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Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy
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Research

Hochnebel im Wald

We aim to contribute to the advancement of policy research through internationally recognized, empirically and theoretically grounded studies. Our expertise reflects the current state of policy research and covers actor-, institution-, as well as idea-based approaches. We employ a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methods and draw on extensive experience in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research.

Research areas

We are a team of over 20 researchers from diverse academic disciplines, dedicated to advancing knowledge in the broad field of land-use governance. Our primary focus is on forest and water governance and their interconnections, alongside related areas such as nature conservation, biodiversity, climate change, bioeconomy, and agriculture.

Geographical focus

Our research encompasses local to global scales, with a strong emphasis on multilevel interactions across these different levels. At the national level, we conduct studies in Germany and various European countries – including France, Finland, Italy, Romania, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland as well as in international contexts such as Indonesia, Brazil, and Ghana. We also engage in sub-national and local research within all these countries, with a particular focus on Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Additionally, through EU-funded projects, we conduct extensive research on the European Union as a regional organization.

Concepts, theories and methods

Conceptually, our research embraces a broad understanding of governance that includes interests, institutions, and ideas. We examine various aspects such as policy integration and coherence, implementation issues, policy instruments and their effectiveness, as well as norms, legitimacy, uncertainty, and resilience. Our approaches combine (historical) institutionalist perspectives with actor- and network-based views, along with interpretative research methods such as discourse and frame analysis. In recent years, we have increasingly incorporated approaches from political ecology, especially regarding questions of justice and power. Additionally, (media) communication studies remain an integral part of the chair’s research.

About us

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Teaching

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Our team

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New publications

  • Ziegert, R. F. (2027). When governments shift, do policies follow?Tracing policy change in Brazil’s land use regulatory framework. Land Use Policy, 172, 108326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2026.108326
  • Scherpenhuijzen, N., West, T. A., Di Marzo, D., & Verburg, P. H. (2026). Exploring European forest management futures: a stakeholder-informed spatial scenario modeling approach. Global Environmental Change, 101, 103236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103236
  • Häublein, S. (2026). Translating across Boundaries: The process of integrating forestry into the German National Water Strategy. Environmental Policy and Governance. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70145
  • Mack, P. (2026). (Un)polarized forests? Disentangling drivers of polarization in the public debate around German forests affected by climate change. Land Use Policy, 172, 108334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2026.108334
  • Riemann, L., Spohn, N., Schmitt, S., Ayuk, M. E., Cordova-Pineda, D. A., Böcher, M., & Kleinschmit, D. (2026). Bioeconomy in Africa and in the EU: A comparative analysis of African and European bioeconomy strategies. Forest Policy and Economics, 190, 103857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103857
  • Buzogány, A., Kleinschmit, D., & Pülzl, H. (2026). Implementation of forest-related policies in the European Union: theoretical background and empirical examples. In Advances in global change research (pp. 75–89). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-19072-7_4
  • Basilicata, A. (2026). The role of norms in EU forest conservation politics – current trends and avenues for research. Environmental Politics, 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2689803
  • Basilicata, A., Pecurul-Botines, M., & Fleckenstein, S. (2026). The EU as a green normative power? Unpacking dynamics of norm diffusion in forest biodiversity politics. Policy Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-026-09610-2
  • Pratama, A. A., Maryudi, A., & Kleinschmit, D. (2026). Climate change in Indonesian forest governance: A frame analysis of the scientific discourse. Forest Policy and Economics, 186, 103766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103766
  • Di Marzo, D., De Boon, A., Leino, J., & Darmet, L. (2026). A race to net zero: Framings and perceptions of (in)justice in the political discourse related to the EU’S Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry Regulation. Forest Policy and Economics, 185, 103748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2026.103748

Ongoing projects

Completed projects