About us

With our work, we want to help tackle the major challenges facing society: Protect water, soil, air, biodiversity and the climate and create fairer social conditions – for many generations to come. This can only succeed if many people become active and are able to take on a competent role in shaping their living environment. This is why we bring together people with different expertise and experience, use suitable methods to build up knowledge and jointly develop new solutions and, above all, concrete options for action – hand in hand and at eye level!

Shaping the future for a more sustainable world

We see ourselves as shapers of the future, as trailblazers, ahead of our time. We tackle issues where we recognize gaps in information or action that stand in the way of solving important social developments. In doing so, we are guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, in many educational projects, by UNESCO's ESD key competencies for sustainability.

From knowledge to action – and vice versa!

Bonn Science Shop sees itself as a mediator and bridge builder between civil society groups, committed individuals, scientific institutions, educational institutions, local authorities and companies: We encourage and enable people to work together at eye level to acquire new knowledge and further develop methodological, communicative and social skills. This is what we set out to do in 1984, and this participatory approach still runs through all our activities today.

We do not prescribe fixed paths, but encourage people to see and go their own way. In our projects, the participants discuss what moves them, how they want to live and what skills they want to develop – and they implement their findings directly in their city, company or educational institution. After all, people do not automatically take more sustainable action just because they know more about topics such as biodiversity or climate change. They need their own emotional access, they need to try things out and experience themselves as competent. We use methods such as simulation games, the Dillinger model or persona development to promote creative work and to shed light on topics from different perspectives, but always adapt them to the specific needs and wishes of the participants. In this way, our events, concepts and developed solutions remain very close to people's practice and motivation. And we also see ourselves as a learning institution. That is why it is important to us to constantly reflect on our working methods, adapt our framework conditions accordingly and thus be a role model for sustainable transformation ourselves.

As a Science Shop, we also ensure the transfer of scientific knowledge – new scientific findings are incorporated into our projects and issues from the public, companies, local authorities or other institutions are brought to universities and research institutions.

We are satisfied with our work when people ...

• can expand their awareness of interrelationships and critically question their own values/actions – regardless of whether they come from civil society or academia,
• see different perspectives, recognize dilemmas and take these into account in their decisions,
• use their new knowledge to bring about positive change,
• become role models for others and find imitators,

and thus make a contribution to a more sustainable and fairer society.

This is how we work ...

independently

WILA Bonn works in a participatory, social and value-oriented manner. At the same time, we are independent of individual interests and party-political views and thus develop concepts that point the way to sustainable action.

transdisciplinary

We can only do our work successfully if we involve people with different perspectives or from different specialist areas who master social challenges in their daily work: the people who ensure that land consumption is reduced, for example, on site or in their profession, children become explorers, scientists are confronted with the questions of citizens.

forward-looking

Because we keep an eye on information and action gaps and are in contact with important social groups, we have our finger on the pulse of the times - and often lead the way with our projects. This can take many different forms: For example, we invite young people and politicians to play simulation games in the forest in order to highlight conflicts of use directly on site. We work with citizens to create parks in the city to do something to combat global warming and promote biodiversity. We work with young people to develop career guidance formats to get them interested in green jobs.

A key element is the pilot nature and transferability of our projects and learning content: They are designed and documented in such a way that they can and should be role models for other people, regions or organizations.

self-managed

With its current workforce of around 32 employees, WILA Bonn practices self-administration: employees and interested parties, who are elected to the Council of Delegates from the association's general meeting, make all decisions together. We are both employer and employee and also develop our vision and our approach on an equal footing. This joint decision-making process is worthwhile, as the motivation at WILA Bonn has been very high for many years thanks to this co-determination and responsibility. Since 2014, we have also had an advisory board with experts from academia, administration and organized civil society, which advises us on all technical and organizational matters.

Funding

The Bonn Science Shop is a non-profit organization, working on a costcovering but not profit-orientated basis. The institution as a whole does not receive any official funding. The Bonn Science Shop only receives regular part-funding for its Education Centre because - according to the Landesweiterbildungsgesetz NRW - it is a accredited institution for further education and training.

Basically we finance our work through information, measuring and consultancy services as well as research projects supported by third party funds. The projects of the Bonn Science Shop are funded - amongst others - by the European Commission, German Federal and State Ministries, Federal Offices, and funding networks such as Klimakreis Köln, and also by foundations and single local authorities.

History

Indignation about the fact that scientists were doing their research in an ‚ivory tower‘ and citizens had no benefit from it at all - that was the motivation for a handful of students to found the Science Shop in 1984.

Science Shops in these days were also set up in 7 other German towns, following a Dutch example. But different from the situation in the Netherlands, Science Shops in Germany have not received any public funding to date. Bonn Science Shop with around 35 employees and a turnover of around three million Euros is the largest Science Shop worldwide and is economically standing on its own feet.