In February 2016, the National Program for Sustainable Consumption (NPNK) was adopted by the German government. An Interministerial Working Group on Sustainable Consumption (IMA NK) and the Competence Center for Sustainable Consumption (KNK) were established to provide institutional support for the program. In addition, the National Network for Sustainable Consumption (NNNK) was initiated to involve stakeholders. Central objectives and areas of responsibility of the KNK were set out both in the NPNK and in an internal basic concept. However, at the time this report was prepared, it was unclear whether the KNK was capable of fulfilling the tasks assigned to it. In addition, it was to be clarified to what extent the goals and tasks of the KNK could be concretized and further developed.
The aim of this report is therefore to take stock and draw conclusions for developing the KNK. The focus is on recommendations on how the KNK can better utilize its existing potential under the given framework conditions. The report was completed in September 2020.
For the stocktaking, existing documents were analyzed, and interviews were conducted with internal and external experts who can assess the KNK. To concretize and further develop the KNK, the functioning of other federal competence centers was analyzed to draw conclusions for the KNK. For this purpose, interviews with experts were also conducted.
Link to publication