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Prof. Dr. Jens Newig

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C11.128
Fon +49.4131.677-1726, jens.newig@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of Governance and Sustainability
Associated member, Center for the Study of Democracy

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Vita

  • Head, Institute for Sustainability Governance (INSUGO), Leuphana University (11/2019 -)
  • Professor (W3) at Leuphana University Lüneburg (2014 - )
  • ERC Starting Grant holder (2011 - 2016)
  • Professor (W2) at Leuphana University Lüneburg (2010 - 2014)
  • Assistant professor at the Institute of Environmental Systems Research, Osnabrück University (12/2001 until 05/2010)
  • Habilitation on Environmental Governance in the Light of Participation and Effectiveness: Case Studies and Models, University of Osnabrück
  • Temporary professorship at Leuphana University Lüneburg (10/2008 until 09/2009)
  • Doctoral degree (Dr. iur.) on Environmental Law from Dresden Technical University with a scholarship of the Volkswagen Foundation (summa cum laude) (1999-2002)
  • Strategic Management Consultancy, Gemini Consulting, Bad Homburg (1998)
  • Diploma in geo-ecology (environmental sciences) at Bayreuth University (1998)
  • Maîtrise and Ingénieur-Maître in Gestion et Génie de l’Environnement at Université Paris 7 (scholar of the German Academic Exchange Service) (1996)
  • Scholar of the German National Academic Foundation (1992-1998)

For details on publications, please visit http://sustainability-governance.net/jens-newig

Visit our research group's blog at http://sustainabilitygovernance.net.

Teaching

  • Environmental studies
  • Sustainability Sciences
  • College "Study Reflexion"

Research Interests

  • Societal transitions to sustainability
  • Environmental Politics, Policy and Governance for Sustainable Development
  • Participatory Governance and collaborative decision processes
  • Environmental and sustainability communication
  • Effectiveness and legitimacy of governance in multi-level systems
  • Evidence-based governance and public management
  • Learning and networks in steering complex systems in the context of natural resource management; social network analysis
  • Comparative analysis, case study meta-analysis, field experiments
  • Agenda setting, issue attention cycles
  • Water policy and water resources management
  • Sustainable agriculture and sustainable land management
  • Science communication, integration of natural and social sciences in inter- and transdisciplinary research

Projects

  1. Embracing Transformation: Democratic Resilience — Democracy’s Sustainability in the Global Polycrisis Era
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Astrid Séville (Project manager, academic) , Christian Welzel (Project manager, academic) , Michael Rose (Coordination) , Lennart Bade (Project staff)
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    Project: Research

  2. Research Consortium ‘Sustainability governance of global value chains’
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Franca Bülow (Coordination) , Barbara Ehbauer (Project staff) , Jelto Makris (Project staff) , Jelena Bäumler (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Elke Schüßler (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Stefan Schaltegger (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Patrick Velte (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Alexander Schall (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , (Project manager, academic) , (Project manager, academic) , (Project manager, academic) , (Project staff) , Kathleen Evers (Project staff) , Nora Große (Project staff) , Finn Jonas Bongert (Project staff) , (Project staff) , (Project staff) , (Project staff) , (Project staff) , (Project staff) , (Project staff) , Saumya Satishbhai Raval (Project staff)
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    Project: Research

  3. Planning Land Use Strategies: Meeting biodiversity, climate and social objectives in a Changing world.
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Xinran Wang (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  4. Knowlege cumulation in environmental and sustainability governance research
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Michael Rose (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  5. Next Water Governance
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Shahana Bilalova (Project staff)
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    Project: Research

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Knowledge Cumulation in Environmental Governance Research
    Michael Rose (Editor) , Jens Newig (Editor) , Sina Leipold (Editor) , 2026

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Special Journal issue › Research

  2. Participation for Effective Environmental Governance: Evidence from European Water Framework Directive Implementation
    Elisa Kochskämper (Editor) , Edward Challies (Editor) , Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (Editor) , Jens Newig (Editor) , 2017 London , 180 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  3. Nachhaltige Gesellschaft: Welche Rolle für Partizipation und Kooperation?
    Harald Heinrichs (Editor) , Katina Kuhn (Editor) , Jens Newig (Editor) , 2011 Wiesbaden , 222 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  4. Multi-Level Water Governance: Coping with Problems of Scale
    Jens Newig (Editor) , Timothy Moss (Editor) , 2010 , 142 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Special Journal issue › Research

  5. Governance for sustainable development: Coping with ambivalence, uncertainty and distributed power
    Jens Newig (Editor) , Jan-Peter Voß (Author) , Jochen Monstadt (Author) , 2008 London , 188 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. Rethinking scientific progress in the social sciences: disruptive or cumulative?
    Jens Newig (Author) , Michael Rose (Author) , Zühre Aksoy (Author) , Simon Beaudoin (Author) , Thomas Bolognesi (Author) , Oliver Fritsch (Author) , Dries Hegger (Author) , Benjamin Hofmann (Author) , Nicolas W. Jager (Author) , Elke Kellner (Author) , Sina Leipold (Author) , Åsa Persson (Author) , Hens Runhaar (Author) , Robert Webb (Author) , 01.05.2026 , in: Research Policy, 55, 4 , 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Knowledge Cumulation in Environmental Governance Research
    Michael Rose (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , Sina Leipold (Author) , 01.02.2026 , in: Environmental Policy and Governance, 36, 1 , p. 18-25 , 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Research › peer-review

  3. Governing the trade-off between the co-production of actionable knowledge and academic publishing in transdisciplinary sustainability research
    Tom Dedeurwaerdere (Author) , Stephanie Jahn (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 01.02.2026 , in: Environmental Science and Policy, 176 , 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. Paradigms of water governance: a systematic review
    Shahana Bilalova (Author) , Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , Dave Huitema (Author) , Johanna K.L. Koehler (Author) , 01.01.2026 , in: Ecology and Society, 31, 1 , 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. Successful water governance pathways across problem contexts: a global qualitative comparative analysis
    Shahana Bilalova (Author) , Nicolas W. Jager (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , Sergio Villamayor-Tomas (Author) , 01.10.2025 , in: Ecology and Society, 30, 4 , 36 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. What explains the performance of participatory governance?
    Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 09.08.2024 , p. 165-186 , 22 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  2. Umwelt-Governance und Partizipation
    Michael Rose (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 13.01.2024 2 ed. Wiesbaden , p. 759-774 , 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research

  3. Water, rivers and wetlands: Governance paradigms and principles
    Edward Challies (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 25.03.2022 , p. 512-525 , 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  4. Complexity in Water Management and Governance
    Sabrina Kirschke (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 12.06.2021 Cham , p. 801-810 , 10 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research

  5. Water Policy and Governance in Transition: The EU Water Framework Directive
    Elisa Kochskämper (Author) , Jens Newig (Author) , 01.01.2021 Cham , p. 23-40 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

  1. Environmental governance research - cumulative knowledge or fragmented adhocracy?
    Jens Newig (Keynote Speaker) , Michael Rose (Keynote Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public events › Research

  2. Das Losprinzip in der Demokratie – Welche Rolle können Bürgerräte für Politik und Gesetzgebung spielen?
    Jens Newig (Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public events › Transfer

  3. Does participatory governance help address long-term environmental problems? Conceptual framework and empirical evidence from public decision-making processes in 23 democracies
    Michael Rose (Speaker) , Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (Coauthor) , Jens Newig (Coauthor)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  4. Does participatory governance help address long-term environmental problems? Conceptual framework and empirical evidence from public decision-making processes in 23 democracies
    Michael Rose (Coauthor) , Jens Newig (Coauthor) , Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (presenter)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  5. Explaining the performance of participatory and collaborative governance in addressing long-term environmental policy issues
    Jens Newig (Speaker) , Michael Rose (Coauthor) , Nicolas Wilhelm Jager (Coauthor)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Press / Media

  1. Wem nutzen Bürgerräte wirklich?
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Research Award 2016
    Jens Newig (Recipient) ,

    Prize: Leuphana internal Prize, Scholaships, distinctions, appointments › Research

View all prizes

Courses

Governing Transformation to Sustainability
Jens Newig
This seminar will explore the governance mechanisms that drive sustainability transformations – intended and relatively deep societal changes that significantly improve sustainability in one or more areas. Prominent examples are the ongoing energy transition; transformations of production and consumption patterns; or in (global) agri-food-chains. We will discuss theoretical frameworks, key governance actors, multi-level governance structures, and review empirical evidence, such as through real-world case studies. The seminar will engage students in critical reflections on the roles of government, civil society, and the private sector in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Suggested key readings:
– Derwort, P., Jager, N., & Newig, J. (2021). How to Explain Major Policy Change Towards Sustainability? Bringing Together the Multiple Streams Framework and the Multilevel Perspective on Socio-Technical Transitions to Explore the German “Energiewende”. Policy Studies Journal, 1-29. doi:10.1111/psj.12428
– Herweg, N., Zahariadis, N., & Zohlnhöfer, R. (2018). The Multiple Streams Framework: Foundations, Refinements, and Empirical Applications. In C. M. Weible & P. A. Sabatier (Eds.), Theories of the policy process (4th ed., pp. 17-53). New York, NY: Westview Press.
– Newig, J., Derwort, P., & Jager, N. W. (2019). Sustainability through institutional failure and decline? Archetypes of productive pathways. Ecology and Society, 24(1), 18. doi:10.5751/ES-10700-240118
– Novalia, W., & Malekpour, S. (2020). Theorising the role of crisis for transformative adaptation. Environmental Science and Policy, 112, 361-370. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.009
– Schot, J.; Kanger, L. (2018): Deep transitions: Emergence, acceleration, stabilization and directionality. Research Policy 47: 1045-1059
– Sewerin, S.; Cashore, B.; Howlett, M. (2022): New pathways to paradigm change in public policy: combining insights from policy design, mix and feedback. Policy & Politics 50(3): 442-459.
– Termeer, K.; Dewulf, A.; Biesbroek, R. (2024): Three archetypical governance pathways for transformative change toward sustainability; Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability.
Next appointment:
Thursday, 2026-07-02 at 10:00
Room: C 12.112 Seminarraum
Sustainability Governance Colloquium
Jens Newig
Präsentation zum Arbeitsstand der Promotionsvorhaben im Rahmen der Arbeitsgruppe Governance und Nachhaltigkeit.
Next appointment:
Lectures for this semester ended.