Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was one of Willy Brandt’s helpers in his 1969 election campaign, was co-founder of the German Green Party, has founded—together the with Lutz Mez—the Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at the Free University of Berlin, and has thus taken part in creating the scientific infrastructure of environmental policy consultancy. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is co-founder of the "Berlin School on Environmental Policy Sciences," which gained worldwide recognition and whose approach is also followed by Ecologic Institute. As a policy consultant, Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke is a key figure in Germany, where he was part of the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU). Seventy-five years old, he is now travelling more than ever and is one of the most important consultants for the Chinese government. On 18 October 2012 Prof. Dr. Martin Jänicke was interviewed by R. Andreas Kraemer about the beginning of environmental policy consultancy in Germany. Portions of the conversation (in German) can be watched online.

The project "From 'The Blue Sky above the Ruhr' to the Energiewende" aimed at shedding light to the factors that have driven the development of scientific environmental policy advice in Germany. The project team applied the "oral history method", holding a total of 20 interviews with contemporary witnesses. Ecologic Institute produced the project website which provides an overview of the goals, methods and partners of the project. The project's findings as well as videos of the interviews are available for viewing in the media library.