Lower Saxony Centre for Climate Research

Lower Saxony has a very diverse landscape, climate, society and economy. It is home to numerous universities, colleges and research institutions, all of which have been studying climate change and its impacts for decades.

The Lower Saxony Centre for Climate Research (ZKfN) was founded in 2023 to give this research and dedication a decisive boost in the coming years, to offer support and to facilitate strategic connections. We see ourselves as the central point of intersection for all stakeholders working on climate research and climate impact research in Lower Saxony. This is the place where experts from science, civil society, politics and the economy come together for a common purpose. By making the best use of the diverse perspectives of everyone involved, new approaches and potential solutions will emerge, along with ideas for their implementation.

Our mission#

• In trans- and interdisciplinary research projects on climate change and its impacts, we develop interdisciplinary solutions for a safe and just climate future.
• We effectively connect academic and non-academic research as well as partners from industry and civil society, creating a vast network across Lower Saxony and beyond.
• We establish and nourish innovative formats and platforms for science communication, thus encouraging society at large to share in scientific insights, and enabling exchanges that promote knowledge sharing and implementation.
• We empower various stakeholders to become agents for change at their institutions, thus promoting sustainability-related shifts towards better climate protection.

Topic-specific Climate Future Labs form the organisational core of the ZKfN. There, trans- and interdisciplinary research consortia research and develop solutions for a safe and just climate future.

The ZKfN’s backbone is the ZKfN-Office, located on the campus of Technische Universität Braunschweig. Its staff are the first point of contact for all ZKfN partners and interested members of the public. The ZKfN-Office’s focus is on fostering the ZKfN’s overall development and on interconnecting and supporting the Climate Future Labs. It also promotes implementation-oriented knowledge transfers and other knowledge exchanges, for example by initiating events and also releasing publications aimed at the general public.

The network of stakeholders from the scientific community, the economy and civil society, assembled under the ZKfN’s umbrella, places climate research and climate impact research – spanning both disciplines and locations – at the centre of all their activities. It expressly invites researchers from Lower Saxony, the rest of Germany and the world to participate in the Climate Future Labs. Because we are convinced that the only way to meet the challenges of climate change is through inter- and transdisciplinary dialogue and participation.