This discussion paper examines the relationship between civil society environmental movements and environmental research institutes and their role in the development of science-based environmental policy advice in Germany. The earliest independent environmental institutes were closely linked to the environmental movement, while later institutes often emerged in response to thematic gaps in environmental research.

Drawing on the examples of the Öko-Institut and the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg (ifeu), both with strong roots in the civil society environmental movement; the Ecologic Institute, with less direct ties to civil society; and the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, a publicly funded research institute, the paper illustrates the diverse ways in which civil society and environmental research institutes interact.

The paper traces the history of Germany’s civil society environmental movement and explores how it contributed to the development of science-based environmental policy advice. It also examines the relationship between environmental research institutes and the environmental movement today and how this relationship has evolved over recent decades.

The project ‘From Blue Skies over the Ruhr to the Energy Transition’ (December 2012–June 2014) produced seven papers covering a range of topics. They drew on findings from the project interviews and placed them in the context of the existing academic literature. In doing so, the papers contributed to documenting the history of non-governmental environmental policy research and advice and identified areas in which the material collected could help fill existing gaps in knowledge. At the same time, the findings raised further research questions extending beyond the scope of the project.