Research and Transfer Project “Impact Hub” Explores Untapped Potential in Germany’s Integrated Peace Engagement

How can German integrated peace engagement leverage its full potential with greater impact – both in principle and in light of a fundamentally shifting global conflict landscape? This question is at the heart of the newly established “Impact Hub: Enhancing the Impact of Integrated Peace Engagement”, which is funded by the Federal Foreign Office and the Robert Bosch Foundation with €2.1 million until the end of 2026.

In the Hub, experts from the IFSH, the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder, and the SCRIPTS Cluster of Excellence at Freie Universität Berlin are working at the nexus of academic research and political practice. In four focus regions – the Western Balkans, West Africa, Ukraine, and the Middle East – they examine what is required for a better impact and interplay of the German Federal Government´s instrument, particularly the stabilisation instruments of the Foreign Office, such as the promotion of the democratic resilience, security sector reform (SSR), and conflict mediation.

To this end, researchers of the Impact Hub collaborate closely with staff from the Federal Foreign Office to identify key impact challenges and develop actionable recommendations – to optimise both the specific activities in the focus regions and, where possible, Germany’s integrated peace engagement more broadly. They address critical questions such as: Where do tensions between political interests, security concerns and development approaches hinder effective interdepart-mental cooperation – for instance, in engagement with autocratic regimes or non-state armed groups in conflict contexts? To what extent are the instruments currently employed strategically aligned and interlinked? And do the selected approaches correspond to local conditions, needs, and constraints?

"The Impact Hub's contribution will be to take the next essential step in developing an increase in the impact of integrated peace engagement. We hope that this will enable us to better align goals and strategies with the impact requirements of concrete political realities and to make better balanced decisions," says Ambassador Anka Feldhusen, Commissioner for Civilian Crisis Prevention and Stabilisation at the Federal Foreign Office and Former German Ambassador to Ukraine. Overall, the project aims to contribute to the adaptive, learning-oriented approach that the German government has committed to. In doing so, the Federal Foreign Office is also acting on the recommendations of experts who call for closer scientific monitoring for an even more coherent foreign policy action by the Federal Government.

The IFSH has also issued a press release on the new project.

Find out more about the project here.