Adj. Prof. Dr. Martin Kowarsch

Fellow

Adj. Prof. Dr. Martin Kowarsch

Dr. Martin Kowarsch is an Adjunct Professor at Aalborg University and a Fellow at MCC. Kowarsch is specialized in practically oriented philosophy of the science-policy interface, particularly normative assumptions – by combining pragmatist philosophy of (social) science, political philosophy & ethics, and interdisciplinary research with regard to climate and sustainability governance.

 

Research & teaching interests:

  • Science-policy interface (theory & practice), especially integrated assessments for climate policy and sustainability governance
  • Deliberative democracy (theory & practice), especially transdisciplinary co-production, policy learning, participation, mini-publics, and strategies vs. populism and social divide
  • Pragmatist philosophy of science (in the tradition of J. Dewey), especially of the social sciences, values in economics, fact-value entanglement, and objectivity
  • Ethics & justice/political theory, especially pragmatist and applied (w.r.t. climate, sustainability, economics & welfare, capabilities, human-nature), as well as A. Schweitzer’s and Aristotle’s philosophy

 

Projects:

Kowarsch led major parts of the science-informed citizen deliberation process in the BMBF project ARIADNE on the German energy transition (2020-23), as well as a similar process on the local level - i.e. the project "Wald Brandenburg" (2021-22) funded by DBU, see movie clip here. Additionally, he was reponsible for a section of the FORMAS Rivet project (with Univ. Lund) on "Risk, values, and decision-making in the economics of climate change: Towards a deliberative science-policy approach to the integration of diverse values in model-based climate economics" (2020-2024).

Jointly with Ottmar Edenhofer, Kowarsch developed a refined science-policy model called the “Pragmatic-Enlightened Model” (PEM). Based on Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy, it suggests to explore alternative policy pathways and their implications jointly with stakeholders and the public in an iterative deliberation process. The PEM inter alia influenced the assessment strategy of IPCC Working Group III during the fifth assessment cycle, and guides the assessment activities at MCC. Kowarsch was coordinator of a joint research initiative (2013 - 2017) with the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) called “The Future of Global Environmental Assessment Making” (FOGEAM). This interdisciplinary evaluation of past global assessment-making was intended to inform future choices in assessment design. Moreover, Kowarsch provided reviews and advice for the GEO-6 assessment by UN Environment, the EU science advice mechanism, an evaluation framework for science for policy ecosystems by the European Commission, and for other science-policy interfaces.

 

 

Curriculum Vitae (incl. publications)

Download PDF

 

 

Special links

 

 

 

Latest Publications

Blum, M., Wolf, I., Huttarsch, J.-H., Kowarsch, M. , 2023

Quo vadis Klimapolitik? Bürgerperspektiven auf Politikoptionen in Energie und Verkehr

Ariadne-Analyse
Type
Sonstige
Edenhofer, O., Kowarsch, M., 2023

Klimaschutz und Klimawandel

Handbuch Angewandte Ethik, 2. aktualisierte underweiterte Auflage
Type
Bücher
Treichel, K., Blum, M., Kowarsch, M., 2022

Report: Bürgersichten auf zukünftige Energiewelten – Ergebnisse der Ariadne-Bürgerkonferenz

Ariadne-Report
Type
Sonstige
Lenzi, D., Kowarsch, M., 2022

Integrating Justice in Climate Policy Assessments: Towards a Deliberative Transformation of Feasibility

Principles of Justice and Real-World Climate Politics, Rowman & Littlefield
Type
Bücher