PolRess III

In 2012, the German Federal Government became with the German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess) one of the first European countries to commit itself to targets, guiding principles and approaches for the protection of natural resources. A first report and the update (ProgRess II) were published in March 2016 and it is planned to submit a second report and update (ProgRess III) to the Cabinet in 2020. The programme aims to decouple the use of resources from economic growth and strengthen the future viability and competitiveness of the German economy. ProgRess describes policy approaches for increasing resource efficiency all along the value chain, from raw material extraction through product design, production and consumption to recycling and circularity, and supports voluntary initiatives and incentives.

The aim of the project is to accompany the development and implementation of the German Resource Efficiency Programme. The Wuppertal Institute leads a consortium of the institutions Prognos AG, Stakeholder Reporting GmbH, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI and N3 Nachhaltigkeitsberatung, which will accompany the implementation of ProgRess III during the 38-month project and will further advance research for the "Analysis and (further) development of implementation mechanisms and policy approaches".

The project comprises a total of four work packages:

• WP1 - The monitoring and the evaluation of resource efficiency policy has to go beyond the analysis of resource efficiency at a macroeconomic level. In order to evolve stronger impact, the implementation of the individual measures and the associated effects should be systematically observed. To this end, the team develops a monitoring and evaluation concept and carries out an evaluation of the programme.
• WP2 - The consortium accompanies the National Platform on Resource Efficiency (NaRess) and supports it in terms of content, operation and communication by preparing and following up the meetings and (in cooperation with VDI-ZRE) by coordinating and accompanying various working groups. Implementation workshops will focus on the implementation process and the advancement of ProgRess in cooperation with various stakeholders and be enriched by practice-relevant contributions.
• WP 3 - In this work package, the consortium accompanies the scientific network of authorities and institutions for resource conservation by providing appropriate impulses and analyses as well as by preparing and following up the meetings and conducting expert workshops with the extended environment of the network.
• WP 4 - Within the framework of the project, a suitable communication and participation strategy is also to be developed which, with a view to the challenges, determines when and which stakeholders are to be involved and in what form and formats. The functions and objectives of the working groups and bodies should be clear and comprehensible. An approach should be developed to involve the various stakeholders from research, business, politics, and civil society, which, for example, also addresses conflicts of objectives in search of suitable solution strategies. The project also includes the preparation of numerous in-depth analyses and position papers, which will be published on current resource policy issues during the course of the project.