global sustainability knowledge networks, the project aims to systematically analyze ongoing transformations in global knowledge politics. Key areas of investigation include:
- How governmental organizations select and legitimize scientific knowledge that they disseminate on climate, environmental, and sustainability issues;
- Which actor constellations shape the processes of integration, translation, and transfer at the science-policy interface;
- How mandates, structures, and working practices of international organizations are evolving in response to climate change.
Several case studies examine current trends in the transnational production and diffusion of knowledge, offering new insights into the role of expertise in global sustainability governance.
- Zeigermann, Ulrike; Burcu Uçaray Mangıtlı (2025) Knowledge representation in global environmental assessments – Patterns among authors of the Global Environmental Outlook. Environmental Science and Policy 164 (2025) 104004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104004
- Hassenteufel, Patrick; Zeigermann, Ulrike (2025) Les effets de la circulation transnationale: traductions et traducteurs dans les processus de transfert des politiques publiques. In: Guillaume Courty & Cécile Leconte (2025). Transferts, exports-imports, circulations. Quels paradigmes pour la science politique ? Presses Universitaires du Septentrion
- Zeigermann, Ulrike; Ettelt, Stefanie (2022) Spanning the boundaries between policy, politics and science to solve wicked problems: policy pilots, deliberation fora and policy labs. Sustainability Science.
- Zeigermann, Ulrike (2021). Knowledge integration in sustainability governance through science-based actor networks. Global Environmental Change, Bd. 69, 102314
- Zeigermann, Ulrike (2021). Scientific knowledge integration and the implementation of the SDGs - comparing strategies of sustainability networks. Politics and Governance, Bd. 9 (2021), 1, S. 164-175
