About Us

The Development Policy Information Centre Göttingen (Entwicklungspolitisches Informationszentrum EPIZ) was established in 2001 by the Institute for Applied Cultural Research (ifak), an independent non-governmental organization dedicated to sociopolitical issues at the interface between science and practice.

The EPIZ is primarily a meeting and information point for questions and activities related to international development policy. It organizes and promotes events and activities, establishes contacts and brings together different participants – groups and individuals, schools and teachers, students and other interested people.

Under the umbrella of the EPIZ, six different groups are working closely together:

The Promoter for One World Issues

As part of the EPIZ, the regional Promoter for One World Issues offers guidance, networking and qualification for groups working in Southern Lower Saxony in the field of development policy.

The promoter is part of the nation-wide program of One-World-Promotion that aims at supporting civil society’s engagement and interest in global development issues. She links individuals and groups, develops actions and campaigns, gives impulses for solving development policy issues and works to make these topics more present in regional public society.

The regional Promoter for South Lower Saxony is Chris Herrwig (herrwig@epiz-goettingen.de).

Our Work

The field of development policy is wide and diverse – it ranges from Fair Trade and development cooperation to sustainable agriculture and refugee relief. It also includes large-scale programs like the the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, whose goals are publically known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Activists and groups active in development policy are as diverse as the field itself. Communication, coordination and networking between these actors are important to strengthen the entirety of civil society. Just as much as informing the general populace about their goals and objectives, and these two tasks make up the bulk of our activities.

Examples of our work include:

  • Creation & publishing of our monthly flyer ‘Focal Point - One World’ (Blickpunkt - Eine Welt) with focus on events & activities on development policy and One World around Göttingen
  • Organization and promotion of many activities during the ‘Fair Week’ (Faire Woche) in September around Göttingen
  • Organization and promotion of public events to different topics like discussions, presentations or lectures.

The archive of the Institute for Applied Cultural Research is part of the Archiv^3 Cooperation of Third World Archives and as such is part of a Germany-wide network of archives and libraries focusing on One World- and development policy topics. The index is available in English. For more information, please visit www.archiv3.org.

We are member in the Association of Development Policy in Lower Saxony e.V. (VEN), the network of development initiatives and groups and interested individuals in the Federal State of Lower Saxony.