SINE Strategy Wiki

Research note — German independent sustainability research institutes (IÖW peer landscape)

14 min read

Type: commissioned web research, not a primary source. Produced on 2026-10-29 by six scoped Sonnet research subagents, on request of Martin Pompéry (Slack, 2026-10-29, 17:47: “finde ähnliche Organisationen in DE mit einem vergleichbaren Profil wie https://www.ioew.de/”), scope gate agreed at tier M. Each subagent was instructed to separate website-verified claims (with URL) from its own background knowledge, and to answer “not stated” rather than guess. Research-grade — verify figures against annual reports before external use.

Scope commissioned: for each institute — legal form, founding year, locations, size, funding structure, thematic focus, mode of work (transdisciplinary / policy advice / contract research / own standards), and specifically whether any work exists on data spaces, data infrastructure, data governance, digital product passports or carbon-accounting data.

Institutes covered: Öko-Institut, Wuppertal Institut, Ecologic Institut, adelphi, ISOE, ifeu, Borderstep, CSCP, Ökopol, inter 3, FÖS — plus the Ecornet network itself. IZT was covered in a parallel research round the same day and is not repeated here.

Known limitations of this round (stated by the subagents themselves):

  • ifeu.de blocks automated fetches with HTTP 403; all ifeu figures come from search-index snippets, not from directly retrieved pages.
  • foes.de returned 502 on three attempts; the FÖS entry rests on background knowledge only and is marked as such.
  • Wuppertal Institut headcount is contradictory across sources (250 vs. 320); its funding split (~75 % third-party) comes from a snippet, not a verified page.
  • CSCP is reachable at cscp.org, not at scp-centre.org.
  • Borderstep’s legal form, founding year and size are not stated on its own website.
  • Öko-Institut and CSCP were assessed from overview pages only; neither project database was searched exhaustively, so “none found” means “none on the pages checked”.

0. Ecornet — Ecological Research Network

Source: https://www.ecornet.eu/ and https://www.ecornet.eu/ueber-ecornet (retrieved 2026-10-29).

Self-description, quoted/closely paraphrased from the site:

  • “Netzwerk von acht unabhängigen, gemeinnützigen Instituten der Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitsforschung in Deutschland.”
  • Goal: to help shape and scientifically ground the societal shift toward sustainability.
  • “Die Mitgliedsinstitute haben zusammen rund 800 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter.”
  • “finanzieren sich überwiegend über Drittmittel für ihre Forschungsprojekte.”
  • The member institutes were founded “zwischen 1977 und 1995 als unabhängige Institute außerhalb des etablierten Wissenschaftssystems.”

No founding year for the network itself was found on the site.

The eight members, as named on the start page: Ecologic Institut, ifeu, IÖW, ISOE, IZT, Öko-Institut, UfU (Unabhängiges Institut für Umweltfragen), Wuppertal Institut.

The subagent could not load the per-member subpages (/institute, /mitglieder both 404), so individual locations and URLs are unverified from this source.

⟨Not researched in this round: UfU. It is the one Ecornet member with no profile below.⟩

1. Ecologic Institut (Berlin)

Source: https://www.ecologic.eu/who-we-are-ecologic-institute-eu, https://www.ecologic.eu/project-funding, https://www.ecologic.eu/donations, https://www.ecologic.eu/topic-clusters (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gemeinnützige GmbH, self-described “private, not-for-profit think tank”; founded 1995; seat Berlin. The pages checked in this round named no further offices of its own.
  • Size: “über 100 Teamkollegen aus über 20 Ländern” (undated). Annual budget not stated on the pages checked.
  • Funding: pure project/third-party funding — European Commission, European Parliament, German ministries, civil society, foundations; explicitly without government base funding; additionally tax-deductible donations.
  • Thematic focus: 13 “Topic Clusters”, including climate / energy / adaptation, biodiversity & ecosystems, water & marine, circular economy, environmental law & governance.
  • Mode of work: self-described “inter- and transdisciplinary”; policy advice across the political spectrum, described as “politically and ideologically neutral”; contract research, legal analysis, education; own quality standards per the DFG code. Member of Ecornet.
  • Data & digitalisation — the strongest finding of this round: a multi-part project “Datengovernance und -regulierung für ein nachhaltiges Berlin” / “Data Governance and Regulation for a Sustainable Berlin”, examining the social and ecological implications of data regulation and data-governance concepts for a sustainable, circular economy; it also addresses digital product passports and the planned European data space for the circular economy.
  • Website: https://www.ecologic.eu

Additional figures from the parallel research round the same day (Slack, #sine-strategy-works, 2026-10-29 ~17:53 — a different subagent chain, whose underlying documents are not in sources/; treat as unverified here): offices in Berlin plus Brussels and Washington DC; 98 employees on annual average 2023 per an audited Jahresabschluss; revenue from project work 2023 €7.87 m; clients include the European Commission, European Parliament, the Bundestag and federal ministries. This contradicts nothing above but is more specific than what this round verified, and the 98-vs-”over 100” gap is a dated-figure gap, not a conflict.

2. Öko-Institut e.V. (Freiburg / Darmstadt / Berlin)

Source: https://www.oeko.de/das-institut, https://www.oeko.de/themen/digitalisierung (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gemeinnütziger Verein (e.V.) with a wholly-owned subsidiary Öko-Institut Consult gGmbH; founded 1977; Freiburg (HQ), Darmstadt, Berlin.
  • Size: “über 220 Mitarbeiter*innen”. Annual budget not stated.
  • Funding: federal and state ministries, companies, the EU, NGOs and environmental associations, plus membership dues (association model). No third-party-funding percentage found.
  • Thematic focus (its own naming): Digitalisierung, Energiewende und Klimapolitik, Gerechte Transformation, Kernenergie, Mobilitätswende, Nachhaltiges Wirtschaften, Ressourcenwende, Umweltrecht.
  • Mode of work: verbatim — “interdisziplinär und transdisziplinär – mit Partner*innen aus Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Zivilgesellschaft – in kooperativen Vorhaben und Netzwerkstrukturen”; plus policy advice and contract research. Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: “Digitalisierung” is a named topic field with sub-topics including data governance, digital infrastructure and AI/software. The projects actually listed on that page, however, concern AI in the nuclear-waste-repository context, not data spaces:
    • PEAK — AI forecasting of natural external impacts on repositories
    • KIMoDA — AI modelling of diffusion/advection flows in porous media On data spaces, product passports or carbon-accounting data: none found on the overview page checked.
  • Website: https://www.oeko.de

3. Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie gGmbH

Source: https://wupperinst.org/das-institut (direct retrieval) plus search snippets for the figures (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gGmbH; founding year 1991 per the institute’s “30 Jahre” anniversary page; HQ Wuppertal.
  • Size: contradictory — started with 40 researchers; “rund 250 Mitarbeitende” in one place and “über 320 Mitarbeitende” in another, both from search snippets rather than verified pages. Recorded as a contradiction, not resolved.
  • Funding: institutional base funding from the state of NRW plus project funding/contracts said to make up “etwa drei Viertel des Forschungsbudgets” (snippet, not cross-checked).
  • Thematic focus: per snippet, 15 research areas in 4 departments, bundled into seven transformation fields: energy, resources, food, city, mobility, industry, prosperity/consumption (not verified). Directly verified from /das-institut: climate mitigation/adaptation, resource efficiency/circular economy, sustainable development (SDGs), justice dimensions of transformation.
  • Mode of work: verified wording — “Gemeinsam mit unseren Stakeholdern gestalten wir Transformationsprozesse”; self-description as an “implementation-oriented research institute”; inter- and transdisciplinary. Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation — the second-strongest finding of this round, concentrated on the Digital Product Passport (URLs are real wupperinst.org links; contents not individually re-verified):
  • Website: https://wupperinst.org

4. ISOE – Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (Frankfurt am Main)

Source: https://www.isoe.de, https://www.isoe.de/das-institut/finanzierung/ (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gGmbH, founded 1989, Frankfurt am Main; no further locations indicated.
  • Size: approx. 80 staff, of whom approx. 40 researchers and approx. 20 student assistants. Budget not stated.
  • Funding: mixed — competitively awarded public project funds plus contracts from municipalities, associations, authorities and companies; plus institutional base funding from the state of Hesse (since 1992) and the City of Frankfurt am Main.
  • Thematic focus: Biodiversität, Klimaanpassung, Landnutzung, Mobilität, Schadstoffrisiken, Suffizienz, Transformation, Wasser, Wissen und Partizipation; plus a research field “Nachhaltige Gesellschaft”.
  • Mode of work: “unabhängige, transdisziplinäre Forschung für Gesellschaft, Politik und Wirtschaft”; a dedicated “Beratung und Transfer” section addressing science, politics, civil society, municipalities and companies. Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: no data-space/data-governance work field. Digitalisation appears as a cross-cutting theme:
    • “Digitale Suffizienz: So viel Digitalisierung wie nötig, so wenig wie möglich” (publication)
    • “Alltag im Quartier 4.0” — https://www.isoe.de/projekt/alltag-im-quartier-4-0
    • “Wissenschaftliche Begleitung des Projekts Smartes Wassermanagement in Frankfurt” On data spaces, product passports or carbon-accounting data: none found.
  • Website: https://www.isoe.de

5. ifeu – Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg

⚠️ ifeu.de returned HTTP 403 on every direct fetch (root, /en/, /ueber-uns/, /institut/imprint/, /themen/, history page). Everything below comes from search-index snippets pointing at ifeu.de URLs, not from retrieved page text. A follow-up via agent-browser would be the way to verify.

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gGmbH, founded 1978; Heidelberg (HQ), Berlin, Hamburg.
  • Size: over 120 staff from natural, engineering and social sciences. Budget not found.
  • Funding: described as research/consulting “für zahlreiche nationale und internationale Fördermittelgeber und Auftraggeber” — i.e. third-party and contract funding; no institutional base funding or membership dues named in the available snippets, so: not stated.
  • Thematic focus: incomplete. Visible: topic area “Energie” with sub-area “Wärme & Gebäude” (https://www.ifeu.de/themen/energie/waerme-und-gebaeude/). A full topic list could not be retrieved.
  • Mode of work: contract research / policy advice. Own standard: BISKO — Bilanzierungs-Systematik für Kommunen, a standardised method for municipal energy and CO2 accounting, comparable across municipalities, co-developed by ifeu. Methodology document: https://www.ifeu.de/fileadmin/uploads/Bilanzierungsmethodik_IFEU_April_2014.pdf ⟨Background (the subagent’s own framing, beyond the snippet): BISKO is an established de-facto standard in municipal practice, developed by ifeu with practice partners.⟩ Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: no hits for data space, data governance or product passport. Closest: BISKO as standardised CO2-accounting methodology, and a “Climate Action Planner” tool (https://www.ifeu.de/en/project/climate-protection-planner/) — both accounting methodology / planning tool rather than data infrastructure. Explicit data-space projects: none found in the accessible sources.
  • Website: https://www.ifeu.de

6. adelphi (Berlin / München / Madrid)

Source: https://www.adelphi.de/de/wer-wir-sind, https://www.adelphi.de (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: adelphi consult GmbH; the umbrella structure per the site also covers “adelphi research” and “adelphi global”. Founding year not stated on the site — only “über 25 Jahre Erfahrung” ⟨Inference by the subagent: founded ca. 2001; not verified from the site⟩. Locations: Berlin (two addresses, Alt-Moabit 91 and Köthener Straße 2), München (Landwehrstraße 37), Madrid (Calle Piamonte 23).
  • Size: not stated on the page checked. The site names “2.087 Projekte” (cumulative, not annual).
  • Funding: no split given; the site describes only the client side — “arbeiten mit und für Regierungen, internationale Organisationen, Städte, Verbände, NGOs und Unternehmen”.
  • Thematic focus: six fields — Klima, Energie, Ressourcen, Wirtschaft, Finance, Diplomatie.
  • Mode of work: self-described as “Europas führender Think-and-Do-Tank und unabhängige Beratung für Klima, Umwelt und Entwicklung”; “denken systemisch und arbeiten global”, “kollaborativ und lösungsorientiert von der Idee bis zur Umsetzung”. Own offering: “phiyond by adelphi”. Not an Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: no dedicated data-governance/data-space work field. Scattered single projects:
  • Website: https://www.adelphi.de

Additional figures from the parallel research round the same day (Slack, #sine-strategy-works, 2026-10-29 ~17:54 — different subagent chain, underlying documents not in sources/; unverified here): the structure is two-part — adelphi research gGmbH (non-profit, 2001) and adelphi consult GmbH (for-profit, 2002); restructured on 01.01.2026 so that adelphi research and a new adelphi global are legally independent affiliated entities; over 330 staff per the 2025 Umwelterklärung (reporting year 2024). This answers the founding-year and size gaps this round left open, and supersedes the ⟨Inference: ca. 2001⟩ above with a verified-elsewhere 2001/2002 split.

7. Borderstep Institut für Innovation und Nachhaltigkeit (Berlin)

Source: https://www.borderstep.de/wer-sind-wir/, https://www.borderstep.de/borderstep-forschungsthemen/, https://www.borderstep.de/themengebiet/digitalisierung-green-it/ (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: not stated on the site; only “20 Jahre Borderstep” without a date, and no locations on the start page. ⟨Background: gGmbH, Berlin, founded by Prof. Dr. Klaus Fichter around 2000/2001 — not verified on the site.⟩
  • Size: not stated (neither headcount nor budget).
  • Funding: the site has a “Fördermittel- und Auftraggeber” section, indicating third-party/project funding; no base funding mentioned.
  • Thematic focus: eight fields — Klimawandel, Green Economy, Nachhaltigkeitsinnovationen, Smart Energy, Nachhaltige Geschäftsmodelle, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Digitalisierung & GreenIT, Pioniere und Methoden des Wandels.
  • Mode of work: explicitly transdisciplinary — “Borderstep folgt einem Verständnis von Transdisziplinarität als Prinzip integrativer Forschung”; works with “Unternehmen, Start-ups, Verbänden und Politik”. Not an Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: own topic field “Digitalisierung & GreenIT” for over 10 years. Verified:
  • Website: https://www.borderstep.de/

8. CSCP – Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (Wuppertal)

Source: https://www.cscp.org/, https://www.cscp.org/imprint/ (retrieved 2026-10-29). Note: scp-centre.org returned 502 throughout.

  • Legal form / founding / locations: gGmbH, Hagenauer Str. 30, 42107 Wuppertal (HRB 20060, Amtsgericht Wuppertal); founded 2005 by UNEP and the Wuppertal Institut. These come from the imprint and third-party register extracts (incl. lobbyfacts.eu), not from the start page, which only hints at 2005 via “first 20 years”.
  • Size: over 50 staff from more than 15 countries (search-result summary of third-party sources, not verified on cscp.org). Budget not stated.
  • Funding: not stated. Works with “businesses, policy makers, partner organisations and civil society”.
  • Thematic focus: five areas — Lifestyles & Behaviour, Products & Services, Business & Entrepreneurship, Cities & Infrastructure, Policy; key topics Circular Economy, Digitalisation, Food, Climate & Biodiversity.
  • Mode of work: self-described “Think and Do tank” with a “Think” pillar (research on business models, value chains, behaviour) and a “Do” pillar (pilot projects, multi-stakeholder engagement, policy advice, capacity building, communication & design). Not an Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: “Digitalisation” named as a key topic, but no concrete project on data spaces, data infrastructure, data governance, product passports or carbon-accounting data found — caveat: only the start page was checked.
  • Website: https://www.cscp.org/

9. Ökopol – Institut für Ökologie und Politik GmbH (Hamburg)

Source: https://www.oekopol.de/ueber-uns, https://www.oekopol.de/themen (retrieved 2026-10-29).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: GmbH, Hamburg (Nernstweg 32–34). Founding year not stated on the site.
  • Size / funding: not stated.
  • Thematic focus: industrial emissions / best available techniques, chemicals policy (incl. REACH), environmental policy, resources & circular economy, environmental and energy management, environmentally compatible products/product systems, emissions reporting.
  • Mode of work: policy advice (e.g. the German government’s NanoDialog), expert dialogues/stakeholder processes, project work (ÖKOPROFIT® Hamburg, EuP-Netzwerk Deutschland). No explicit self-description as “transdisciplinary” or “contract research” found. Not an Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: none found — neither on the topic page nor via web search.
  • Website: https://www.oekopol.de

10. inter 3 Institut für Ressourcenmanagement (Berlin)

Source: https://www.inter3.de/ueber-uns (retrieved 2026-10-29; imprint returned 404).

  • Legal form / founding / locations: “GmbH” visible in the name; founding year, legal-form detail and locations not retrievable from the pages checked. ⟨Background: seat Berlin — not verified on the site.⟩
  • Size / funding: not stated.
  • Thematic focus: water and energy infrastructure, water and land management, “Risiko Stadt”.
  • Mode of work: self-described pragmatically — “Zusammenführen, bewerten, entscheiden, losgehen”, aiming to turn “belastbare Analysen in strategische Aktivitäten”; services include co-design, data analysis, stakeholder management, knowledge transfer. Suggests transdisciplinary work and policy advice without naming it as such. Not an Ecornet member.
  • Data & digitalisation: one hint — a digital “LERNHAUS” for knowledge exchange, with no project name or URL of its own. Otherwise none found.
  • Website: https://www.inter3.de

11. FÖS – Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft e.V. (Berlin)

⚠️ foes.de was unreachable on three attempts (502/404). Nothing below is website-verified.

  • ⟨Background⟩ eingetragener Verein (e.V.), Berlin, founded 1994.
  • ⟨Background⟩ Thematic focus: ecological fiscal reform, subsidy reduction, carbon pricing / energy taxes.
  • ⟨Background⟩ Mode of work: policy advice and studies for ministries and NGOs.
  • Data & digitalisation: none found; website unreachable and web search returned no foes.de-specific hits on carbon-accounting data or data infrastructure.
  • Website: https://www.foes.de (unreachable at time of research)

Cross-cutting observation (the researcher’s own, not from any website)

⟨Inference, basis: the eleven profiles above taken together⟩ Across the whole peer landscape, the institutes research data governance (Ecologic), build methodology (ifeu/BISKO) or run pilots (Wuppertal/DPP). None of them builds infrastructure — open-source software, wire formats, conformance gates. That is the structural difference between this peer group and SINE, and the reason Ecologic and the Wuppertal Institut read as cooperation candidates rather than competitors.

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