Symposium on Environmental and Sustainability Principles
On 23–24 May 2025, the International Science Forum Heidelberg (IWH) hosted a symposium entitled “Environmental and Sustainability Principles in an Integrated Constitutional State – Development, Challenges and Perspectives in Times of Climate and Biodiversity Crisis”, sponsored by the Society of Friends of Heidelberg University and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen presented on “Sustainability – Government – Legislation”, with Bonn also represented by Professor Dr Wolfgang Durner (“The International Legal Preformation of Environmental Law”), Professor Dr Klaus F. Gärditz (“Environmental Law and Historical Studies”), and Professor Dr Laura Münkler (“Sustainability – Participation – Acceptance”).
The written versions of these presentations will be published in a conference volume next year.
1st Berlin–Bonn Colloquium
In November 2024, the 1st Berlin–Bonn Colloquium was held at Freie Universität Berlin, organised by Junior Professor Dr Torben Ellerbrok (Junior Professor of Public Law, FU Berlin) and Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen. The event focused on presentations by doctoral students Leonora Pelger and Lars Allien, who introduced their doctoral research projects. The legal questions arising from their work were then discussed in depth. During a subsequent escape room breakout, participants had the opportunity to demonstrate their teamwork skills and continue their discussions over dinner. On the second day, a historical tour of the German Bundestag, including the Reichstag dome, concluded the programme. The colloquium fostered fruitful academic exchange and strengthened scientific collaboration between the participating institutions.
Conference Report: ‘Climate Protection and Climate Adaptation in Sustainable Urban Development’
In light of the growing challenges posed by climate change and the imperative of sustainable urban development, the workshop at the University of Zurich examined the administrative law frameworks governing climate protection and climate adaptation in Germany and Switzerland.
Professor Dr Patrick Hilbert (University of Münster) analysed Germany’s climate adaptation law, focusing on the Federal Climate Adaptation Act (Klimaanpassungsgesetz, KAnG) and its limited enforceability. In contrast, Professor Dr Andreas Glaser (University of Zurich) presented the Swiss model of decentralised implementation, where municipal and cantonal measures predominate. Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen highlighted the main steering and implementation instruments available to German municipalities for designing a climate-resilient city of the future, arguing de lege ferenda for recognising climate adaptation as a mandatory municipal duty.
Professor Dr Johannes Reich (University of Zurich) discussed the specific challenges of alpine regions and emphasised the role of cities as “laboratories of climate protection law”. The session on municipal heat planning in Germany, led by Professor Dr Daniela Winkler and Dr Marc Zeccola (University of Stuttgart), focused on recent developments in the Heat Planning Act (Wärmeplanungsgesetz, WPG) and the Building Energy Act (Gebäudeenergiegesetz, GEG). Dr Martin Föhse (Federal Office of Police, Fedpol) illustrated how Switzerland’s highly fragmented regulatory competences make the adoption of a unified heat planning approach challenging.
In the field of renewable energy, the workshop contrasted governance approaches in Germany and Switzerland. Professor Dr Klaus Joachim Grigoleit (TU Dortmund) critiqued the Wind-on-Land Act as an example of a top-down regulatory regime that encroaches on municipal planning sovereignty and creates acceptance conflicts, particularly in rural areas. Louis Gebistorf (Centre for Democracy Aarau) showed how Swiss cantonal procedures and participatory models, such as citizens’ wind turbines, play a distinctive role.
Discussions highlighted the need for reform in both countries, especially regarding the binding nature of climate adaptation measures and the allocation of planning competences. In their closing remarks, Professor Dr Andreas Glaser and Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen emphasised the value of comparative law dialogue, which provides crucial insights given the dynamism and complexity of climate protection and adaptation law.
The full report appears in Deutsches Verwaltungsblatt (Schneider/Wiltinger, DVBl 2025, 686).
Workshop: ‘Climate Protection and Climate Adaptation in Sustainable Urban Development – Administrative Law Perspectives in Switzerland and Germany’
What are the basic structures of climate adaptation law in Germany? What approaches to climate adaptation law exist in Switzerland? What roles do municipalities play in the expansion of renewable energy in Germany and Switzerland? These and other questions regarding sustainable urban development from an administrative law perspective will be explored at this two-day workshop in Zurich. The workshop is organised by Professor Dr Andreas Glaser, University of Zurich / Centre for Democracy Aarau (ZDA), and Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen, Argelander Professorship for Sustainability Law and Ecological Transformation, University of Bonn.
Further information on the programme can be found here.
- 11–12 September 2024, University of Zurich – free admission, no registration required
New Interdisciplinary Research Project on the Social Consequences of the Ahr Valley Flood
Researchers from economics, law, geography, sociology, and political science are participating in the project. Its main components (project duration: June 2024 – December 2025) include:
- Participatory workshops to assess key social challenges in the Ahr Valley following the flood disaster
- Public dissemination of the research findings
- Development of a questionnaire for a large-scale population survey in 2025/2026
Further information can be found here.
Proseminar Announcement
In the summer semester 2024, Junior Professor Dr Jacqueline Lorenzen will offer a public law proseminar on “Current Developments in Building Law”. Further details can be found here.
Discuss Sustainability with Junior Professor Jacqueline Lorenzen – 24 January 2024
The Protestant Forum, together with the Chair of (Social) Ethics at the Protestant Theological Faculty of the University of Bonn, invites you to reflect and engage in discussion at the Ethics Café “Diskutier Ma(h)l”.
On Wednesday, 24 January, at 6:30 p.m., we will explore questions such as:
- Is there a right to sustainability?
- What are the ethical issues underlying this topic?
- How does this topic impact our everyday lives and social coexistence?
Joint Marsilius Bridge Seminar ‘Sustainable City of the Future – in Fiction, Law and Planning’
Universities of Heidelberg, Bonn and Ingolstadt-Eichstätt, 12–14 July 2023
Three days, three universities, three departments. In the summer semester of 2023, the Marsilius Bridge Seminar brought together students and lecturers from multiple disciplines and universities. The shared goal of participants from Bonn, Eichstätt, and Heidelberg was to explore different perspectives on sustainable cities of the future and to discuss their opportunities and challenges in an interdisciplinary dialogue.
Building on a fundamental examination of sustainability from legal, geographical, and literary perspectives, the seminar featured several panels modeled on a professional conference. Topics included Climate and Environment, Mobility and Transport, Housing and Public Space, and Poverty and Justice.
During two field trips, students examined issues such as densification and adding storeys to create additional living space, and they discussed conflicts between social, economic, and ecological considerations based on local case studies.
The full report can be accessed here.