EcoDevelopment GmbH – Society for International Development Research and Planning, Berlin / Germany

EcoDevelopment was founded in 1989 and works as a research and policy advice institute in the field of international and development studies. The founder and scientific director, Dr. Brigitte Fahrenhorst, acts as professor at the Technical University of Berlin / Berlin Institute of Technology. EcoDevelopment GmbH is specialized in the following professional areas:

  • international and development policy (incl. instruments, actors, methodologies),
  • environment policy and management of natural resources,
  • governance and democratization,
  • crisis and conflict prevention and transformation, peace & security, natural resources,
  • impact and need assessments,
  • migration/ diaspora,
  • civil society,
  • processes of regionalization and regional organizations,
  • supporting science and research in Africa,
  • education and learning for sustainable development.

Development policy is understood as an important part of international policy and globalization. It is the only policy field addressing all levels of activity and decision-making within complex processes.

EcoDevelopment works in an interdisciplinary environment and approach.

EcoDevelopment has competencies in the field of

  • theories, methodologies,
  • studies, research, research mananagement,
  • assessments,
  • planning,
  • monitoring and evaluation,
  • policy advice,
  • transferring skills through capacity building

EcoDevelopment GmbH cooperates closely with universities, NGOs and consultancy companies and supports the professional qualification of young people.

Additional to the regular staff, internationally experienced scientists and experts with in-depth practical experiences are associated specialized in appropriate advice and consultancy to decision makers and NGOs, bridging the gap between theory and practice.

 

The experts of EcoDevelopment GmbH have professional experiences

a) in different organisations: German Federal Army, Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, GIZ – Society for International Cooperation, Judiciary of Kenya, Technical University of Berlin/ Berlin Institute fo Technology, Technical University of Freiberg, United Nations, Kituo Cha Sheria (Kenya), Centre for Governance and Development, Nairobi, NOVIB (Oxfam Netherlands) amongst others.

b) in different countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Columbia, Chile, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Eritrea, EU-member states, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Korea, Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Mexico, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, PR China, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia / Somaliland, South Africa, South-Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, Hungary, Uruguay, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

c) in different subjects: Policy advice, development policy / development cooperation, poverty reduction, education / capacity building, peace policy / crisis prevention / conflict management, international policy, governance / human rights, agriculture / rural development, regional development, micro-finance, food aid / food security (refugees, demobilization), participation, social and economic development / transformation processes, security policy, environment policy and management of natural resources (land, water / irrigation, plants / forests / biodiversity), civil society, Security Sector Reform, esp. SSR-Assessments; Demobilisation/ Disarmament /Rehabilitation (support and evaluation), Transitional Justice.

d) with different instruments and methodologies: project and program planning and management, project / program progress controls, evaluations of projects, programs, assessments (impact assessments, needs assessments), project and program development, strategy development, policy development / formulation and evaluation, studies and analyses, country / sector / regional programming, advice, consultancy.

e) with different client agencies / donors: African Union, Austrian Development Agency, Austroprojekt, Austrian Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christian Aid Sudan programme, Economic Commission for Africa, German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, German Agency of Foreign Affairs, German Development Service, German Foundation for International Development, ECO Consult, European Commission, GIZ, Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation, Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, IGAD-CEWARN, ILO, InWent, IOM, ITAD Sussex UK, Justitia et Pax, Kombi Consult, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Luso-Consult, Misereor, Novib / Oxfam Netherlands, OHCHR, Oxfam USA Horn of Africa Office, UNHCR, UNCHS-Habitat, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank, German Agro Action.

f) in research and lecturing: university lectures in development and international policy, planning theory, project  and programme management, sociology, environment policy and management of natural resources, environmental impact assessment, sustainability.

EcoDevelopment is the founding agency of the pan-african interdisciplinary research network SUNARPA (Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Peace in Pastoral Areas) consisting of different Universities from East – and West-Africa.

g) in advice, lobbying, public promotion in the field of development and international policy: former member of the advisory board of the Austrian minister of foreign affairs, chair of the advisory board of the Senate of Economy, Work and Women of the State of Berlin, former chair of the advisory board of the ASA Program / InWent, chair of the Society for International Development – Berlin chapter, former chair of Transparency International – German chapter, board of ProAction, director and board of several African NGOs, member of ATSAF / Community of Tropical and Subtropical Agrarian Researchers, former member of the Civil Society Indian Ocean Rim Network (Mauritius), the GIZ/Voi Community Lands Trust (Kenya), the New Sudan Judiciary and South Sudan Law Society, FIDA Uganda, Delegate in the National Constitutional Conference, Kenya, former member of the Council of the Religious Community in Kenya, former trustee – Government of Kenya/ EC Trust Fund, of the UN (Habitat) Expert Groups on land, shelter and security of tenure, former chair of the Policy Advisory Board – MS-Training Centre for Development Cooperation (Danish)/ Tanzania, of the IGAD Partners Forum, former chair of the donor community’s Somali Aid Coordination Body’s Civil Society Task Force, member of the African Human Rights Commission in Banjul, journalist of the German development magazine eins, member of the Network of development experts and the Information Centre on Development Policies Berlin, of the Africa Group of Stiftung Umverteilen! (Foundation Redistribution), of the Scientific Association for Development Studies /member of the editor team of Peripherie, of the German Society for Human Ecology, of the Union of Africa Scientists in Germany, German Society for Development Sociology and Social Anthropology/ German Society for Sociology, of the Association for Adapted and Socially Integrated Technologies, of Alliance for Conflict Transformation, of the German Association of University Professors and the German Association of Female University Professors.