INTERNAS - Project goals and methods
Project goals
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platforms such as IPBES or the IPCC publish reports, in which they provide scientific evidence, guidance, and implementation options for the achievement of environmental goals that are part of international commitments, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, for biodiversity the options provided by IPBES have not been taken up in national policy processes and discussions in the civil society yet. One reason may be the limited applicability of the measures in the national context, and the missing acknowledgement by the Intergovernmental Platforms of the needs of national policy makers.
The goal of INTERNAS is to improve the uptake and implementation of international environmental assessments in the national policy making process. With the help of stakeholder workshops the project develops a participative and dialog-oriented knowledge transfer process. Within this process we develop with a variety of stakeholders from politics, science and civil society a range of different and fitting implementation strategies of international assessments for the German political context.
Methods
INTERNAS pursues a participative and dialog-oriented approach that aims at an improved use of international environmental assessments in the national political context. INTERNAS is a connector between science and the political sphere. The dialogue process is tightly related to the timely development and publication of the international assessments, and is thus highly topical and relevant. Within science, but also within politics and the administration, important topics and processes are being identified, and the goal is to not just transfer knowledge from the sciences to the political process, but equally to identify knowledge gaps and desiderata in the political sphere. These knowledge graps are communicated in stakeholder workshops, stakeholder interviews and questionnaires, as well as focus groups.
In addition, INTERNAS pursues an evaluation process of the knowledge transfer. The findings will be published in scientific journals.
INTERNAS is a three-year project that consists of several iterations. Each iteration focuses on a different international environmental assessment, contains different stakeholders and workshop formats. Before each workshop, a stakeholder analysis is conducted and relevant stakeholders are invited. The INTERNAS team prepares a summary of the assessment and analyzes the implementation measures proposed in the assessment. The condensed content from the assessments are then discussed during the stakeholder event.
