About Our Organisation
The Baltic Environmental Forum Germany was founded as a non-profit association in 2003 in Hamburg. It holds the chairmanship of the international BEF network, the so-called BEF-Group, with offices in Ria (Latvia), Tallinn (Estonia) and Vilnius (Lithuania) existing since 1995.
We work on topics such as chemical- and waste management, water quality, conservation of nature, wildlife and marine ecosystems, energy efficiency, sustainable mobility, and climate change – and develop concepts on how our societies can interact more positively with the environment.
In our projects, we work on the interface between science, civil society, policy, and administration. We cooperate closely with other environmental organizations, research institutes and universities as well as with administrations of cities and municipalities in many European countries.
In close collaboration with other stakeholders, we find ecologically sustainable solutions, by viewing the ecosystems in context with socio-economic factors. We contribute our expert knowledge concerning environmental questions, political decision making and the management of administration. Communication is especially important to us. Hence, we focus especially on how interdisciplinary communication can strengthen the interaction between humans and their environment. Due to our holistic and practical approach, we can ensure the acceptance and sustainability of our project outcomes and make sure that they are substantial improvements.
Our climate projects cover climate mitigation as well as climate adaptation measures. We have been working on the topic of climate adaptation on European islands and worked in projects dealing with sustainable coastal tourism, marine spatial planning, and adaptation. Other climate projects BEF is working in focus on sustainable transport in cities and regions, intermodal commuting, and cycling.
Our Role in KNOWING
In the “KNOWING” project, BEF Germany will closely work together with the “Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg”, a district situated at the eastern borders of Hamburg. Its area covers 1.263 square miles of land with almost 200.000 inhabitants living in a region where agriculture still plays a major economic role. Thus, the KNOWING project will cooperate with local farmers and other stakeholders from the agricultural sector to add scientific expertise to the debates on soil fertility, groundwater management and climate change-related threads such as droughts and soil erosion that extreme weather events can cause. Apart from that, BEF Germany will also contribute to the gathering and processing of climate-related information that will be done in the KNOWING project, to process this knowledge into local debates afterwards
Why KNOWING Matters to Us
The motivation for us in the KNOWING project is to gather and evaluate scientific evidence together with experts from all over Europe and to make it available not only to scientists or stakeholders on a national and international level but also for the practitioners in our region to adapt better to future climate events.
