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About DKN

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The German Committee Future Earth (DKN) is an independent scientific advisory body of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and national contact point and platform for developments and activities within the international research program for global sustainability „Future Earth“ and the „World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) “.

The DKN fosters interdisciplinary, integrative sustainability research in a national and international context and thus promotes cooperation between the disciplines. The aim is to advance research activities that promote the paths towards a globally sustainable development and society, tackle problems systemically and generate societally relevant knowledge. The DKN offers a platform for exchange and networking on sustainability research to the German scientific community and promotes its further development. The DFG appoints the members of the DKN for periods of three years.

The DKN is in the tradition of national DFG committees (predecessor organization of the DKN was the National Committee for Global Change Research, NKGCF), which for some time have been reflecting, critically monitoring and further developing the interests of international program research. The DKN differs from DFG Senate Commissions (e.g. Senate Commission for Earth System Research) in its interdisciplinary, program-related and international tasks. The DKN also distinguishes itself from the advisory boards of the federal government such as the “German Council for Sustainable Development” (RNE) or the "German Advisory Council on Global Change" (WBGU), because, in contrast to them, the DKN does not primarily have a policy-advising, but research-related and program-advising function for science.

Due to this unique position, the DKN was asked in 2017 to act as one of three Research Coordinators of the "Science Platform Sustainability 2030" (Wissenschaftsplattform Nachhaltigkeit 2030), which for its part has taken on the task of scientifically reflecting on sustainability policy and providing innovative impulses both towards politics and society as well as in the direction of research and education.