New Professor at the Department of Social Policy and Social Security Studies: Benjamin Best

In his research and teaching, Dr Benjamin Best focuses on the political and social prerequisites for socio-ecological transformation, particularly in cities and regions. He is a sustainability and transformation researcher and works on sufficiency, structural policy and energy and climate scenarios.

Before his appointment at H-BRS, he worked for the City of Bonn and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. In the city administration, Best worked in the Climate Neutral Bonn 2035 programme office and in the city planning office. There, he was the climate protection coordinator for buildings, energy and the economy, coordinated cross-departmental processes and helped to set up the digital climate protection monitoring system. At the Wuppertal Institute, Best most recently headed the junior research group "EnSu - The role of energy sufficiency in the energy transition and society", funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. He focussed on the political design options for sufficient lifestyles. Best has worked in various projects at the interface between science, administration and politics, including in the Private Households Working Group of the NRW Climate Protection Plan and in the accompanying research of the Bottrop pilot project "InnovationCity Ruhr". He was also one of the organisers of the Leipzig Degrowth Conference 2014 and is currently on the board of the Association for Ecological Economy Research and a mentor for the "Ecological Economy" programme.

At H-BRS, the newly appointed professor will offer courses on public policy and municipalities, transformative policy processes, inter- and transdisciplinary methods and futurology, among other things. "What particularly appeals to me at H-BRS is the opportunity to work with students and practice partners to design concrete transformation projects in the field of public policy - from the municipal to the global level," says Best. "I would like to contribute my experience from my professional stations and the practical references and, among other things, set up a mentoring programme to make it easier for students to enter the profession."

Benjamin Best lives with his family in Cologne, where he was born in Windeck-Leuscheid.

The new degree programme "Public Policy and Transformation - Climate-Social Policy", which Professor Best will head, will start in the summer semester of 2026. The degree programme is designed for three semesters full-time or six semesters part-time. It includes modules taught in German and English and focuses on the interactions between climate, society and the economy. The programme is based at the Sankt Augustin Campus. It is the second Master's degree programme to be added to the programme of the Department of Social Policy and Social Security Studies