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The Copernicus Institute is a vibrant international research community that aims to help accelerate the transition to a sustainable society. We do this by developing excellent and relevant knowledge, collaborating with citizens, politicians, policymakers, NGOs and firms to learn from each other and influence decision-making, and by educating the change agents of the future. 

Formally, we are organized as one of four departments of Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ’s Faculty of Geosciences. We occupy a unique position as an interdisciplinary natural/social sciences department. While we are the only department at Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ that solely focuses on sustainability research, it is a key topic for Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ in general. Notably, the Strategic Theme Pathways to Sustainability strengthens our collaboration with many other groups across the university. We also actively contribute to the Strategic Theme Institutions for Open Societies, bringing in our research on the role of institutions and institutional change in understanding transformations to sustainability.

History

We were formed in 2003 as the Department of Innovation, Environmental and Energy Sciences (IMEW), bringing together the Environmental Governance, Environmental Sciences and Innovation Studies sections. In 2012, the Science, Technology and Society section joined us from the Faculty of Science, forming what is now known as the Energy & Resources section. In 2021 the Urban Futures Studio became our fifth research section.

Board 

• Institute Director: Prof. Ellen Moors
• Research Director: Prof. Martin Junginger
• Education Director: Prof. Karin Rebel
• Department Managers:  & Dr. Sandra van der Linden