Activities/Thematic Focus

• National, European and international nature conservation law (German Federal Nature Conservation Act, EU Habitats Directive, EU Birds Directive, etc.), genetic engineering law, cross-sectoral environmental law (environmental liability, environmental impact assessments, citizens’ initiatives) and other conservation-related areas of law (planning, building, energy, mining, water, farming, hunting, etc.)
• Addressing general and fundamental legal and administrative issues; academic legal analyses and conceptual studies
• Involvement and coordinating the drafting of legislation, including the issuing of ordinances (national secondary legislation) under section 38 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act
• Addressing legal and administrative issues relating to spatial planning and approval proceedings at national government and Länder level (excluding species conservation law enforcement), including enforcement duties under section 38 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act, sections 2 and 3 of the Marine Facilities Ordinance (SeeAnlV), transport infrastructure planning (including under section 17 of the Waterways Act (WaStrG)), and the deliberate release and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms and foods and feeds
• General macro and microeconomic issues relating to nature conservation; financing of nature conservation
• Implementation and appraisal of market instruments in nature conservation
• General and fundamental issues relating to the promotion of integrated, sustainable regional development, including in the context of EU agricultural and structural policy
• General and fundamental issues relating to the promotion of sustainable urban development
• Formulation of strategies and policy instruments to promote sustainable urban development
• Monitoring and assessing trends in regional policy and deriving strategies and policy instruments
• Conservation-related trends in other policy areas and impacts of other policy areas on nature conservation
• Developing strategies to advance nature conservation aims in other policy areas
• Developing conservation-based indicators and assessment criteria to integrate nature conservation aims into other policy areas